Andrea Kimi Antonelli admitted he was already crying before he took the chequered flag to win the world championship.
The Mercedes driver finished third in Mexico, clinching the title in his second season as a Formula 1 driver. The 20-year-old was so emotional he was struggling to see the track and he lost 1.8 seconds to the leaders on his final lap.“I lost probably two seconds because I was already crying, basically,” Antonelli admitted. “I couldn’t see clearly ahead.
“I could see two Ferraris, somehow, with the tears. So it was very special.”
Antonelli became the youngest world champion in F1 history, just five years after moving from karts to cars. “A lot of memories went through my mind in that moment,” he said, “all the memories since karting all the way to here.
“It was a very special final lap, and definitely when I crossed the line, I let it all out because it was just achieving one of my biggest dreams. It was very special.”
The championship outcome was a foregone conclusion before the weekend began: Antonelli needed to score only two points to be certain of the title even if his closest rival won all the remaining rounds. Nonetheless he felt the weight of expectation during the weekend.
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“I knew I was very close. However, I still needed to get the job done, and, of course, you still want to do a good race. You want to do a good performance, so that was the goal.
“But it hasn’t been the easiest weekend either. Physically, I haven’t been in the best shape, but also yesterday we had a bad qualifying execution, and emotions were a bit high overall.
“But I’m really happy that today we did a strong race and really happy that we managed to finish the job. And then now we’ve got a few races to go, and we’re just going to enjoy all the way and try to finish on a high.”
He made a careful start to the race, ceding a position to eventual winner Max Verstappen on the run to turn one. However he decided to risk more at the second standing start following a red flag period.
“At the start I was very cautious, and I gave a lot of room. So I was probably playing it very much on the safe side.
“But then I saw I had the pace, and especially that first stint, I knew we would be in the fight because the pace was very good on used tyres.
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“Then with the red flag, it kind of all went back to zero. And in that moment I was like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to take more risks.’
“I had the opportunity to gain a few places, and that move on Charles [Leclerc] was crucial to get on the podium. I tried until the end to stay close, and it was very fun, the last stint, because we were all, I think, the three of us within two seconds, and we were all pushing. It was just difficult, of course, to overtake, but it was high intensity, and it was fun.
“Then on the last lap I just backed off because I just couldn’t see the track. I was getting emotional, and I said, ‘I’m just going to back off because otherwise I crash here.’ So it was just good to bring it home.”