Kirkwood gives the Freedom 250 an American winner on the streets of downtown Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kyle Kirkwood gave the Freedom 250 an American winner, racing to his second victory of the IndyCar season on the streets of downtown Washington in a dominant performance Sunday.

In a race set up as part of the country's 250th birthday celebration, President Donald Trump gave drivers the green flag at the start and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser served as grand marshal. Kirkwood crossed the finish line in front of the U.S. Capitol 3.09 seconds ahead of Christian Lundgaard, after leading for 128 of a possible 147 laps.

Will Power and Marcus Ericsson, Kirkwood's teammates with Andretti Global, finished third and fourth.

Pole winner Alex Palou, who had a chance to clinch the series title, finished 20th in his second-worst showing of the year.

After Trump's green flag, the field quickly went under caution because of debris in Turn 4. The first big wreck came when David Malukas went into the wall and Sting Ray Robb could do little to avoid crashing into him coming around a turn. Just like that, two of the race's eight American drivers were out.

Several cars went onto pit road, and that's when the day started to fall apart for Palou. He appeared to hit a tire in someone else's area while exiting, and he was assessed a drive-through penalty.

Later, on another pit stop, one of Palou's tires was loose when he started driving. That caused another delay, and he ended up off the lead lap. Palou later spun coming through a turn. His lead in the standings dropped from 133 points over second-place Kirkwood to 91 with three races to go.

Kirkwood had a commanding lead before Palou's spin caused a caution. On a restart with 19 laps remaining, Scott McLaughlin tried to pass Kirkwood and went into a tire barrier. Then Kirkwood pulled off a strong restart with 13 laps to go and Lundgaard didn't mount much of a threat as the 250-mile race wound down.

Marcus Armstrong was penalized for avoidable contact when he sent Christian Rasmussen into a spin. Rinus VeeKay went into the wall during that incident but appeared unaware of Armstrong's culpability when he went on TV for an interview.

“If Rasmussen's around, you know you're going to crash. Either he does or you do,” VeeKay said. “It sucks. It's stupid. It's a long race, and some people seemingly don't know that.”

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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy talks with Mario Andretti after Kyle Kirkwood (27) won the IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix auto race in Washington, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy joins for a photo after Kyle Kirkwood (27) won the IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix auto race in Washington, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Kyle Kirkwood (27) celebrates with his team after winning the IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix auto race in Washington, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Roger Penske, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump watch after Kyle Kirkwood (27) won the IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix auto race in Washington, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Kyle Kirkwood (27) makes a pit stop for gas during the IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix auto race in Washington, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) — Mercedes boss Toto Wolff defended the use of team orders in the Formula 1 title fight after George Russell protested when he was asked to give up second place in the Dutch Grand Prix to teammate Kimi Antonelli.

Over team radio, Russell questioned the call to let Antonelli past in the final stages of Sunday's race, suggesting it left him vulnerable to Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton behind with little to gain for the team. Antonelli was on fresher tires but eventual winner Lando Norris was far ahead.

Russell, who held off Hamilton to keep third, relented after the race and said his teammate and title rival Antonelli “deserved to finish ahead."

“Team orders are always harsh from one driver’s perspective,” Mercedes team principal Wolff said, arguing that not swapping positions would have left both drivers a target for Hamilton. “We’re not losing time with each other if there are competitors breathing down our neck. We’ve seen it with the Ferraris at the beginning of the year in Shanghai, you just lose so much race time, you risk losing more points.”

Antonelli had been ahead of Russell earlier in the race before Mercedes brought him in for fresh tires and that was another reason for the switch, Wolff added.

“Today, it wasn’t a very difficult call, because Kimi was running second, clear of George, and that’s basically the order we restored after the stop. So, a completely normal modus operandi, and we would have done it the other way around also,” he said.

Antonelli, who turns 20 on Tuesday, faces another obstacle in his quest to become F1's youngest-ever champion.

He will need to take a hefty grid penalty at his home Italian Grand Prix in two weeks' time as Mercedes plans to swap his car's power unit to head off potential reliability problems in the second half of the season. That will put Antonelli over his allowance of key components for the year.

“Our theory, our calculations say that that’s the best track to take it. Obviously, our algorithms don’t take the nationality into consideration,” Wolff said. “We’re here to fight for a championship and not the most PR, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

Monza is a high speed track where Mercedes' engine is likely to be strong, and overtaking is relatively easy, giving Antonelli a chance to make up places. He's accepted the decision.

“I think it still will give me a chance to do a great result and bring home good points,” he said.

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From the left, second-placed Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy, first -placed McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain and third-placed Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain spray champagne at the podium during the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort , Netherlands, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain makes a pit stop during the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort , Netherlands, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post, Pool)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy waves for the podium after taking the seond place at the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort , Netherlands, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)