Kimi Antonelli ‘tense’ with F1 title on the line as true extent of illness battle revealed
Kimi Antonelli has admitted to feeling "tense" ahead of his potential F1 world title win.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli has admitted to feeling “tense” as he looks to be crowned Formula 1 world champion for the first time in the Mexico City Grand Prix.
It has been a far from ideal start to the weekend on which Antonelli can secure his maiden F1 world title, with the 20-year-old Italian skipping Thursday’s media day with illness which has left him feeling “low on energy”.
Despite this, Antonelli secured a second row start for Sunday’s race and lines up fourth, with his nearest challengers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell directly ahead of him in first and second.
Antonelli only needs two points - or a top-nine finish - to clinch the world title in Mexico, regardless of where Russell and Hamilton come.
“I feel very tired to be fair; I still haven't recovered completely,” Antonelli said after qualifying.
“It hasn't been an easy weekend to be fair, and definitely I've been a bit more tense than usual, especially when you keep hearing, wherever you go, any time of the day, the same thing, and people telling me that [the title is] already done.
“And knowing myself…I've been trying to block this noise as much as possible, but it hasn't been easy.
“Definitely, I've been a bit more tense today, but I felt decent in Q2, especially on the used tyre. Then in Q3 on the new tyre, I struggled to put the lap together, just to find the grip.
“But I feel we have a good chance tomorrow, still P4, and we saved a set of new tyres, so hopefully we can use that and move forward.”
Revealing the true extent of his battle with illness, Antonelli said he was struggling with a “high fever and stomach problems” that left him feeling “very bad” on Thursday.
“Now I feel OK, just low on energy,” the Mercedes driver said, adding he will “bombard myself with melatonin” in a bid to sleep for “a good 10 hours”.
“I feel pretty tired, so it's going to be important to try and sleep well, because I haven't been sleeping well in these days, and hopefully tomorrow I will have more energy.”
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