Andrea Kimi Antonelli is one step away from a historic achievement - winning the Formula 1 world title. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver has an excellent opportunity to secure the championship trophy in today's Mexico City Grand Prix, which will be held at the “Hermanos Rodriguez“ track. The race starts at 22:00 Bulgarian time.
The Italian talent enters the race with a solid 123-point lead over his teammate George Russell. Lewis Hamilton is one point behind. To secure the title this weekend, Antonelli needs to maintain a lead of at least 100 points after the final.
The calculations show that ninth place or better will be enough for the Italian, regardless of the results of his rivals. Even if he remains outside the top nine, he can celebrate if neither Russell nor Hamilton wins the race.
An additional advantage for Antonelli is the fourth starting position he secured in qualifying. He will also benefit from Max Verstappen's penalty, which changes the distribution of places on the starting grid.
The big news from qualifying was Lewis Hamilton's first pole position with the Ferrari team. The Briton brought the Scuderia its first first place on the starting grid of the season, after beating his former teammate George Russell by just 0.009 seconds. Charles Leclerc set the third fastest time.
Max Verstappen finished fourth in qualifying, but due to the penalty he will start from fifth position. This will put him right next to reigning champion Lando Norris.
Isaac Hajjar, Arvid Lindblad, Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly also found a place in the top ten.
All eyes are now on Antonelli. The young driver has a real chance to end the championship battle in Mexico and become the newest Formula 1 world champion.