Antonelli wins US Grand but title triumph has to wait another week

Austin, United States (AFP) — Kimi Antonelli claimed his ninth win of the season, but not quite the drivers’ title on Sunday when he drove his Mercedes to a convincing triumph ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in an intriguing and strategic United States Grand Prix.

The precocious 20-year-old prodigy, seeking to be the youngest champion in F1 history and the first Italian since Alberto Ascari for Ferrari in 1953, came home 13.078 seconds clear of the Monegasque with four-time champion Max Verstappen finishing third for Red Bull.

Antonelli would have become the youngest ever champion, smashing the current record of Sebastian Vettel who was 23 years and 133 days when he won his fist title in 2010, if his Mercedes teammate George Russell had finished lower than eighth and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton failed to make the top four.