The numbers behind the title chance
Kimi Antonelli could be Formula 1 world champion by Sunday evening. The Mercedes driver leads team-mate George Russell by 102 points and Lewis Hamilton by 111, and the 18th Grand Prix of the season in Austin, set for 8pm UK time, is the first place he can finish the job with five rounds still to run.
The arithmetic is tight. A win is worth 25 points, and Antonelli needs to leave Texas 125 points clear of second place. That means he has to win, Russell has to finish ninth or lower, and Hamilton cannot finish higher than fifth, according to RMC Sport.
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A record-breaking year already
The prize would carry history. No Italian has won the world title since Alberto Ascari in 1953. At 20, Antonelli would also take the youngest-champion record from Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 when he won with Red Bull in 2010.
He has been rewriting the books all season. In the second race, in China, he became the youngest pole-sitter ever at 19 years, six months and 17 days, and the next day he won his first Grand Prix, the second-youngest winner in F1 history behind Max Verstappen. Even if Austin does not deliver the crown, he will head into the final rounds with a huge cushion.
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