Title Antonelli can be champion in Mexico: ninth place or better and the title is hisRecap Antonelli wins from pole in Austin, his ninth win of 2026, ahead of Leclerc and VerstappenVerdict JP's Verdict: Austin scores 8.5, "the most balanced event of the season"Standings Nine points cover Russell, Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc in the fight for secondPreview Next up: the Mexico City Grand Prix, Oct 30–Nov 1, Round 19 of 23News Rwanda signs a 10-year deal for an African Grand Prix, first race in the early 2030s
Next session: Practice 1 · Mexico City GP
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Mexico City Grand Prix4.304 KM
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
Mexico City GP Race Week · Round 19
Race preview · Round 19
Ninth place in Mexico and Antonelli is world champion
Kimi Antonelli arrives in Mexico City 123 points clear with 125 left. Finish ninth or higher on Sunday and the title is his, whatever anyone else does. Even if he scores nothing, only a win for George Russell or Lewis Hamilton keeps the championship alive.
F1 is going back to Africa: Rwanda signs a 10-year deal for an African Grand Prix
Formula 1 has agreed a 10-year deal with Rwanda to stage the African Grand Prix, the sport's first race on the continent since the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami. It was announced in Kigali on Tuesday, with President Paul Kagame and F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali.
There is no date yet. The race is aimed at the early 2030s, 2030 at the earliest, because the circuit still has to be built: a new permanent road course at Bugesera, about 40 km south of Kigali, next to the country's new international airport, which is due to open in the second half of 2028.
Carsten Tilke and former F1 driver Alex Wurz have designed a layout of around 6 km with 17 corners, run anti-clockwise between two hills that form a natural grandstand and alongside a lake. Wurz called it a roller coaster: the lap rises and falls 197 metres in total, almost twice Spa-Francorchamps' 102, and it includes a kilometre-long back straight into a hairpin. The design is finished and now moves into engineering.
33 years away
F1's last race in Africa was the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami. Rwanda formally bid to bring it back in December 2024.
Built for the hills
A natural road course rather than a street circuit, with 197 metres of elevation change a lap and a long back straight that sets up an overtaking spot into the hairpin.
Still to come
The first race date, the final track length (reports range from 5.3 to about 6 km) and the construction milestones will be announced later, F1 says.
No circuit drawing yet: the track is not built and no official layout data has been published, so we will add one when it is.
Antonelli wins from pole in Austin, two points short of the title
Kimi Antonelli turned pole into his ninth win of the season at the Circuit of The Americas, 13.078 seconds clear of Charles Leclerc, with Max Verstappen third. He made a single stop, from mediums to hards on lap 24, while Leclerc and Verstappen both stopped twice; Antonelli passed Leclerc for the lead at Turn 12 on lap 33 and was never troubled again.
The win takes him to 365 points, 123 clear of George Russell with 125 left. Two more points in Austin and he would have been champion; instead the title can be settled in Mexico City on Sunday.
UNITED STATES GP · CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS · OCT 25, 2026
Leclerc stopped on laps 15 and 39 and Verstappen on laps 13 and 31; the Ferrari came out ahead in their two-stop duel to finish second, 4.4 seconds up on the Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton, also on two stops, recovered to fourth by passing Lando Norris on lap 51. Isack Hadjar was sixth and Oscar Piastri seventh.
George Russell's race unravelled on the opening lap: defending from Piastri, he left the track at Turn 12 and rejoined ahead, and the stewards gave him a five-second penalty for gaining a lasting advantage. He served it at his only stop, on lap 22, and finished eighth. Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly took the last points. Oliver Bearman retired with damage after contact with Gasly, and Valtteri Bottas and Franco Colapinto both stopped with engine failures.
One stop beat two
Antonelli's lap-24 switch to hards carried him to the flag, while the two-stoppers behind him spent a second 24-second trip through the pit lane.
Championship shift
The lead grows from 102 to 123. Russell's eighth keeps him second, but only a point ahead of Hamilton, with Verstappen and Leclerc within nine.
Looking ahead
Mexico City is next, a week later. Ninth place or better on Sunday makes Antonelli champion, whatever anyone else does.
Standings · Fight for second
Four drivers, nine points: the race to be runner-up goes to the wire
Behind Antonelli, Austin squeezed the battle for second place tight. George Russell has 242 points, Lewis Hamilton 241, Max Verstappen 236 and Charles Leclerc 233, with five Grands Prix left.
Leclerc's second place and Hamilton's fourth took Ferrari 30 points in Austin, while Russell's penalty left him with four. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull's 23 points drew them level with McLaren on 355, and Red Bull now hold third on countback.
Round 19 · Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez · Oct 30–Nov 1
Kimi Antonelli arrives in Mexico City 123 points ahead of George Russell, with 125 still available. Finish ninth or higher on Sunday and he is world champion, whatever anyone else does. Even if he scores nothing, only a win for Russell or Lewis Hamilton keeps the title open.
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez hosts a standard weekend: three practice sessions, qualifying on Saturday and the 71-lap race on Sunday at 2pm local time. Pirelli has moved a step softer than last year and brings the softest three compounds in its range: the C3 as the hard, the C4 as the medium and the C5 as the soft.
Tyre compounds
The track runs 4.304 km over 17 turns and sits more than 2,200 metres above sea level, the highest on the calendar. The thin air cuts drag and downforce, so teams run their highest-downforce settings yet still see some of the year's top speeds on the long run from the grid to Turn 1, more than a kilometre, before the lap ends through the old baseball stadium. It is also Sergio Pérez's home race, in his first season with Cadillac.
The title maths
After Mexico, 100 points remain. Ninth place gives Antonelli a lead of at least 100 over Russell, and even a tie would go his way on wins. Tenth is enough unless Russell wins; no points is enough unless Russell or Hamilton wins.
Fight for second
Russell 242, Hamilton 241, Verstappen 236, Leclerc 233: nine points cover four drivers in the battle to be runner-up.
Form guide
Verstappen has won here five times, more than anyone. Lando Norris won last year from pole, and Leclerc has been on the podium in each of the last three races here.
