Red Bull implode at bumpy Austin as Kimi Antonelli closes in on F1 history - Winners & Losers from the United States GP

A commanding United States Grand Prix win has put Kimi Antonelli within sight of becoming F1's youngest world champion, while Red Bull's weekend unravelled amid fresh RB22 complaints, and COTA's notorious bumps again drew fire from the grid.

Let's check out the winners and losers from the USGP.

Winner - Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Antonelli took pole, which even surprised Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who was fully expecting his drivers to be third to fifth on the grid, and converted it into a comfortable victory.

With George Russell a lowly eighth and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton fourth, Antonelli holds a 123-point lead over his team-mate, whilst the seven-time F1 champion is 124 points adrift, with only 125 points available. Becoming champion is a foregone conclusion.

With Antonelli now expected to wrap up the title at Sunday's race in Mexico City, he would beat Sebastian Vettel's long-standing record as F1's youngest champion by more than three years.

In Austin, though, it was as easy a weekend as the 20-year-old Italian could have wished for given the pressure on his young shoulders.

Winner - Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc arrived at COTA with Ferrari's fourth and final major 2026 upgrade, a reworked floor, sidepods and diffuser.

After Leclerc finished quickest in both practice sessions on Friday, and would have completed a clean sweep but for a track limits violation that left him third, the Monégasque would have felt confident of challenging for pole position.

Ferrari's one-lap disappeared in Q3, in particular, leaving Leclerc and team-mate Lewis Hamilton starting from fourth and fifth on the grid.

Following a stunning overtake of Max Verstappen through the Esses on lap one that momentarily placed him second, Leclerc was never able to challenge for the victory.

His race pace, however, was strong, particularly on his final stint, allowing him to finish as runner-up to Antonelli, whilst also setting the fastest lap of 1:37.976.

Winner - Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson finished best of the rest in ninth behind the drivers of the 'big four' teams - Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren - despite his future at Racing Bulls remaining unresolved.

The New Zealander has conceded that he has no clarity on when Red Bull will decide his 2027 fate, with Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov in the running for the seat.

Lawson, though, again delivered when it mattered, with his overall consistency continuing to make the uncertainty harder to justify.

Losers - Red Bull

Following Max Verstappen's victories in the previous two races in Malaysia and Singapore, a hat-trick was expected, but Red Bull fell below its recent high standards across the Austin weekend.

Although Verstappen started from second on the grid, at no stage did he threaten Antonelli's dominance following a sluggish start that saw him passed by Leclerc, who, along with Hamilton, also surged past Isack Hadjar on the opening lap.

Verstappen eventually finished third and Hadjar sixth. Both were far from happy after the race, with the four-time F1 champion and his team-mate bemoaning numerous issues with their RB22s after the race. Hadjar, in particular, said his clutch needed a redesign.

Along with recurring radio problems for both drivers during the race, it was an event that has left the Milton Keynes-based squad with plenty to investigate.

Loser - George Russell

George Russell was again overshadowed by his Mercedes team-mate, qualifying sixth to Antonelli's pole before picking up a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage off-track at Turn 12, albeit mitigated due to it being a first-lap incident.

Across the weekend, though, at no stage did Russell appear to possess the pace that would allow him to challenge for pole, and then even a podium.

The penalty, served at his only pit stop, dropped him behind the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, which was crucial for his race as Russell then encountered a roadblock in the Australian, in particular.

Russell eventually crossed the line eighth, and is now 123 points behind Antonelli, with 125 available. The title is gone, but he now needs answers as to why he is suddenly struggling so much in order to at least provide himself with a platform going into next year.

Loser - Circuit of the Americas

Without doubt, the Circuit of the Americas is one of the best tracks on the calendar, and arguably, it would be the best in the eyes of the drivers if it could find a cure for its notorious, ever-present problem - the bumps.

The track again faced criticism over its surface, with drivers citing the persistent bumps through sector one and the heavy braking zones in particular, despite recent resurfacing work.

Track boss Bobby Epstein countered the strong words of Max Verstappen, most notably, by stating his circuit was fine, except for a dip on the approach to Turn 1 which, by his own admission, he described as "unacceptable".

Verstappen countered by stating that Epstein should drive five laps in his Red Bull to fully appreciate his perspective.

Given the 'soft', shifting land on which the track was built, the issue of the bumps is unlikely to ever go away for as long as F1 races at COTA.