Antonelli’s Austin win falls just short of season-best margin

Charles Leclerc cut nearly two seconds from Kimi Antonelli’s winning margin on the final lap of the United States Grand Prix. The gain left Antonelli just short of surpassing his season-best 13.7-second margin over Oscar Piastri in Japan earlier in the year, former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer writes.

Palmer says the Austin drive was far less eye-catching than some of Antonelli’s other wins this season. Even so, he reports that Toto Wolff called it the Italian’s best race and says he understands why Antonelli’s boss was so impressed.

In qualifying before the race, Antonelli took pole, a result Mercedes had considered a long shot, Palmer writes. He says Austin is among the hardest places to hold the lead from pole at the start: the run to the first corner is wide, and drivers starting second have historically tended to launch better and get a chance to attack the lead.