Antonelli superb and Leclerc close to perfect - driver ratings

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli sealed his ninth victory of the season with victory at the United States Grand Prix in Austin.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was second and Red Bull's Max Verstappen third.

Mercedes' Antonelli, 20, can become the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history if he finishes ninth or higher at the Mexico City Grand Prix next weekend.

Here are my ratings for how the drivers performed across the whole weekend in Texas.

Kimi Antonelli - 10/10

A superb weekend under the added pressure of having his first opportunity to seal the championship. Produced an outstanding lap for pole and then controlled the race beautifully, making the one-stop work while many around him needed two.

Charles Leclerc - 9.5/10

Very close to a perfect weekend himself. Fastest in both Friday practice sessions, qualified fourth and then raced brilliantly in his Ferrari to second, including late passes on Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

Max Verstappen - 8.5/10

Quick all weekend and put the Red Bull on the front row, but the poor start immediately made his race more difficult. Recovered well despite problems with the car and still came away with a sixth consecutive podium.

Lewis Hamilton - 7.5/10

Another strong weekend but behind team-mate Leclerc for the majority of it. Fastest in final practice, only narrowly behind Leclerc in qualifying and fought his way back to fourth after Ferrari committed to the two-stop strategy.

Lando Norris - 8/10

Recovered well from eighth on the grid but qualifying should have been better as his quickest Q3 lap was deleted for track limits. McLaren's decision to leave him out on ageing tyres cost him late on, so fifth was not entirely of his own making.

Isack Hadjar - 8.5/10

An excellent turnaround after struggling badly with the Red Bull during practice. Qualified a superb third, ran strongly in the race and eventually finished sixth despite throttle mapping problems and moving aside for team-mate Verstappen.

Oscar Piastri - 6.5/10

A fairly subdued weekend by the McLaren man's standards. Seventh in qualifying and seventh in the race, although the first-lap battle with George Russell went against him and the stewards decided the Mercedes driver was at fault.

George Russell - 5.5/10

A disappointing weekend given what the other Mercedes achieved. Admitted both of his Q3 laps were poor and then picked up a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in his battle with Piastri, eventually finishing eighth.

Liam Lawson - 8/10

Another quietly excellent weekend from Lawson. Racing Bulls sacrificed a proper Q3 attempt to preserve tyres for Sunday and he converted ninth on the grid into ninth at the finish to score again.

Pierre Gasly - 8/10

Probably extracted just about everything available from the Alpine. Missed Q3 but fought his way back into the points after an early dice with Haas' Oliver Bearman.

Nico Hulkenberg- 7/10

Another solid if unspectacular weekend for the Audi driver. Just missed Q3 and spent Sunday on the fringes of the points before eventually finishing 11th.

Arvid Lindblad - 7.5/10

Reaching Q3 was an excellent effort after admitting team-mate Lawson had been quicker than him for much of the weekend. A power-unit penalty dropped him from ninth to 14th on the grid and he recovered a couple of positions to 12th.

Gabriel Bortoleto - 8/10

A much better weekend than 13th suggests. Produced what he described as one of his best qualifying laps before helping team-mate Hulkenberg with a tow, then recovered from 21st on the grid after an enormous power-unit penalty.

Esteban Ocon - 6/10

Out in Q1 and again lacked the pace team-mate Bearman had shown earlier in the weekend. Gained places at the start and Haas eventually prioritised his undamaged car, but 14th was all he could manage.

Lance Stroll - 6/10

Started from the pit lane after Aston Martin made changes to the car and fitted additional power unit components, so 15th represented a reasonable recovery. Beat team-mate Fernando Alonso to the flag after a weekend where neither car looked particularly competitive.

Fernando Alonso - 6.5/10

Getting the Aston Martin into Q2 was encouraging and penalties initially promoted him to 12th on the grid. But he went backwards on Sunday and contact with Williams' Alex Albon didn't help as he eventually finished behind Stroll after a slow pit stop.

Alex Albon - 5.5/10

Williams knew this circuit would expose the weaknesses of their car and that proved to be the case. Qualified behind team-mate Carlos Sainz but at least he recovered to lead the team home after an eventful opening part of the race.

Carlos Sainz - 5/10

A mistake late in his final qualifying lap contributed to a Q1 exit on a weekend when Williams were already struggling badly. Finished behind Albon and never looked capable of rescuing points from a difficult weekend.

Sergio Perez - 4.5/10

Beat team-mate Valtteri Bottas in qualifying despite suffering an energy-recovery issue on his final lap. But Cadillac simply didn't have competitive pace at their home race, and P19 was a fairly anonymous result.

Valtteri Bottas - 4/10

Qualified last before eventually retiring late enough to trigger the final virtual safety car. There wasn't much evidence across the weekend that Cadillac had the performance to achieve anything significant.

Franco Colapinto - 6/10

Qualified 14th but a 10-place power-unit penalty left the Alpine driver effectively starting from the back. His retirement meant there was little opportunity to turn the weekend around.

Oliver Bearman - 5/10

There had been real promise after he led Haas throughout Friday and initially looked quick enough for 13th in qualifying before losing his lap to track limits. Sunday unravelled with contact, a penalty and damage before he eventually retired.