Kimi Antonelli admitted he has no memory of Sebastian Vettel becoming Formula 1’s youngest world champion while discussing the prospect of breaking the German driver’s record this weekend at the United States Grand Prix.
Vettel won his first title at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, aged 23, beating Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton in a four-way decider to become the youngest F1 champion. That record could be broken this weekend, with 20-year-old Antonelli able to clinch the championship in Austin.
Antonelli heads into the race weekend at the Circuit of the Americas with a 102-point lead in the standings over his team-mate George Russell. The Italian will win his maiden title if he wins the United States Grand Prix, Russell finishes outside the top eight and Lewis Hamilton finishes outside the top four.
Asked in the press conference whether he remembered the moment Vettel became the youngest champion, and when he first realised he could break the record, Antonelli said: “I don’t remember that. 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.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images
He added: “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. 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.
“It’s not over until it’s over, and that’s why the mindset is going to always be the same: to win whenever I go on track. You want to finish the season on a high as well to then go with high hopes into next year.
“This year, with the car we’ve got, we’ve had such a strong car and the team is doing an incredible job on developing and understanding this new package. The team has done everything in their power to give us a great car and the opportunity to fight.”
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