How Kimi Antonelli can win the F1 title at the US Grand Prix this weekend

By News on SantoshHub Oct 21, 2026 0

Italian F1 driver Kimi Antonelli has his first chance to win the world championship this weekend, as the 20-year-old closes in on a maiden title in just his second season.

The Mercedes driver has been a class above the rest in 2026, with eight grand prix wins and a further six podium places across 17 rounds.

This Monday’s (AEDT) United States Grand Prix will be Antonelli’s first match point where he can officially seal a championship that has felt like his for many months.

The equation for Kimi Antonelli is very simple: win and hope for other results.

Antonelli enters this weekend’s grand prix on 340 points, 102 more than teammate George Russell and 111 ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

The Italian needs to have a lead of 125 points or more to seal the drivers’ championship at the United States Grand Prix.

That will happen if Antonelli wins the race, Russell finishes ninth or worse, and Hamilton finishes fifth or worse.

Antonelli	Russell	Hamilton	Championship result
Win	9th or lower	5th or lower	Antonelli becomes champion
Win	8th or better	5th or lower	Hamilton eliminated
Win	9th or lower	4th or better	Russell eliminated
Win	8th or better	5th or lower	Championship remains alive
2nd or lower	Any	Any	Championship remains alive

After this weekend, there will be five grands prix left in the season — Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

There will be a maximum of 125 points left to win.

If Antonelli finishes exactly 125 points ahead of either Russell or Hamilton in Texas, mathematically either of those drivers could end the season level on points — if they won every race and Antonelli failed to score another point.

Even in that unlikely scenario, Antonelli would still become champion through a tie-break, having won more grands prix than the others.