Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has called Kimi Antonelli’s United States Grand Prix victory the best performance the young Italian has delivered so far — “the race of a champion who isn’t the champion yet.”
Kimi Antonelli (Credits: BBC Sport)
The 20-year-old Italian’s win in Austin has put him on the brink of a record-breaking world championship. Antonelli is now so far ahead in the points that he needs just two points in Mexico to be certain of becoming world champion.
In fact, the only way Antonelli could fail to win the title in Mexico City next weekend is if either his team-mate George Russell or Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton wins the race — and even then, Antonelli will guarantee the title if he finishes ninth, or 10th if it is Hamilton who wins.
Kimi Antonelli US Grand Prix Win Was Dominant
Antonelli arrived in Austin knowing he would clinch the title if he won with Russell finishing lower than eighth and Hamilton lower than fourth. He delivered his half of the bargain in emphatic fashion, producing one of the most dominant victories of the season.
The contrast with his team-mate was stark. While Russell toiled and failed to pass McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on his way to eighth — hampered by a five-second penalty — Antonelli operated on another level entirely, as he has so often this season.
“Exceptional,” Wolff said, “and I think he’s outperformed the car.”
Russell was eighth and Hamilton fourth, just enough to keep the championship alive until Mexico — but only just.
Toto Wolff on Antonelli’s Calm Under Title Pressure
Some drivers tighten up when they get this close to achieving their lifetime’s ambition. Not Antonelli, according to Wolff. The Italian said he would treat Austin like any other weekend, and Wolff insists it was not just talk.
“He comes in, sits on my chair, feet up, and keeps chatting away and saying: ‘This is so funny. I’m not thinking about the championship at all,’” Wolff told BBC Sport. “And in a kind of youngish excitement, almost like it’s surreal. And that’s why it’s not so important.”
Asked whether that calm came from his huge points lead or was innate, Wolff replied: “The advantage helps. But it’s also innate in him and I don’t think that it’s something to be trained for. He’s not over-thinking it.”
Wolff’s claim that Austin was Antonelli’s best performance so far might surprise anyone who watched him win his home grand prix at Monza from 19th on the grid. But Antonelli agreed with his boss. Monza, he said, was special, but Austin was better in terms of execution because of the way the team built up performance throughout the weekend.
Mercedes also had a point to prove with its upgraded car specification, which Wolff had said made the car 0.3 seconds per lap slower when it debuted in Malaysia two races ago. In Austin, Antonelli stuck the upgraded car on pole and dominated the race, even if Russell’s performance looked more like the one the car produced in Malaysia.
Now all eyes turn to Mexico City, where Antonelli needs only two points to seal a championship that, after Austin, looks like a matter of when, not if.
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: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
