Report: Alex and Carlos close out Austin in P17 and P18
A tough United States Grand Prix weekend ends with little to separate our drivers
Published
25 OCT 2026
Est. reading time
4 min
Alex and Carlos finished P17 and P18 at the United States Grand Prix as a difficult weekend in Austin drew to a close.
Carlos started in P16 and Alex in P17 after grid penalties ahead of them, and our Thai driver was up to P14 on lap one, but Carlos found himself pinched against the pit wall by the Racing Bulls car of Arvid Lindblad. He kept going, but did so with damage.
A very brief Virtual Safety Car came out on lap 2, and Carlos had moved up to P15 with Alex 0.7s ahead of him. Nico Hulkenberg retook the place from Carlos on lap 3, and Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto followed through over the next few laps. On lap 7, Hulkenberg passed Alex into turn 1.
On lap 10, Carlos was told the damage from the race start incident was worth “around 20 points” of downforce.
Alex held off Alonso through the first sector on lap 9, but the Aston Martin driver made the move stick at turn 13 on lap 12, and Bortoleto got by on lap 14. “The front deg is quite a lot,” Alex reported, and by lap 15 he was radioing that his tyres were “dead”.
Alex pitted first on lap 16 for a new set of softs, before Carlos followed on lap 18 for a long stop that included a front wing change, rejoining on the hard compound in P22.
Our duo passed Valtteri Bottas on lap 21 and lap 27, respectively. “Tyres feel good, to be honest,” Carlos shared over the airwaves.
Alex made his second stop on lap 32 for hards, before Carlos came in for fresh softs on lap 39. He climbed to P18 with a move on Sergio Perez down the back straight on lap 40.
Alex moved up to P15 on lap 44 when Alonso made a long stop, but Lance Stroll, on fresher tyres, passed him on lap 47. Alonso went by on lap 48 off the track at turn 13, with the place handed back on the pit straight, before the Aston Martin driver made it stick at turn 1 on lap 49. That left Alex with Carlos behind him.
A Virtual Safety Car on lap 51 slowed the field when Bottas stopped on track, and the final laps were a close fight between teammates. Alex, on 21-lap-old hards, and Carlos, on 14-lap-old softs, went into the last lap 0.6s apart.
Alex saw the flag first in P17, with Carlos in P18 just 0.659s behind.
James Vowles, Team Principal
“It's always disappointing to be unable to score points, but that's where the car pace was this weekend and both drivers got the most out of it that they could. Strong drive from Alex without any errors at all. With Carlos it was a good recovery and he executed his strategy nicely. It was good to see both of them racing cleanly towards the end – two incredible drivers, very respectful to one another. We move on to Mexico and beyond where we will try and eke out a few more milliseconds out of this car, but our main focus now is investing in 2027.”
Alex Albon
“There were small positives to take from today. I got a good start and gained a few places on the first lap. Austin is a track where you can race and overtake, which I enjoyed, and there were a few battles with Fernando which we'll also review. We picked up some damage early on, and our long stint on the hards left us caught up in the blue flags. We're still lacking pace, and there's a lot of work to do. We'll need to find more for Mexico.”
Carlos Sainz
“We had another great start off the line but I got squeezed into the wall, had contact and picked up damage to my front wing. That compromised my first stint and I eventually had to pit for a new front wing, losing valuable time. From there it was a good recovery drive, with decent pace given the limitations of our car this week. Looking ahead to Mexico, it’s one track that we might be slightly stronger at, potentially with the ability to mix in with the midfield, but it’s going to take a lot to be back in the points.”
Latest
Trending
© 2026 The Williams Group, under licence to Williams IP Holdings LLC
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Services LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with company registration number OC456938 and whose registered address is at Station Road, Grove, Wantage, Oxfordshire, OX12 0DQ.
Powered By