Ailing Kimi Antonelli nears F1 title in Mexico as he aims to become youngest champion

If Kimi Antonelli was still feeling the effects of an illness that kept him from a media session, it certainly didn’t show on the track.

The 20-year-old Mercedes driver — who is aiming to become the youngest champion in Formula 1 history this weekend — finished second in the first free practice session for the Mexico City Grand Prix on Friday, trailing only Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Antonelli, who has the Formula 1 title well within his grasp, missed a media session on Thursday due to a viral infection. But he looked good in his first shot at the Mexico City Hermanos Rodríguez race track, with a lap time that was 0.659 seconds slower than Leclerc.

Frederik Vesti, who is the reserve driver for Mercedes, finished third. It was Vesti’s third FP1 session this season, having appeared before at Barcelona-Catalunya and Hungarian Grands Prix.

To secure the title and break the record set by Sebastian Vettel — the youngest champion to date at 23 in 2010 — Antonelli can finish as low as ninth on Sunday.

Antonelli wants to seal the deal with another big result, but he could also do it without scoring another point if someone other than Lewis Hamilton or George Russell wins Sunday’s race.

Hamilton finished fourth in the first free practices on Friday.

“I’m very excited. I would love to clinch the title in style with a great result,” Antonelli said after taking his ninth win of the season in Texas last week. “That’s the mindset. That’s always the mindset, and that’s what it will be from now until the end of the season. I’m just going to try to enjoy every moment because they’re moments that will always be remembered.”

Antonelli can also become the first Italian driver to win the title since Alberto Ascari in 1953. Mercedes can clinch the constructors’ title on Sunday for the first time since 2021 — though that would need a big points haul for Antonelli and Russell, combined with a disastrous race for second-place Ferrari.

Mercedes hit the ground running under this season’s new regulations, with George Russell’s victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Defying predictions this would be Russell’s year, Antonelli surged ahead by winning five consecutive races as his teammate faded. Russell struggled to explain his lack of pace after finishing eighth in Austin last week.

“I think, at least in terms of my own approach, we’re not like boxers in a ring fighting directly against someone else,” Russell said of his relationship with Antonelli. “We’re essentially competing against ourselves. It’s the work and preparation you put in personally that makes the difference to a good performance”.