it looks like there's a bit of debris on track that requires a short virtual safety car. Kimi Antonelli leads from Max Verstappen, who lost his position to Charles Leclerc within the opening corners.

Now the yellow flag is waving, as Oliver Bearman is battling in the points places in 10th spot.

Lewis Hamilton is up to fourth at Cota, as Isack Hadjar as dropped down the order to fifth.

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Image source, Getty Images

Yeehaw! Here we go!

Great start by Kimi Antonelli and the Mercedes driver leads coming out of Turn One at Cota.

Charles Leclerc is putting Max Verstappen under pressure and the Ferrari man takes second place from the Red Bull driver.

George Russell has gone off the track but has stayed in sixth place.

Verstappen wants his position back off Charles Leclerc. The four-time world champion waits for the perfect opportunity and passes the Monegasque to reclaim second spot.

Kimi Antonelli is making his way to the head of the field. Will this be he night the title changes hands from Lando Norris to the 20-year-old Italian?

We're about to find out...

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Austin

Talking to some of the engineers, they say this is one of the easier circuits for overtaking on the calendar so it depends who you talk to. I saw Lewis Hamilton say he found it difficult to overtake here when he was trying to pass Sebastian Vettel. But I think with these conditions, the overtake mode and various things they've got at their disposal, then coming down the back straight, they've got a much easier chance of getting past the car in front.

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Austin

Kimi Antonelli's on the medium and he's probably going to be able to sort out what happens after the start because the softer tyre will run out of grip faster.

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Polesitter Kimi Antonelli has been put on the medium compound for the start of this United States Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen down to Lewis Hamilton in fifth are lining up on he soft C4 tyre.

George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are also on the mediums at lights out.

Lance Stroll is now starting from the pit lane, and Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto, grid penalties in hand, are starting on the hard compound.

Mercedes' deputy team principal Bradley Lord speaking to 5 Live's Rosanna Tennant: "I don't want to burst the bubble. It's the grid, it's the start of a grand prix. All that's in Kimi's control is trying to win. If events fall his way, it means we've had a bad afternoon as a team. We're just focusing on two cars on the podium."

On understanding the upgrades now: "It's clear it's a narrower window for the drivers, it's more of a balancing act for them but when you can put the pieces together, you get what we had with Kimi yesterday. George unfortunately was right there in Q1 and Q2 but not in Q3 but he can go forward today."

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A representative from the FIA is having a look at the rear of Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin on the grid. The Spaniard had flames out the back of his car on Saturday, and team boss Adrian Newey told Sky Sports a few moments ago: "We had the same problem in qualifying yesterday. It goes out as soon as he moves. We think it’s a bit of oil coming out of the breather, but we’re not exactly sure."

George Russell, meanwhile, had a chat on his way to the grid and sadi: "I think [Isack] Hadjar is going to be an interesting one because he had a great day yesterday but his pace recently has been a bit offset to Max so it depends where he falls out but I think it'll be a tight race."

Thanks to all of you who took part in our poll to see who you think will win the US Grand Prix today.

Unsurprisingly, Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli came out on top with 47% of those who responded backing him for the win from pole position.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who starts second, got 31% of the votes with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, starting fifth, next with 14%.

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In the constructors' championship, Mercedes are in no danger of losing their lead, sitting 134 points clear of second-placed Ferrari with only a few races left of the campaign.

Defending champions McLaren, though, do need to look over their shoulder, as Red Bull have been slowly creeping up on them from fourth place thanks to Max Verstappen's victories.

With both Verstappen and team-mate Isack Hadjar starting in the podium places today, and Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris down in seventh and eighth, could Red Bull, who are only seven points behind, overtake McLaren today?

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Austin

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Kimi Antonelli starts from pole position on the first day the Mercedes driver can make history by becoming the youngest world champion.

That’s unlikely to happen today, largely because it would need Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to have especially bad races, but also because Mercedes don’t believe they have the race pace of Verstappen and the Ferraris.

Having said that, the differences between the cars look small here and, if Antonelli can keep the lead, free air does provide a significant advantage.The race is expected to be a one-stop and all tyre combinations are options.

As Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc - in second, third and fourth on the grid - have new softs, it’s a reasonable possibility they will start on them. On the other hand, perhaps a medium start and then the grip of the softs in the final stint might be an attractive option - although that risks wasting the softs if degradation is high.

Leclerc sounded unusually positive about his race chances after qualifying, feeling he had lost out on pole only because the drop in temperature caused by the clouds coming over dropped his tyres out of the temperature window, something to which the Ferrari is especially sensitive. "A good start will be crucial," Leclerc said, "but if we do I think we have the pace to fight with the guys in front.”

The undercut - stopping first to gain time on fresh tyres - is likely to be powerful, but stopping too early can open up vulnerability to being overtaken later in a stint as tyres degrade.

A pit stop takes about 21 seconds in total under green-flag conditions and half that under safety car, the chances of which are relatively low statistically.

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Austin

Kimi is defensive. He knows he's got to win it and George Russell to finish no higher than ninth. He doesn't want to get knocked off, he doesn't want to get into any problems.

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The chances of the title being wrapped up by the time we reach Mexico City next weekend are slim, but you never know, the stars could be aligning for Kimi Antonelli today.

Thw 20-year-old leads Mercedes team-mate George Russell by 102 points and if leaves Austin with a gap of 125 points, he'll arrive at the second race of this triple-header as a maiden world champion.

Max Verstappen's form over recent races has lifted the Dutchman from sixth place up to fourth in the standings. Victories in the sprint and main grand prix in Singapore has put him within eight points of Lewis Hamilton in third, with second-placed Russell only 17 points ahead before we go racing in Texas.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Austin

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When it happens, Kimi Antonelli will beat the record for youngest champion by more than three years - he will be 20 years and 61 days old on Sunday and Sebastian Vettel, the current record holder, was 23 years and 133 days old when he won his first title in 2010.

Antonelli has taken this season by storm, with eight victories in the 17 races so far, including a run of five in a row after George Russell won the first grand prix of the year in Australia.

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In doing so, he has dramatically turned the tables after a shaky maiden season in 2025 in which flashes of promise interspersed a generally disappointing year in the context of him being hailed before his debut as a potential generational talent.

This year, he has looked every bit that, but that does not mean a victory on Sunday is a foregone conclusion.

Damon Hill
1996 world champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra in Austin

This is really impressive stuff from Kimi Antonelli. Mercedes have really nurtured him, looked after him and got him to this position. I think he's been so prepared for this. He put in a fantastic lap, they've got this car working. I think we're going to have a great race.

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen on what makes the difference when field is as tight as this: "It's just trying to always get everything together, low-speed, high-speed, and that's quite tricky. It's quite windy again today but we'll see. I think it will be quite close between a lot of cars and of course I hope that we're on the good side."

On Kimi Antonelli: "He's doing really well, it's really special to see such a young driver fighting for his first title. We're going to try to give it a good go today and try to make it as difficult as possible."

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World champion Lando Norris was blunt in his assessment after qualifying a disappointing eighth in Austin. "The car was the best it's felt but I just did a c*** job," said Norris. A late track limits strike and a car that was diffcult to control capped off a downbeat Saturday.

Norris added he has "no idea" what might happen at Cota tonight, but climbing the ladder to the podium places will be tough. “The pace is not bad, it's better than what it looks, but it is going to be hard from P8 I guess," he said.

McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri out-qualified Norris and will start one place higher in seventh. The Australian hasn't been on the podium since Japan and Miami at the beginning of the season, and he said the team has "tried a lot of stuff, but nothing's really seemed to be the fix" for their issues.

"We didn't really expect any of the changes we made to make a massive difference, but it's just been incredibly difficult to get lap time out of the car," Piastri added.

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One championship has already been won in Austin this weekend, with British driver Alisha Palmowski clinching the F1 Academy title. Just a month younger than F1 champion-elect Kimi Antonelli, Palmowski finished P2 in Saturday's reverse grid race before Sunday's feature race and the season finale in Las Vegas in November.

Before Saturday's race, Austrian Emma Felbermayr was the only driver with a mathematical chance of overhauling Palmowski but fourth place was not enough to keep her hopes alive.

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Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton on when he starts mentally preparing for the race: "Shortly after this parade basically. You have to go back to your room, you have 20 minutes to calm your nerves, make sure you've covered all the strategy and make sure you set out your plan. You set out your plan earlier in the day but there are a lot of balls that are going to be up in the air today and catching them and being agile and dynamic is going to be key."

On his race hopes: "I'm hoping we can challenge for a podium. That would be awesome but it's going to be tough. It's definitely going to be really tough. We just have to see where we go."