SINGAPORE — Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli has vowed to keep the same mindset for the United States Grand Prix, where he could clinch his maiden world title. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver holds a 102-point gap over team-mate George Russell in second after 14 podiums including eight wins, with third place at Singapore on Sunday giving him his first opportunity to seal the crown at Circuit of the Americas, though he must win and hope Russell finishes ninth or lower, with anything else most likely taking the fight to Mexico at the end of October.
When asked at Marina Bay if he will be thinking of the title in Austin, Antonelli said: “For sure. But at the same time, I know it's very close, I know it's there, but I just need to make sure that I keep doing the best I can. The mindset is always the same to go out there and win and perform the best way I can. I think this weekend I haven't particularly driven that well. I felt like I could have done a better job." He added: “At the end of the day, if I don't do my job well, then the result won't come. So in order to achieve what I want, I need to perform as simple as that.”
The foundations of his charge came early in the season as Mercedes made a dominant start to the regulation switch by winning the opening six rounds from pole, Antonelli taking five victories. Ferrari and McLaren subsequently fitted various upgrades to close the gap, meaning Antonelli won only three of the next nine rounds before a Baku update in September saw Red Bull enter the fray. Max Verstappen has therefore won the last two races from pole, as well as the Singapore sprint, while Mercedes are still trying to figure out the update they brought to Sepang last weekend.
Antonelli admitted he can be thankful that Red Bull made a slow start to the year, with just one podium in the opening five rounds, otherwise the threat from four-time world champion Verstappen would be higher. “It would be very scary,” he told Sky Sports when asked about the possibility of Verstappen being less than 119 points behind at this stage. “It would be very, very scary. But all in all I feel like we're doing a great job. At the end, you look at the season and we've always been there."
He added that Mercedes have pushed through recent difficulties with the new package: “I'm very proud of the team this weekend because we pushed through the difficulties and we started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So it's just a matter of time. Now we go back to Austin again. A normal weekend, standard weekend, where we can hopefully do a lot of changes and understand more of this package.” The podium followed Antonelli's late brake scare on the Singapore grid earlier in the weekend, but the chances of the title being decided in Austin remain slim.