Kimi Antonelli took another step towards the 2026 world title with a superb display at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin. But who else impressed our Power Rankings judges?
Check out the latest scores and overall leaderboard below…
Antonelli delivered a Qualifying and Grand Prix performance worthy of a World Champion last weekend – charging to both pole position and the race win. Despite Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc’s best efforts, the young Italian was simply unstoppable, and he now has another finger on the 2026 Drivers’ Championship trophy.
As the wait goes on to find out if he will keep his seat for 2027, Liam Lawson made another statement to Red Bull and Racing Bulls chiefs in the United States with his latest Q3 showing and points result. He has now scored in 13 of the 17 Grands Prix he has finished this year, and only appears to be growing in confidence and maturity.
After topping Friday practice and leading the way in Q2, Leclerc was left searching for answers when he ended up P4 in Qualifying – track conditions appearing to move away from Ferrari at the critical moment. He made up for it at the race start by passing Isack Hadjar off the line and then Verstappen with a bold move through the esses, and ended the day as Antonelli’s nearest challenger.
Verstappen arrived in Austin off the back of victories in Malaysia and Singapore, and he seemed to be in the mix for another win when he qualified on the front row of the grid. Race day was more of a challenge for the Dutchman, though, with a compromised start, a tyre strategy that he openly questioned and various technical issues. Nonetheless, he battled on and came away with a podium.
Pierre Gasly continued to wring the neck of Alpine’s package at the Circuit of The Americas, with the Frenchman getting close to Q3 in Qualifying and taking the fight to the cars ahead on race day. A well-earned point, which denied Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and the other Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad, was his reward this time out – even after picking up damage in a scrap with Haas’ Ollie Bearman (for which the latter earned a penalty).
Lewis Hamilton started Sunday’s race from fifth position, just behind team mate Leclerc, but lost ground to the front-runners in the opening stint after lining up with used tyres – the only driver in the field to do so. His “biggest issue” as the encounter progressed, however, was the SF-26’s balance feeling “off”. A more competitive final stint saw him close back in on the podium places, but he ultimately had to settle for fourth.
Hadjar was one of the stars of Qualifying at the Circuit of The Americas with his P3 effort – sorting out an “undriveable” Red Bull in Friday practice to finish just a few hundredths down on team mate Verstappen. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, after that strong recovery, “everything went wrong” in the race. Like Verstappen, he was left frustrated by a sluggish start, before getting stuck in an incorrect engine map following a pit stop, which heavily compromised his pace en route to a P6 result.
You could forgive Hulkenberg for having nightmares about the number 11 this season – given how many times he has finished there in Qualifying sessions and Grands Prix. After coming close to Q3, and putting up a spirited midfield fight on race day, 11th proved to be the maximum for the German. It was another very solid performance, though, as Audi continue to lay foundations for the future.
Lando Norris was a man of few words after a track limits violation left him eighth on the grid for the United States Grand Prix – the McLaren man stating that he did a “c*** job”. He managed to make some progress during the race to turn that into a more respectable fifth position, comfortably ahead of team mate Oscar Piastri, as both drivers stuck it out on ageing tyres and adopted a one-stop strategy.
Despite some pre-race technical concerns over his car, Fernando Alonso enjoyed a strong start to Sunday’s Grand Prix – rising from 15th to 12th and knocking on the door of the points-paying positions. However, in his own words, the damage sustained from contact with Williams’ Alex Albon “compromised everything for us”. Alonso eventually had to pit for a new front wing, which dropped him down the order, but there were at least some performance positives to take away from the weekend.
Lindblad headed into the Austin weekend knowing he would be taking an engine-related grid penalty. That turned a strong P9 on the grid (after team mate Lawson opted against running) into P14, and left him with an uphill struggle to score points. After early contact with Carlos Sainz’s Williams, he gave it his all to recover the lost ground and make it back into the top-10 positions, but 12th was the limit in a fiercely competitive midfield fight.
Missing out
Just missing out on this week’s Power Rankings leaderboard are Haas’ Esteban Ocon (14th, after clearing team mate Bearman early on) and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto (13th, from a back-of-the-grid engine penalty).
