Kimi Antonelli may not even need to score to be champion anymore

Nunca the title of Formula 1 was so close to Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The young man from Mercedes stayed to just two points of sagrar champion without relying on other results after returning to wins in the US GP.

Domain in Texas

In this Sunday's race (25 October) in Austin (Texas), the Italian left pole position and held the lead at the start, while Max Verstappen (Red Bull/Ford) had a bad start since second position.

From then on, Antonelli made a profit free from major errors and controlled events, with Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) as the main opponent – the Monegasque, however, had no arguments to threaten the 20-year-old Italian, cutting the target to 13,078 seconds.

The podium was closed by Max Verstappen, whose performance was conditioned by brake problems, beyond the weak start. This result means that dutch is mathematically out of the title fight, unlike Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – which was fourth and still remains with (unrealistic) possibilities to overcome Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the championship.

George Russell remains in the race for very little

The top five was closed by last year's world champion Lando Norris (McLaren/Mercedes) in front of Isack Hadjar (Red Bull/Ford), Oscar Piastri (McLaren/Mercedes) seventh.

On a difficult weekend for you, George Russell (Mercedes) cut the goal in eighth position just over a second and a half from Piastri and with a clear advance of about 25 seconds against Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls/Ford) – ensuring a result that still keeps him with possibilities to overcome Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the final accounts.

The top ten was closed by Pierre Gasly (Alpine/Mercedes), who thus finished a four-run streak without scoring and cemented the tenth position of the championship in front of Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls/Ford) – who, for the first time in long months, spends two consecutive rounds without points.

Ninth place is enough for Antonelli (who may not even score and be champion

After the US GP, Andrea Kimi Antonelli is two points away from being the youngest champion ever in Formula 1. It reached 365 points, 123 more than George Russell and 124 than Lewis Hamilton when there are 125 points to be awarded by the end of the season (if the agenda holds all the Grand Prixes programmed).

This means that a ninth place in one of the remaining five races, or two tenth positions, will be sufficient for Antonelli to seal the title regardless of the results that the two rivals still mathematically in the fight.

Thus, Antonelli's conquest may arrive at the Mexico City GP next week. Otherwise, if the victory isn't Russell's or Hamilton's, Antonelli can even stay at zero and celebrate the conquest.