Kimi Antonelli has openly stated that the inherent layout of the Circuit of the Americas is primarily responsible for the high volume of track limits violations during the 2026 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix weekend. The young Italian driver acknowledged that keeping his W17 strictly between the white lines has been a persistent challenge amidst swirling winds and dramatic elevation changes across the iconic venue.
During Friday's opening practice sessions, race stewards were forced to delete a staggering 207 lap times across FP1 and FP2 as drivers grappled to find the absolute limit. Addressing this growing trend, the Mercedes star explained that most violations stem minor mistakes, such as slight locking moments under braking that naturally push the car running deep into the corner exits.
Antonelli further pointed out that the abundance of tarmac run-off areas combined with high-grip green painted surfaces on certain corner exits inadvertently tempts drivers into pushing beyond the recognized boundaries. When exploring the razor-thin limits of modern F1 machinery, pushing those boundaries inevitably results in deleted lap times.
"It is not easy; it is a difficult track with a lot of elevation changes, and also the wind in some corners is quite odd," Antonelli described regarding the tricky conditions at Austin.
He emphasized that maximizing performance in the upcoming FP3 session would be vital to understand how hard a driver can push without triggering telemetry flags from race control. "The track limits violations mainly come from mistakes; you just lock up a little, and then you go long, but the FIA is trying their best to widen the white lines. But it is difficult; it is not easy, and when you try to discover the limit, it is normal that you get track limits, but it is also the fact that you have so much tarmac."
Beyond the ongoing track limits drama, the weekend also marks a crucial technological evaluation for the Brackley outfit. The team opted to fit its Sepang upgrade package onto both cars at COTA, which Antonelli hailed as a clear step forward, albeit one that still operates within a very narrow operational window.
"The car felt a bit better, and I think we did a good step compared to FP1, but there is still lots of work to do," concluded the championship leader, who stands on the verge of history as he could become the youngest-ever F1 World Champion if results fall his way this weekend.
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