2026 United States Grand Prix – Race Report

Circuit of The Americas, Sunday, 25 October

Find out what happened during the United States Grand Prix, and get the thoughts of McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, as well as Team Principal, Andrea Stella.

A decent Sunday in Austin saw the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team turn a disappointing Qualifying result into solid race day points, with Lando Norris climbing from P8 to P5 and Oscar Piastri finishing P7. The MCL40 showed podium challenging pace, helped by a positive contribution from the team’s upgrades. 

Good strategic decisions, teamwork and strong drives from both drivers maximised the result as Lando demonstrated impressive pace and Oscar delivered a flawless defensive drive to keep George Russell behind in the closing stages. Although fifth and seventh fell short of the team’s ambitions going into the weekend, today’s performance underlined that there was potential in the car to fight for the podium.  

The team approached the race without adopting an obsequious attitude towards the Qualifying result, with the desire to show that the position of the two cars on the grid did not reflect the true potential of the MCL40. Before the start, the strategic options were heavily open between the one and two stop with a diverse possibility in tyre compounds combinations. In the end, both drivers completed the race on a single Medium-Hard stop, once it was clear that the hardest compound was the most effective of the range available. 

Both drivers had faced the challenge of one-lap pace on the Soft tyre all through practice and into Qualifying – but despite starting the race in P7 and P8, the long-run pace looked to be on a par with the cars ahead. Strategy was going to be all-important, and they both opted for a Medium tyre start, as did Mercedes, but not Red Bull or Ferrari, who went Soft.  

Oscar and Lando held positions at the start, with Oscar pressuring Russell into the braking zone at the end of the back straight. Russell held the position but ran off track to do so and was given a five-second penalty.  

The team’s first strategy decision was to swap the drivers on Lap 8, once it was clear that Lando had better pace and therefore more chances to fight with the cars ahead. The team and drivers had previously discussed the various scenarios, and this was one of the options on the table. The first round of pit stops began soon after, with Oscar swapping a Medium for a Hard on Lap 15 and Lando electing to follow a lap later. This put both cars into two-stop territory but with potential to do an offset one-stop.  

Not all of the leading pack elected to stop, with the Mercedes and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar going very deep. Russell pitted on Lap 22, Andrea Kimi Antonelli on 24 and Hadjar on 25. Lando and Oscar had both undercut Russell, but Lando’s strong pace had also got him ahead of Hadjar.  

Max Verstappen was the first to commit to two-stops, pitting on Lap 31, Lewis Hamilton followed on 38 and Charles Leclerc on 39. This lifted Lando up to P2. There was relatively little for him to lose at that point by staying out, and so he converted to a one-stop, hoping also for a possible Safety Car that would have been a great opportunity. This scenario did not materialise, so Lando gradually dropped back through the field as the cars with a tyre delta came through, but having plenty in hand to stay ahead of Hadjar and consolidate P5.  

Oscar’s second part of the afternoon was challenging. Russell had a seven-lap tyre advantage and closed the gap rapidly. The Australian had a fluid strategy: willing to stay out while he could hold Russell at bay but prepared to make a second stop if he fell behind. Russell came at him hard, but in waves, closing up into Overtaking Mode range, then dropping back. Oscar survived several assaults, each with a little more comfort. He ended the race 1.6s ahead, having had the Mercedes large in his mirrors for the last 20 laps.  

Overall, it was a day of collecting good points for the team, with the car demonstrating strong pace that will serve it well on the high-downforce tracks to come. Attention now turns to Mexico City, and the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. 

“I feel I drove a strong race today and gave myself the best possible shot at a top result. Our pace on the Hard tyres was particularly strong, but to stay in contention and capitalise on potential Safety Car periods, I had to push the car well beyond its comfort zone. Ultimately, paying the price for that in the second stint meant fifth place was the absolute maximum we could achieve, and I am satisfied that we maximised our package under the circumstances. 

“The reality remains that we are still lacking the outright pace needed to challenge higher up the grid. It was clear this weekend. Qualifying performance and car predictability remain our main priorities to address, but the team continues to do a fantastic job, and I am confident that if we resolve these key areas, we will secure strong results across the remaining races.” 

"P7 today. A tricky day out there. We just didn’t have the pace in the car, and we continued to struggle, as we have all weekend. The Hard compound was good, so we were able to extend to a one-stop strategy, having initially planned for a two-stopper, which helped us manage the track position in the second stint and keep George behind, which was positive. The strategy was strong, we had a solid start and pit stop, we just didn’t have the pace to be able to make up any places. When you find the window on these cars, there is some pace but finding that window is very tricky. 

“Looking ahead to Mexico, we will review what we can from here to take into the weekend, where the combination of low grip and high altitude may prove tricky for us. But we’ll do what we can and keep pushing to add more performance to the car, so that we can maximise the lap time and pace.”

Andrea Stella

Team Principal

“A decent Sunday following a disappointing Saturday: that sums up the weekend in Austin. Today’s race showed that the MCL40 is still capable of fighting for the podium, but it’s clear that our position on the starting grid made that goal virtually unattainable. There is a shared sense of frustration across the whole team at not having fully exploited our potential during Qualifying, but it is up to us to try and do better.   

“The team and the drivers worked very well, both in terms of strategic decisions and driving on the track, and the upgrades we brought here made a positive contribution: Lando showed excellent pace and Oscar drove a strong race, holding off Russell’s Mercedes for around thirty laps without ever giving him a chance to overtake. I was also pleased to see how our drivers worked together on the track, keeping in mind what the priority is, namely McLaren Mastercard’s best interests.  

“Clearly, a fifth and a seventh place are not results we can be satisfied with, but we must accept it and work to improve. We want to end the season on a high and aim not only to fight for the podium but also for victory, with the aim of finishing the Championship in at least third place.”