SportsFormula One
Ninth place will do: Antonelli starts fourth in Mexico with the world title in his hands
The Mercedes driver leads George Russell by 123 points and needs only a top-nine finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix, which starts at 1:30 am IST, to become Formula One's youngest champion. Lewis Hamilton leads the field away from pole.
Key points
- Kimi Antonelli is guaranteed the title with ninth place or better.
- The 71-lap race starts at 1:30 am IST on Monday.
- Liam Lawson starts last after being disqualified from qualifying.
Kimi Antonelli lines up fourth for the Mexico City Grand Prix knowing that ninth place or better will make him world champion, whatever Lewis Hamilton or George Russell do ahead of him.
The Mercedes driver arrives with a 123-point lead over Russell, his team-mate. The 71-lap race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez starts at 2 pm local time, which is 1:30 am IST on Monday. A title there would make Antonelli Formula One’s youngest champion.
Hamilton starts from his first pole as a Ferrari driver, nine thousandths of a second quicker than Russell. Charles Leclerc completes the second row alongside Antonelli, who moved up a place on the grid after Max Verstappen took a one-place penalty for colliding with Liam Lawson in Friday’s second practice. Verstappen starts fifth with Lando Norris sixth.
Lawson’s weekend went from bad to worse. The stewards excluded him from qualifying after finding that the electrical power from his car’s MGU-K dropped away faster than the rules allow on his fastest Q2 lap. He starts from the back, behind Valtteri Bottas, who carries a 50-place grid penalty.
The order further back was also shuffled, with Pierre Gasly and Nico Hülkenberg moving into the top ten. Oscar Piastri starts a lowly 12th. For Antonelli, though, the sum is simple: stay out of trouble and finish in the top nine.