The dust has settled in Austin and the championship picture's getting spicy. Ferrari's walking away from the United States Grand Prix with a tighter hold on second place in the constructors' championship, now sitting on 474 points after the SF-26 showed some genuinely encouraging pace at Circuit of the Americas. The Maranello outfit brought a hefty aerodynamic package to Texas and it's clearly paying dividends, with Charles Leclerc putting in a solid performance that proves the development direction's actually working.

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In the drivers' standings, things are tightening up at the sharp end too. Lewis Hamilton is now just a single point behind George Russell after putting in work in Austin, with the Ferrari driver on 241 to Russell's 242. Hamilton's sitting third overall, still hunting down that runner-up spot, though his performance in Texas wasn't quite as convincing as we've seen from him. Leclerc, meanwhile, has climbed to 233 points and is breathing down Max Verstappen's neck at Red Bull, just three points adrift.

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Kimi Antonelli's domination continues after his Austin victory though, the Mercedes driver extending his championship lead to a massive 123 points with 365 on the board. He's got one hand on that trophy already, especially with Mexico coming up next where another win combined with Russell finishing outside the points could seal the deal. If Antonelli does it, Italy would be celebrating its first drivers' world champion since Alberto Ascari way back in 1953.

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Ferrari's improvements haven't come from nowhere either. The team rolled out substantial revisions across several interconnected aerodynamic areas specifically designed to lift the SF-26's performance, and Leclerc's race pace showed the changes are genuinely helping them become more competitive over distance. It's not enough to challenge Mercedes just yet, but it's solid progress that suggests better days are coming, especially when you consider how much work Ferrari still needs to do on the power unit side of things heading into 2027.

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