Motor racing-Antonelli wins US Grand Prix but must wait for title

Formula One F1 - United States Grand Prix - Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, U.S. - October 25, 2026 Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli celebrates after winning the United States Grand Prix REUTERS/Mike Segar

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct 25 (Reuters) - ⁠Kimi Antonelli won the US Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday to stand on ⁠the brink of becoming Formula One's youngest ever champion in Mexico next weekend.

The 20-year-old ‌Italian did all he could to put the championship out of reach of his rivals in Texas but Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes teammate George Russell did just enough to delay the inevitable with fourth and eighth respectively.

Antonelli now ​needs to score only two points -- a ninth place -- in ⁠Mexico City to be sure of the ⁠title.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished second, 13.078 seconds behind, in Sunday's race at Austin's Circuit of the ⁠Americas ‌with Red Bull's Max Verstappen third and helped by a late virtual safety car that slowed a chasing Hamilton who finished one second down the road.

The dominant win from ⁠pole position on a one-stop strategy was Antonelli's ninth of the ​season and he now ‌leads Russell by 123 points, and Hamilton by 124 with a maximum 125 remaining to be ⁠won and that ​reducing to 100 after Mexico.

"It was the result we needed and the whole team deserve it so much," said Antonelli."I know we're very close. We try to finish on a high and hopefully we can clinch ⁠it very soon".

McLaren's reigning championLando Norris finished fifth with ​Red Bull's Isack Hadjar sixth, and ahead of McLaren's OscarPiastri.

Liam Lawson was ninth for Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly took the final point for Alpine.

Antonelli made a flying getaway and was 2.3 seconds clear ⁠at the end of the opening lap while the Ferrari pair took the fight to slow-startingVerstappen for second place.

Leclerc went ahead, before being passed again by the Red Bull, and nearly made contact with Hamilton after the uphill scramble off the grid.

The virtual safety car was briefly deployed on ​lap two to allow marshals to clear debris and Russell was ⁠handed a five second penalty for gaining an advantage on Piastri on the opening lap at Turn ​13.

"I was on the inside, he was overtaking on the ‌outside, that's his risk," said Russell over the radio ​before the punishment.

Haas's Ollie Bearman also collected a 10 second penalty for causing a collision withGasly and retired at the half-distance.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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一级方程式赛车（F1）——美国大奖赛——美国德克萨斯州奥斯汀美洲赛道——2026年10月25日，梅赛德斯车队的安德烈亚·基米·安东内利在赢得美国大奖赛后庆祝。（路透社/迈克·塞加尔摄）

德克萨斯州奥斯汀，10 月 25 日（路透社）——基米·安东内利周日为梅赛德斯车队赢得了美国大奖赛冠军，下周末在墨西哥，他有望成为一级方程式赛车历史上最年轻的世界冠军。

这位 20 岁的意大利车手在德克萨斯州竭尽全力想要将冠军拱手让给对手，但法拉利的刘易斯·汉密尔顿和梅赛德斯的队友乔治·拉塞尔分别获得第四名和第八名，勉强延缓了冠军的到来。

安东内利现在只需要在墨西哥城拿到两分——第九名——就能确保获得冠军。

法拉利车队的查尔斯·勒克莱尔在周日于奥斯汀美洲赛道举行的比赛中获得第二名，落后13.078秒，红牛车队的马克斯·维斯塔潘获得第三名。比赛后期虚拟安全车的出现帮助了维斯塔潘，该车减缓了紧随其后的汉密尔顿的速度，汉密尔顿最终落后一秒完赛。

安东内利凭借一停策略从杆位发车并取得压倒性胜利，这是他本赛季的第九场胜利，目前他领先拉塞尔 123 分，领先汉密尔顿 124 分，最多还有 125 分可以赢得，墨西哥站之后将减少到 100 分。

“这是我们想要的结果，全队都配得上这份荣誉，”安东内利说道。“我知道我们离胜利非常接近。我们力争以一场胜利完美收官，希望很快就能锁定胜局。”

迈凯伦车队的卫冕冠军兰多·诺里斯获得第五名，红牛车队的伊萨克·哈贾尔获得第六名，领先于迈凯伦车队的奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里。

利亚姆·劳森代表 Racing Bulls 获得第九名，皮埃尔·加斯利代表 Alpine 获得最后一分。

安东内利起步飞快，在第一圈结束时领先 2.3 秒，而法拉利车队的两位车手则与起步较慢的维斯塔潘争夺第二名。

勒克莱尔一度领先，但随后又被红牛赛车超越，在发车区上坡争夺中，他几乎与汉密尔顿发生碰撞。

虚拟安全车在第二圈短暂出动，以便赛道工作人员清理碎片，而拉塞尔因在第一圈第 13 号弯超越皮亚斯特里而被罚 5 秒。

“我当时在内侧，他从外侧超车，那是他的风险，”拉塞尔在处罚前通过无线电说道。

哈斯车队的奥利·贝尔曼因与加斯利发生碰撞而被罚时 10 秒，并在比赛进行到一半时退出了比赛。

（艾伦·鲍德温报道，普里塔·萨卡尔编辑）

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