Kimi Antonelli will have another chance to claim his maiden Formula 1 championship at next weekend's Mexican Grand Prix after narrowly missing out on securing the title in Austin.
The 20-year-old converted pole position into his ninth win of the season at the United States Grand Prix, but Lewis Hamilton's fourth place and George Russell's eighth kept the title fight alive for at least another week.
If Antonelli finishes in the top nine in Mexico City next Sunday, he will be champion. It would not matter what Russell and Hamilton do in that scenario.
After Mexico, four races remain if all goes as planned in Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, with a maximum of 100 points available. Antonelli needs to finish the Mexican Grand Prix at least 100 points clear of both rivals.
Even if Russell won in Mexico and Antonelli finished ninth, he would only cut the gap to exactly 100, and he would then have to win all four remaining races while Antonelli failed to score. But even then, Antonelli would win the title on countback. He already has nine grand prix wins this season, while Russell has three and could only reach a maximum of eight.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images
Yes. Even if Antonelli fails to score at the Mexican Grand Prix, he will still be champion as long as neither Russell nor Hamilton wins the race.
The only way the title fight goes to Brazil is if Russell wins and Antonelli finishes 10th or lower, or Hamilton wins and Antonelli finishes outside the points.
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