AUSTIN, Texas — Kimi Antonelli may not have clinched the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship with his win in the United States Grand Prix. That celebration may have to wait until next weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
But in the eyes of his boss, his weekend in Austin culminated with the “race of a champion.”
Meeting the media, including SB Nation, in the Mercedes hospitality space after the United States Grand Prix, Wolff talked at length about Antonelli’s performance in Austin, and how it might have been his best race of the season.
“For me, the best race that he’s delivered so far,” described Wolff. “Getting off the start with the inferior tire, and then controlling it at all times, the race of a champion who isn’t the champion yet.”
Antonelli began the United States Grand Prix in pole position — which he secured with a stunning performance on Saturday — on the medium tires while those behind him, including Max Verstappen, Isack Hadjar, and Charles Leclerc, began on the softs.
“I think he’s outperformed the car,” said Wolff. “Maybe it’s a bit harsh to say, but I think his driving style. just glues with the car.”
When asked later in the session about Antonelli’s win at the Italian Grand Prix, when he started at the back of the grid due to a power unit penalty but carved his way through the field to win at Monza, Wolff joked that he doesn’t “remember past races,” but the driver himself in the FIA Press Conference agreed with his boss’s initial assessment.
While Monza might have been special, with the power unit change he had the fastest car that day.
Austin on Sunday was something different.
“Monza, we clearly had the fastest car,” said Antonelli in the FIA Press Conference to the media, including SB Nation. “We were just super quick, so of course it was incredibly special coming from the back. But it was also a track where it was relatively easy to overtake, and we were so quick. But definitely, Monza was a super special one, and one that I will remember forever.
“But, you know, this one probably, in terms of execution, was better, because the way we built up and the way we built the performance throughout the weekend was very good.”
The arc of the weekend backs that up. While Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton led the way over the three hours of practice, Antonelli finished fifth in FP1, and fourth in FP2. He finished Q1 in P6 on Saturday during qualifying, but then the surge began. He was behind only Leclerc in Q2, and then took pole with a thunderous lap at the start of Q3 to put himself in position to win on Sunday, and perhaps clinch a title.
While he did not technically clinch with his win in the United States Grand Prix, he heads to Mexico with a 123-point lead with a maximum of 125 points available over the rest of the season, provided the Qatar Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix run as scheduled. Something unprecedented in the history of Formula 1 would be needed to deny Antonelli his maiden title.
So the title can wait one more week.
But he has already delivered the “race of a champion.”