F1 United States Qualifying: Important Takeaways For Sunday's Race

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli ticked his first checkbox in his bid to clinch the championship in the 2026 F1 United States Grand Prix. The championship leader produced a scintillating first run in the final session of qualifying, giving himself enough cushion to start from pole on Sunday.

Along with Antonelli's championship hunt, there are plenty more exciting things to monitor in Sunday's race. Take a look.

After winning the last two races, Red Bull was pegged as the team to beat this weekend. They couldn't beat Antonelli in the final qualifying session, but Red Bull is still poised to attack from the get-go.

Max Verstappen will start in the front row alongside Antonelli, while his teammate Isack Hadjar starts from third. Having two cars in the top three gives Red Bull more strategic options than Mercedes. Look for Verstappen to go all-in in attacking Antonelli into Turn 1. 

After sweeping the three practice sessions, Ferrari botched qualifying once again. They just didn't have an answer to the pace of Mercedes and Red Bull in front. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will have to start Sunday's race from fourth and fifth, respectively.

If Hamilton can't climb his way through the podium places, he might lose third place in the Drivers' Standings to Verstappen.

George Russell couldn't find the pace in Q3, losing out to his teammate and settling for a P6 start tomorrow. If Antonelli wins the race and Hamilton settles for P6 or lower, Russell has to finish the race in P8, at the very least. Otherwise, it's over for his championship aspirations.

Russell will be hard-pressed to make up places at the start. Two McLaren drivers are on his rear view, so he should amp up the pace early on.

Crucially for McLaren, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris could only manage a P7 and P8 start on Sunday. And more importantly for them, the two Red Bull cars of Verstappen and Hadjar will start second and third. McLaren only has a seven-point lead over Red Bull for third place in the Teams' Standings. 

If Piastri and Norris couldn't make their way to the top, they'll lose third place to the charging Red Bulls.

Alpine needed to put themselves in position to score points on Sunday, but Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto failed to advance to Q3. Moreover, the Racing Bulls, the team they're chasing in the midfield, will start P9 and P10.

Alpine will rely heavily on Gasly's exploits again, particularly in overtaking Racing Bulls drivers Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson in front of him. If he can't pull it off, Alpine might kiss their midfield hopes goodbye.