Kimi Antonelli wins US Grand Prix, closes in on F1 championship
Mercedes's 20-year-old driver can win the championship in Mexico next week if his teammate Russell doesn't win the race.
Italian wunderkind Kimi Antonelli took another step toward his first Formula One championship by claiming his ninth race of the year at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
Antonelli, 20, capitalised on his pole position and sailed to a time of 1:35:16.650 at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, beating Charles Leclerc of Monaco by a comfortable 13.078 seconds.
With five races to go, Antonelli does not have the championship wrapped up quite yet, but his lead over Mercedes teammate George Russell of Great Britain expanded to 123 points.
“Our overall pace was not good enough, and the tyres we had available were not the right ones,” Verstappen said. “We still managed to get on the podium, maybe a bit lucky with the [Virtual Safety Car] at the end.”