Kimi Antonelli admitted to feeling "more tense than usual" ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix as he attempts to seal the Formula 1 world championship. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver only needs to finish ninth to become the sport's youngest world champion. Antonelli qualified fifth on Saturday but will start fourth on the grid due to a penalty for Max Verstappen.
Despite recovering from an illness that caused him to miss media duties on Thursday, Antonelli struggled to find confidence in Q3, admitting he didn't have the most confidence and made many mistakes on his poor final lap. He finished within two tenths of pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton, though teammate George Russell was marginally ahead in second. Despite the challenging qualifying session, Lando Norris expressed happiness to pass the number one on his McLaren to Antonelli, acknowledging the Mercedes driver's incredible second season and dominant performance over Russell.
Norris stated Antonelli deserves the championship, calling the prospect of him becoming youngest world champion "pretty insane.".
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing