US Grand Prix 2026: Antonelli on pole in Austin and can win the F1 title tonight, race at 1am PKT

Kimi Antonelli will start the United States Grand Prix in Austin from pole position, and the Mercedes driver can be crowned Formula 1 world champion tonight. The race starts at 1am PKT on Monday 26 October (8pm GMT on Sunday), BBC Sport reported.

The 20-year-old Italian beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 0.179 seconds with a lap of 1:34.035, his first pole since the Belgian Grand Prix in July.

How Antonelli wins the title in Austin

Antonelli becomes champion on Sunday if three things happen:

1. He wins the race.
2. Lewis Hamilton finishes lower than fourth.
3. George Russell finishes lower than eighth.

Hamilton starts fifth and Russell sixth, so both are already outside those places on the grid. If either climbs high enough, or Antonelli does not win, the title fight goes on to the next round.

US Grand Prix 2026 starting grid: top 10 in qualifying

Lindblad drops five places for using too many engine parts. Fernando Alonso qualified 14th for Aston Martin but starts 12th after penalties for Lindblad, Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine's Franco Colapinto.

A surprise pole

Ferrari had topped all three practice sessions and Verstappen looked strong in Q2, so Antonelli's pole came as a surprise even to his own engineer, Peter Bonnington. "We got pole so we will try to win tomorrow but Max has been very quick and Isack did an incredible job so it is not going to be easy," Antonelli said.

Verstappen said his car lacked grip in the final session, while Leclerc blamed tyres that cooled as the track did. Russell said he made "a couple of mistakes" in Q3. Norris had his best time deleted for track limits.

Watching from Pakistan

Lights out is at 1am PKT on Monday, a late night for fans here, with the race usually lasting around an hour and a half. UK clocks went back today, which is why the BBC lists the start as 8pm GMT. The Express Tribune also previewed Antonelli's title bid. If you pay for an F1 streaming pass in dollars, our currency converter and dollar rate page show the rupee cost today.