Here is the thing about Formula 1 time: it moves fast enough to make you feel ancient. As Crash.net reports, Andrea Kimi Antonelli is currently staring down the barrel of a record previously set by Sebastian Vettel, with one minor detail—he was practically a toddler when it happened.
Now, in just his second season in the sport, Antonelli arrives at round 18 this weekend at the US Grand Prix in Austin with a mathematical chance to be crowned champion. Granted, wrapping it up on Sunday is a long shot, as he needs to out-score George Russell by 23 points. But the Italian driver is on track to shatter Vettel's benchmark as the youngest driver to ever win an F1 world title this season regardless, beating the German's 2010 Red Bull record by three full years.
When the topic came up during the pre-event press conference in Austin, Antonelli offered a brilliant dose of honesty. Vettel set that legendary mark at the age of 23 back in 2010, but Antonelli was only four-years-old at the time.
“I don't remember that,” Kimi Antonelli said, as reported by Motorsport.com. “I was four-years-old. I'm sorry. I remember I was playing with Hot Wheels, but I don't remember him clinching [the title].”
“Later on, when I grew up, I saw the race, which was crazy as well because it was a very close title fight between all of you guys [Lewis Hamilton, who was also in the press conference; Mark Webber; Fernando Alonso; and Vettel],” he added.
Despite sitting on his very first mathematical championship opportunity, the Mercedes driver insists his approach remains entirely unchanged. He is sticking to the same mindset that got him into this fight in the first place, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the asphalt.
“I'm in an incredible position, but definitely this year, with how things went and how I felt in the car during the weekends and also with the momentum, I thought that I could have had a chance this year to fight,” he explained. “Luckily, I'm in a very good position right now. But I've still got to keep going, and the mindset is always the same, which is whenever I go on track to be at the top and to try and win as much as possible. Whether I win the championship, whether I win it this weekend or next weekend, or in Brazil, let's see.”
His opening day at the Circuit of the Americas did not go entirely to plan, however. A loose seat in his Mercedes at the start of FP2 robbed him of roughly 15 minutes of crucial track time. Once the issue was sorted, though, the machine was hooked up properly, allowing him to claw his way back and finish second-fastest. Charles Leclerc ultimately topped both Friday practice sessions for Ferrari in his upgraded car.
