F1 United States GP: Follow the race at Austin with live timing

Verstappen: Antonelli doesn't need any advice to clinch title

Max Verstappen has been in the title battle frame many times before, he's a four-time F1 champion after all. 

But he feels that Antonelli 'knows what he's doing' - and only suggested that the 20-year-old should focus on enjoying himself. 

"He doesn't need that. He knows what he's doing, so he just needs to try and win the race. If it doesn't happen here, it will happen next weekend. If it doesn't happen next weekend, it will happen the weekend after.

"So, I think it's just been an incredible season, so you have to also just try and enjoy this kind of ride of the last few months that you've been in. At one point, of course, it's official, and then you can celebrate probably a little bit."

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Poleman Antonelli: Mercedes has made a good step with updates

The Mercedes aero package brought to the Sepang race took a little bit of time to understand, and the team's back-to-back experiments in Singapore appears to have brought it some greater insight.

With the full trio of practice sessions available at Austin, Antonelli believes the team has continued to make big steps in getting the most out of the latest-spec car - helped by the new front wing available this weekend. 

"[Qualifying] was not an easy session. The wind was picking up and was being quite gusty, and Q3 was a little bit tricky because the wind was a bit unpredictable. It picked up as well, especially on that last lap. It felt a bit worse, but overall, yeah, I'm happy.

"I'm happy because we've been working really hard on this package, and we're still trying to understand it fully. But since Singapore, we've taken a big step further, and now we've just got to keep working on it, keep understanding."

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Chris Graythen / Getty Images

Starting Grid

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	1'34.035		211.057
2	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.179 1'34.214		210.656
3	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.215 1'34.250		210.576
4	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.232 1'34.267		210.538
5	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.276 1'34.311		210.439
6	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.441 1'34.476		210.072
7	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.768 1'34.803		209.347
8	L. Norris McLaren	1		McLaren	Mercedes	+1.014 1'35.049		208.805
9	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30		RB	Red Bull	+1.023 1'35.058		208.786
10	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Mercedes	+1.045 1'35.080		208.737
11	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27		Audi	Audi	+1.123 1'35.158		208.566
12	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Honda	+1.783 1'35.818		207.130
13	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	+1.996 1'36.031		206.670
14	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		RB	Red Bull	+2.014 1'36.049		206.632
15	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	+2.496 1'36.531		205.600
16	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Honda	+2.642 1'36.677		205.289
17	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	+2.735 1'36.770		205.092
18	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	+2.932 1'36.967		204.675
19	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11		Cadillac	Ferrari	+3.398 1'37.433		203.696
20	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77		Cadillac	Ferrari	+3.488 1'37.523		203.508
21	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Mercedes	+1.687 1'35.722		207.337
22	G. Bortoleto Audi	5		Audi	Audi	+1.656 1'35.691		207.405
View full results

NOTE: Lance Stroll will start from the pitlane with set-up changes, and a new power unit and battery. 

Qualifying recap

Formula 1

F1 United States GP: Antonelli beats Verstappen to pole with Russell only sixth

Antonelli will become F1 world champion this weekend if he wins the race and title rival and team-mate Russell finishes ninth or below

United States Grand Prix - start time in one hour

Hello everyone, and welcome back to our live coverage of the United States Grand Prix weekend. Just an hour to go until the race gets started at Austin, for 56 laps of the Circuit of the Americas.

Hopefully it'll be an entertaining one! 

Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team

Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images