When will Kimi Antonelli win the World Championship? The drivers’ standings and race combinations for the weekend
Andrea Kimi Antonelli could be crowned Formula 1 world champion as early as this weekend. His first title at the age of 20 is within reach, and the Bologna-born driver is on the verge of becoming the first Italian to win the championship in 73 years, since Alberto Ascari.
The Mercedes driver currently holds a 102-point lead over his teammate George Russell, who is second in the standings, with six races remaining in the season. His first chance to clinch the title is coming up in Texas: to do so, Kimi Antonelli must win the Grand Prix and hope that Russell finishes ninth or lower, and that Lewis Hamilton does not finish higher than fifth.
It’s now just a matter of time for Kimi, who theoretically could even be crowned champion by default if the races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi aren’t confirmed due to the current turmoil in the Middle East. In any case, the most likely race to decide the title should be in Mexico on November 1.
His current lead is the result of a season built from the very beginning: after establishing a lead with five consecutive victories in the first half of the year, Antonelli managed and extended his advantage thanks to wins at Monza and Madrid and strong finishes in Asia. The latest confirmation came in Singapore, where he overtook Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton with eight laps to go, while Russell finished in ninth place after staging a comeback from the back of the grid. In the standings, Kimi leads with 340 points to Russell’s 238, ahead of Hamilton (229), Max Verstappen (221), and Charles Leclerc (215).
The Bologna native is earning praise from across the paddock. Nico Rosberg, who has known him since their karting days, explained that after a difficult season like last year, no one expected such a performance: “He drove at Michael Schumacher levels.” According to the 2016 former world champion, Antonelli is “the only one who consistently stays at the top” and “fully deserves this title, which no one can take away from him.”
