United States GP driver ratings: A perfect 10 and George Russell hits a new low
He may not have been crowned champion, but it was an imperious performance from Kimi Antonelli in Austin, Texas.
The Mercedes man was the fastest gun off the line, and never looked back.
It means he has one hand on the championship trophy, but the fight - mathematically at least - rolls onto Mexico City next week.
Rating every F1 driver at the 2026 United States GP.
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1: Kimi Antonelli - 10/10
Simply perfect. After a run of quiet races from the champion in waiting, the Italian came roaring back with an scintillating drive in Austin - finishing 54sec ahead of teammate George Russell, who ended eighth.
“It was the result we needed," Antonelli said. "To be fair, and the whole team deserve it so much, all this time putting so much work on bringing this new package and finally seeing the result is very pleasant - also a perfect execution from strategy to call the one stop."
2: Charles Leclerc - 9/10
Had the best of Ferrari colleague Lewis Hamilton all weekend and, although he was never a serious challenger to Antonelli, was able to easily assert himself as best of the rest.
3: Max Verstappen - 8/10
The Dutchman was full of fire and fury in Texas, but didn’t really have the car to channel it.
Both he and teammate Isack Hadjar had issues getting away at the start of the race, and Verstappen reported braking issues early on too.
Red Bull tried to think outside of the box by pitting him early on lap 14 in a two-stop strategy, and a late-race Virtual Safety Car kept Lewis Hamilton at bay.
4: Lewis Hamilton - 8/10
Went on a charge late-on after being put on fresh hard tyres for his second stop, chasing down Norris, Verstappen and Leclerc.
For all his efforts though, the seven-time champ couldn't quite get on the podium, the VSC halting his charge in hunting down Verstappen.
5: Lando Norris - 7/10
McLaren and its British ace tried to goal-hang with a one-stop strategy, but found himself being hunted down by Verstappen, Leclerc and Hamilton late on.
6: Isack Hadjar: 5/10
A race that promised so much for the young Frenchman got away from him early with a poor start.
From there, Hadjar just didn’t have the pace to take on those around him, finishing sixth.
7: Oscar Piastri - 5/10
Yet another anonymous performance from the Australian.
Just as this generation of cars suits Antonelli, so Piastri appears all at sea. Seventh place in this race means he remains seventh in the championship.
8: George Russell - 4/10
A performance which summed up Russell’s season.
While Mercedes teammate Antonelli simply waltzed away with the race, Russell got a 5sec penalty early on for going off track.
The Brit simply wasn’t a factor the whole day though, finishing a disappointing eighth: "The pace was just rubbish today," he said.
9: Liam Lawson - 8/10
Mr top-10 this season delivers again. Ninth place means another point in the advantage of Racing Bulls over Alpine.
10: Pierre Gasly - 8/10
Yet another solid weekend from Gasly, who’s been racking up these kind of performances all year, rounding out the points-paying places.
11: Nico Hulkenberg - 7/10
Audi’s veteran maturing like a fine wine and showing his young teammate the way.
12: Arvid Lindblad - 7/10
Started 14th after a five-place grid penalty, finished 12th. Can’t complain about going forward in a grand prix.
13: Esteban Ocon - 7/10
The jilted Frenchman still seems to be driving in anger after losing his Haas seat, fighting from 17th to finish 13th.
14: Gabriel Bortoletto - 5/10
Having been given an 80-place grid penalty (you read that correctly) for unpermitted engine changes, the Brazilian had little pace to lift himself out of the midfield.
15: Lance Stroll - 5/10
It’s a collector’s item: Lance Stroll managed to beat his Aston Martin mate Fernando Alonso. For that, and not throwing the car off the road or breaking down, he deserves a solid five points.
16: Fernando Alonso - 4/10
El Matador battled gamely early on, as he always does, but was powerless to sink to 16th in the end, no thanks to his limp Aston Martin-Honda and damage sustained early on. He gets a four for managing to somehow finish behind Stroll.
17: Alexander Albon - 7/10
The Williams man has been second-best to Carlos Sainz most of the year, so has to take the wins when they come by being top Grove man in Texas.
18:Carlos Sainz - 6/10
Struggling again with a dog-slow Williams, it was all Sainz could do to beat the two Cadillacs.
19: Sergio Perez - 4/10
Cementing his reputation further as Cadillac’s best driver, an accolade of which he’ll no doubt be proud.
20: Valtteri Bottas - 2/10
Does Bottas regret his F1 comeback with Cadillac? Another miserable weekend ends with retirement when his Ferrari engine failed.
21: Franco Colapinto - 3/10
A raft of grid penalties set the tone for the Argentinian, damage then ultimately forcing him to retire.
22: Ollie Bearman - 4/10
Looked good for a points battle early on, but a collision caused damage which put him out of the race halfway through.
James Elson