Follow-up: Antonelli Wins US Grand Prix for Ninth Victory of the Season, Beating Leclerc by 13 Seconds as Title Fight Rolls to Mexico
AUSTIN, Texas — Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli converted pole position into a commanding victory at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix on Sunday, October 25, beating Ferrari's Charles Leclerc by 13.078 seconds for his ninth win of the season. But with the mathematical conditions for an early title celebration not met, the 20-year-old Italian must wait until next weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix to bid for the title of Formula 1's youngest-ever world champion.
Over 56 laps at Circuit of the Americas, Antonelli started on medium tyres and kept the lead, while front-row rival Max Verstappen endured a poor start on soft tyres, losing places to both Ferraris in the opening corners. Mercedes put Antonelli on a one-stop strategy, switching to hard tyres on lap 25. Verstappen, on a two-stop plan after pitting as early as lap 14, also battled engine-braking and upshift problems; Leclerc, also two-stopping, passed him on lap 49 to secure second place.
Verstappen finished third, 17.485 seconds behind the winner, with Lewis Hamilton fourth for Ferrari, reigning champion Lando Norris fifth, Isack Hadjar sixth and Oscar Piastri seventh. George Russell took eighth after a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on lap one, while Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly claimed the final points. Valtteri Bottas, Franco Colapinto and Ollie Bearman failed to finish.
Antonelli needed to win with Hamilton fifth or lower and Russell ninth or lower to clinch the championship in Austin; Hamilton's fourth place kept the fight alive. In Mexico City next Sunday, a finish of ninth or better will make Antonelli the youngest drivers' champion in Formula 1 history. Ferrari also marginally closed its constructors' gap to Mercedes.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 安东内利驾驶梅赛德斯赛车（资料照片）。Eustace Bagge 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons 发布。/ Andrea Kimi Antonelli in his Mercedes (file photo). Photo by Eustace Bagge, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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