When I was a kid, one of my favourite all-time race tracks was the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but not for NASCAR: for Formula One. Formula One’s time at Indianapolis ended badly, thanks to a mix of track conditions that were hard on the cars and the never-forgotten “Tire Crisis” of 2005. That weekend, a Michelin tire failed on the banking, sending Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota into the wall at 300 km/h (186 mph). Every Michelin-shod team withdrew, leaving only six Bridgestone cars on the grid and wrecking F1’s reputation in Indianapolis. Formula One would finish its contract and drop the US Grand Prix from its calendar in 2007.
Fast forward to December 31st, 2010; rumblings of a new track in the United States built for Formula One. Fast, complex corners, elevation changes galore, and a new facility built for not only drivers but fans as well. Two years later, the legendary Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, was born. In 2012, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel put on a spectacle of racing, leading to Hamilton winning his last race for McLaren. In 2015, Lewis Hamilton clinched his third world championship, and in 2018, Kimi Räikkönen broke his 113-race winless streak. The Circuit of the Americas has proven to put on spectacular racing, so let’s not waste time and dive into the 2026 United States Grand Prix.
Qualifying
Lando Norris definitely had something to prove this weekend after a string of unsatisfying results. Norris put his McLaren on the front row early, with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc following in P2, and both Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar chasing in P3 and P4. Lewis Hamilton was being conservative in the first round of qualifying, placing his Ferrari P5, but was already being hunted by the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli in P6. Gabriel Bortoleto put on a show for the Audi fans, exiting the session P7 whilst being hunted by the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson in P8 and Nico Hülkenberg in P9. George Russell had a slightly rough start to qualifying with a P10 result, but it was still early in the day.
The second round saw some positions shift around, with Charles Leclerc jumping into P1 at the end of Q2, with Kimi Antonelli only eight-hundredths of a second off the Ferrari, and the Mercedes of George Russell only two-hundredths of a second behind Antonelli in P3. Verstappen lost a bit of pace and dropped to P4, but he was still in contention and had his sights on the front row. Lando Norris also dropped off the pace, dropping to P5 with teammate Oscar Piastri on his heels in P6, and Hamilton in P7. Isack Hadjar dropped four positions down to P8, and the Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson made it into the final round of qualifying with P9 and P10.
Antonelli proved he had more in the tank in the final round, putting himself on the front row in P1, followed closely by Verstappen in P2 and Isack Hadjar in P3; both Red Bulls finding a bit more life in their cars to get into the top three. The Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton had a decent session with P4 and P5, with only two tenths between P1 and P5. What looked like a promising start may have come to a bit of a disappointing end for Lando Norris in P6, with a more upsetting result for George Russell in P7. Oscar Piastri struggled to find pace, ending his session in P8, followed by Arvid Lindblad in P9 and Liam Lawson in P10 to round out qualifying.
Race
It’s lights out in Texas! Kimi Antonelli rockets off the line to an impressive two-car gap between himself and Verstappen heading into Turn 1. Out of habit, Antonelli defends into Turn 1 with no one there, while Verstappen gets attacked by the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton, who both gain valuable positions. Leclerc has heaps of momentum heading into the esses, making a beautiful pass on Verstappen on the inside. Hamilton makes an attempt, but to no avail as Verstappen holds him off and keeps P3 safe.
Battles were getting intense on track, and some drivers began feeling the pressure. Oliver Bearman made a late braking attempt to pass the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, carrying too much speed in and causing a collision between the Haas and Alpine. Later in the lap, Fernando Alonso made a brave lunge down the inside of Alex Albon on the entry of Turn 1, but Albon would take the spot back with beautiful defence on the entry of Turn 3.
Red Bull isn’t a stranger to teammate rivalry or disobeying team orders, and what we saw between Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar wasn’t ideal, even though Hadjar eventually listened. Max was a full second faster and gaining rapidly on Hadjar. Due to the difference in pace, Hadjar was given clear instructions: “Okay Isack, let Max through into Turn 12. Into Turn 12,” to which Hadjar replied, “I don’t want to lose race time.” While Hadjar was hesitant, Verstappen made the pass anyway into Turn 12 and carried on without hesitation.
Verstappen was looking consistently quick from the outside of the car, until the radio turned on where we learned there were some problems from inside the cockpit: “Yeah, I must have a problem, it’s undrivable.” Red Bull confirmed the issue shortly after: “We see some issues with the engine braking. Torque 12 is available.” Time for a quick tech talk: engine braking is the deceleration effect caused by the mechanical and electrical resistance of the powertrain that happens when the driver eases off the throttle and downshifts into lower gears. This issue can make a car feel unstable or difficult to drive, but Verstappen, as always, pushed on.
After difficulties in the pits, Verstappen dropped to P3, while Antonelli was challenging Leclerc for the lead, making the pass look easy and driving away to a substantial lead, but the fun wasn’t over yet. The next round of pit stops would give Lando Norris the advantage to make up some ground, bringing him up to P2. Charles Leclerc was putting in purple lap after purple lap, setting new fastest laps over and over. Leclerc managed to catch the Red Bull of Verstappen in P3, who was gaining on the McLaren of Norris in P2.
Travelling down the main straight, Leclerc was so close to Verstappen when suddenly Max decided to go for a late lunge on Norris into Turn 1, implementing both a defensive and offensive move: braking late to fend off Leclerc and take the battle to Norris, which would give Verstappen P2 and cause the Ferrari and McLaren to fight it out for the last podium spot. It was a beautiful display of racecraft through the esses, all three drivers’ front wings to back wings, looking for a single opportunity to make a pass. Verstappen began to pull away, but the battle between Norris and Leclerc was heating up. Leclerc made an attempt on the outside of Turn 12, which was unsuccessful, but gave Leclerc the momentum to make another attempt on the outside of Turn 13, putting plenty of pressure on Norris, who would lock up his brakes, giving Leclerc the opportunity to make the pass on the inside of Turn 14, putting him up to P3; the battle for P2 was on. After a hard-fought battle, the fresher tires of Leclerc would give him the upper hand, providing him with the grip to make a pass on Verstappen for P2 and drive away for the remainder of the Grand Prix.
Another victory added to the tally for Kimi Antonelli, making this his 9th win of the season, with Charles Leclerc crossing the line in a well-deserved P2, followed by Verstappen in P3. Lewis Hamilton was only a second behind Verstappen, and if he had one more lap, it would have been a Ferrari 2-3, but Verstappen drove consistently, leading to a P4 result for Hamilton. After a bit of a rough day, Lando Norris brought his McLaren home in P5, followed by Isack Hadjar in P6, Oscar Piastri in P7, George Russell in P8, Liam Lawson in the points once again in P9, and another points finish for Pierre Gasly in P10.
While it wasn’t the most exciting race of the season, there were plenty of highlights: from botched pit stops to on-track drama between teammates to last-lap down-to-the-wire passes and maneuvers, it was a good race from start to finish. Luckily for us fans, we don’t have to wait too long, as this coming weekend brings the festivities of Mexico City at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. We’ll see you in the next recap.
