Kimi Antonelli scores pole-to-win victory in round 18, notching ninth win of season; a top-9 finish in next round would clinch first drivers' world championship title

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team takes the top spot again after Kimi Antonelli wins the 2026 F1 World Championship Round 18 United States Grand Prix on Sunday (local time). [Mercedes-Benz Korea]
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team takes the top spot again after Kimi Antonelli wins the 2026 F1 World Championship Round 18 United States Grand Prix on Sunday (local time). [Mercedes-Benz Korea]

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team announced Monday that it had again taken the top position at the 2026 F1 World Championship after Kimi Antonelli won Round 18 at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday (local time).

Antonelli set a qualifying time of 1:34.035 to start from pole position on Sunday, then led all 56 laps of the race to take the checkered flag in 1:35:16.650, completing a pole-to-win victory. The win moved Antonelli to 365 points in the drivers' world championship standings, 123 points clear of second place. A finish of ninth or better in Round 19 would clinch the 2026 season title for him.

"I felt pressure throughout the race, but I stayed calm and focused on every lap to get the win," Antonelli said. "I'm really happy to be able to repay the whole team with a victory — everyone who works so hard to put me on track in the best possible condition."

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team leads the constructors' championship this season with 607 points, 133 points ahead of the second-place team. The team heads next to the Mexico Grand Prix, which begins Saturday.

The team has been competing this season with the Mercedes-AMG F1 W17 E Performance machine.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Korea has been broadening its customer reach through marketing activities across various fields, including the launch in July of the Mercedes-AMG GT 43 — an entry-level model in the high-performance AMG GT sports car lineup featuring an electronically motorized exhaust gas turbocharger derived from Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team technology.


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