2026 F1 United States Grand Prix - Austin Driver Ratings

Kimi Antonelli moved to the cusp of the F1 world title with a stunning performance in the United States Grand Prix.

He now just requires a ninth-place finish to be assured of the crown in Mexico City next time out - but was his performance good enough to earn a perfect 10 in our driver ratings?

And just how poor was team-mate George Russell's performance?

Read on below to find out! 

© XPB Images

The top five

Kimi Antonelli - 10

Faultless. Nailed his qualifying lap out of nowhere to earn a stunning pole position, and take any danger out of the race if he'd been in the mid-pack for the start and Turn 1. Made a one-stop strategy work and won by 13s in a commanding performance. Drive of a champion. 

Liam Lawson - 9.5

Maximised his result in both qualifying and the race, and played the team game by not running in Q3 to ensure Lindblad officially took P9, which would then become P14 on the grid with the penalty, instead of P15. On a weekend the top four teams all finished, ninth was the maximum possible, and he did a fantastic job to finish just 25s behind a works Mercedes - which was the fastest car in race trim - in Antonelli's hands anyway. 

Charles Leclerc - 9 

Dominant on Friday and made a stunning overtake on the opening lap and put manners on Verstappen into the Esses. Strong charge to come back on his two-stop and steal second place away from the Red Bull. The only blip was qualifying and the sudden track temperature changes, which rocked Ferrari - but he still got ahead of Hamilton on the grid - and made amends by passing both Red Bulls in the first 30 seconds.

Max Verstappen - 9 

Was unhappy with Red Bull's strategy, but so nearly rescued second place, only to settle for third. Another strong performance and keeps the momentum building. Made up for his poor first half of the opening lap quickly by the end of it.

Pierre Gasly - 8 

Like Lawson, the best Gasly could have hoped for was P10, given the big four teams all finished and Lawson's Racing Bulls was quicker than the Alpine, and kept Lawson honest.

© XPB Images

The bottom five

Carlos Sainz - 5 

A difficult weekend for Williams - and Sainz gets the assigned par score. Beat his team-mate by a healthy margin in qualifying, but finished behind in the race.

Valtteri Bottas - 5 

Nothing overly wrong with his performance, but just as rumours are beginning to swirl about his future, he needs to deliver more than he is showing. 0.080s slower than Perez in qualifying was good, and he was running behind in the race. Has to show more.

Franco Colapinto - 5 

The par score for the Alpine driver whose race ended after 35 laps with an engine issue. 

Oscar Piastri - 4.5

Eight-tenths slower than Norris in Q1, three-tenths in Q2, and was originally behind in Q3 before Norris got a time deleted for track limits, which put Piastri ahead on the grid. Got told to move out of the way of Norris as he was struggling so much, and then proceeded to finish 22s behind his team-mate on the same strategy - over a pit-stop. Does earn some credit back for keeping Russell behind for so long.

George Russell - 3

Dreadful performance, but the worrying thing is that he does not have any immediate answers about what went so badly wrong and why he is struggling. Was on the pace in Q2, but Antonelli put nearly four-and-a-half tenths on him in Q3. In the race, Antonelli finished 54.3s clear as the title race was all but ended. The penalty was extremely harsh and not deserved, and dropped him behind Piastri - but was unable to pass a McLaren which appeared not to be able to get out of its own way.

2026 F1 United States Grand Prix - Austin Driver Ratings

Driver	Race rating	Season average
Kimi Antonelli	10	8.8
Liam Lawson	9.5	7.6
Charles Leclerc	9	7.5
Max Verstappen	9	8.2
Pierre Gasly	8	7.3
Lewis Hamilton	7.5	7.4
Lando Norris	7	7.4
Arvid Lindblad	7	7.2
Isack Hadjar	6.5	7.2
Nico Hulkenberg	6.5	6.6
Lance Stroll	6.5	4.9
Fernando Alonso	6.5	6.0
Oliver Bearman	6.5	5.9
Gabriel Bortoleto	6	6.4
Sergio Perez	6	5.7
Esteban Ocon	5.5	5.8
Alex Albon	5	5.4
Carlos Sainz	5	5.7
Valtteri Bottas	5	5.0
Franco Colapinto	5	6.1
Oscar Piastri	4.5	6.5
George Russell	3	6.9
Yuki Tsunoda	-	7.0