Antonelli Takes Austin Pole From Verstappen — F1 Title Could Be Decided Sunday

FORMULA 1 | QUALIFYING FINAL | Saturday, October 24, 2026 — Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli seized pole position for Sunday’s United States Grand Prix, putting his Mercedes ahead of the two Red Bulls and giving himself a chance to settle the Formula 1 title race in Austin. The Italian’s decisive Q3 lap of 1:34.035 beat Max Verstappen by 0.179 seconds, with Isack Hadjar qualifying third.

Ferrari’s practice advantage disappears

Ferrari led every practice session this weekend, with Charles Leclerc fastest on Friday and Lewis Hamilton setting the pace in Saturday’s final session. Yet Antonelli found the speed when qualifying mattered most. Verstappen took second, Hadjar third, Leclerc fourth and Hamilton fifth.

The result underlines how little practice form can guarantee on a windy, bumpy track. Antonelli’s one-lap execution was decisive even though Ferrari and Red Bull had looked strong across the earlier sessions. Starting first gives him track position, but Verstappen and Hadjar will attack on the long uphill run to Turn 1.

What Antonelli needs to become champion

Antonelli entered the weekend 102 points ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell. A title celebration on Sunday is possible but not automatic: Antonelli needs to win the race, with Russell finishing ninth or lower and Hamilton fifth or lower, according to the published championship permutations. Qualifying position is not a race result, and the championship has not yet been decided.

The United States Grand Prix is scheduled for Sunday, October 25, over 56 laps. Mercedes has the pole, but its race pace, tyre management and first-corner execution remain unanswered questions.

Watch and follow

No newly uploaded, exact-session official Formula 1 or ESPN YouTube highlights could be independently verified with a confirmed upload date at publication time. Rather than embedding older Austin footage, readers can follow the official Formula 1 United States Grand Prix race hub for session results and authorized video coverage as it becomes available.

Featured-image disclosure: This is a contextual archival motorsport photograph, not a photograph of Antonelli’s October 24, 2026 pole lap. Photo by Norbert Buduczki, via Unsplash; reuse under the Unsplash License.