Italian wunderkind Kimi Antonelli took another step toward his first Formula One championship by claiming his ninth race of the year at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
Antonelli, 20, capitalised on his pole position and sailed to a time of 1:35:16.650 at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, beating Charles Leclerc of Monaco by a comfortable 13.078 seconds.
With five races to go, Antonelli does not have the championship wrapped up quite yet, but his lead over Mercedes teammate George Russell of Great Britain expanded to 123 points.
Russell must win the next race in Mexico City to remain in contention for the championship; otherwise, it will go to Antonelli, who has come to dominate the sport in his second F1 campaign.
Antonelli won five Grands Prix in a row early this season, one of which was the Miami Grand Prix. He is now 2-for-2 in the United States this season, with the Las Vegas Grand Prix still to come in November.
Max Verstappen, the four-time F1 champion for Red Bull Racing, rounded out the podium 17.485 seconds behind Antonelli. After rattling off every championship from 2021 to 2024, Verstappen has been mathematically eliminated from this year’s chase and will go two years without a world title.