Kimi Antonelli dominated the United States Grand Prix in Austin, his ninth win of the season, and leads George Russell by 123 points, so he can clinch the F1 title in Mexico City next weekend.
Kimi Antonelli won the United States Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday, 25 October, taking his ninth victory in 18 races this season. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver finished ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, according to BBC Sport, and he now leads his team-mate George Russell by 123 points in the drivers' standings. It was a dominant afternoon at the Circuit of the Americas, but it fell just short of sealing his first world championship.
Antonelli started from pole, took control at the first corner and was more than two seconds clear by the end of the opening lap. Mercedes chose medium tyres for the start and he converted that into a one-stop race while most rivals needed two, finishing 16 seconds clear of Leclerc. Leclerc and Verstappen fought for second place for much of the afternoon, with Leclerc eventually taking the position, while Lewis Hamilton finished fourth. Russell, who started sixth, received a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage and could finish only eighth. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff called it the best race Antonelli has delivered so far, saying it was "the race of a champion who isn't the champion yet".
The title can be settled at the Mexico City Grand Prix, which runs from 30 October to 1 November. BBC Sport reports that Antonelli will be crowned if neither Russell nor Hamilton wins the race, and that a ninth-place finish would be enough even if Russell wins, or a tenth if Hamilton does. At 20, he would become the youngest champion in Formula 1 history, beating Sebastian Vettel's 2010 record by more than three years, and the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953. Hamilton and Russell both retain a mathematical chance of winning the title, but only just.
