Kimi Antonelli is not Formula 1 world champion just yet — but after winning in Austin on Sunday, it is now only a matter of time for the Mercedes prodigy. The champagne was ready, the history was within reach, and yet the title celebration will have to wait one more race.
Kimi Antonelli (Credits: ESPN)
Antonelli won the United States Grand Prix in dominant fashion, leading from pole and beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 13.078 seconds, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third. It was his ninth win of the season, and it left him on the brink of a first world championship.
Kimi Antonelli Title Maths After Austin Win
The numbers explain why the wait is so tantalising. Antonelli now has 365 points, 123 clear of Mercedes teammate George Russell on 242 and 124 ahead of Lewis Hamilton on 241, with a maximum of 125 points still available across the final five races.
To clinch the title in Austin, Antonelli needed a win, Russell ninth or lower, and Hamilton outside the top four. He got the win — but Hamilton finished fourth and Russell recovered to eighth, despite a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Both rivals therefore stayed mathematically alive, and the bottle stayed on ice.
The good news for Antonelli is how small the remaining task now is. He needs just two points — a ninth-place finish or better — in Mexico City next weekend to seal the championship no matter what anyone else does. If he does it, he will become the youngest champion in Formula 1 history, and the first Italian champion since 1953.
How Antonelli Won In Austin
The race itself was a study in strategy. Antonelli, alone among the top five on the grid in starting on medium tyres, made a flying getaway and was 2.3 seconds clear by the end of the opening lap. Mercedes then ran him on a one-stop strategy, switching to hard tyres on lap 25, while Leclerc and Verstappen both needed two stops.
Verstappen briefly led during the pit-stop cycle but was forced into a second stop on lap 32, while Leclerc charged through late on fresher tyres to take second. Hamilton passed Lando Norris late for fourth, with Norris fifth and Isack Hadjar sixth.
“It was the result we needed,” Antonelli said. “All this time putting work on the new package and finally seeing the result was very pleasant, perfect strategy to call the one-stop.”
So the scene in Austin was, in the end, exactly as the headline put it: the race of a champion who is not champion yet. The team can ready the champagne again in Mexico — and this time, barring a disaster, they should finally get to spray it.
Also Read: Kimi Antonelli Wins US Grand Prix in Dominant Fashion, One Race From First F1 Title | Kimi Antonelli Takes US Pole on Weekend He Can Win First F1 Title
Source: ESPN — read the full story there.
