Berlin [Germany], October 27: Kimi Antonelli has one hand on his maiden Formula One trophy after his victory at the United States Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday.
The Italian is on the verge of history and, at 20 years old, can become the youngest F1 champion next Sunday at the Mexican GP. For that, he needs to finish the race at least in ninth, but the Mercedes driver wants to clinch the title in style.
"We're very close but we'll try to finish on a high, and hopefully we can clinch it very soon," Antonelli said after his win in Austin.
"I'm very excited. I would love to clinch the title in style with a great result."
"That's the mindset. That's always the mindset, and that's what the mindset is going to be from now until the end of the season. I'm just going to try to enjoy every moment because they're moments that will always be remembered."
The victory in the US, his ninth of the season, came in a dominant way. Antonelli started from pole position and benefited from a one-stop strategy.
"On Kimi's side obviously the main headline is that for me that's the best race that he's delivered so far," Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said.
"Getting off the start with the inferior tyre, and then controlling it at all times. The race of a champion - who isn't the champion yet - but exceptional."
Wolff added: "And so I think he's outperformed the car. Maybe it's a bit harsh to say, but I think his driving style just glues with the car. We saw that in qualifying yesterday, where on his last lap he could have been another tenth and a half or two up."
The Mercedes boss admitted that he still can't quite comprehend the scale of the step Antonelli has made since his debut season last year.
"It's been 30 or more years that I've tried to understand the racing driver's brains, and I still don't know what has happened over the winter. His ability to process and deliver something that's outstanding, which we didn't see coming.
"But credit to him, credit to his engineers, to his environment, his family that he's delivered in that way." Antonelli arrived at Mercedes to replace seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who moved to Ferrari in 2025. However, the expectations were that George Russell would be the one stepping into Hamilton's shoes and lead Mercedes to their first drivers' championship since 2020.
But Russell has struggled to extract a good performance from his car and on Sunday he was at a loss to explain what happened to his pace around the Circuit of The Americas.
He was eighth after serving a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining advantage. "Yeah, it was a very bad day. Don't really know why," Russell said.
"I probably did six laps from the 50 (where) the pace was okay. The others were well off the pace, so I don't know where the performance has gone, need to understand it. I need to come back stronger for Mexico." Asked how frustrating his issues were, given how successful the car on the other side of the Mercedes garage was, Russell said: "Yeah, without a doubt. Right now, I don't have the answers and, if I did, I wouldn't be in this position. So, yeah, I need to try and work it out with my team."
Source: Qatar Tribune
