‘Right on the edge of retirement’ – Mercedes reveal how close Antonelli came to Mexico DNF

Mercedes have revealed that issues on Kimi Antonelli’s car in the late stages of the Mexico City Grand Prix nearly caused him to retire from the race, with the Italian clinging on until the chequered flag to be crowned World Champion.

In an ideal world for Antonelli, he needed to outscore his nearest title rivals George Russell and Lewis Hamilton by just two points at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in order to clinch his maiden title, but he went above and beyond by finishing in third place.

However, he came close to not completing the race at all due to problems that were only revealed once it was over, leaving Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord to declare that it was “a sign of the fact that this is Kimi’s year”.

Speaking on the High Performance Racing podcast, Lord explained: “We got the car back after the race, took the floor off the bottom – covered in oil!

“Sump cracked and Kimi said he thinks about four laps from the end he could start to feel the engine just starting to struggle, so [he was] right on the edge of retirement of that race and yet it held together.”

Following a bold overtake on Charles Leclerc to improve from P4 to the podium, the 20-year-old nursed his W17 to cross the line behind race winner Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Hamilton.

That pass meant that the rostrum featured a magnificent 12 Drivers’ Championships in total, making for an emotional celebration between the trio.

Asked why Antonelli risked such a move on Leclerc, Lord said: “He's a racer and that was what was going to put him on the podium. Charles had had that massive lock-up at the restart. His tyre was down to the canvas.

“They were talking about boxing because of it, so Kimi saw an opportunity and it was, I think, the cleanest Turn 1 overtake we saw all day – on the brakes, ran him through the apex, and it was absolutely brilliant.

“That's one of the things Kimi has. Even in Singapore where Lewis and Lando [Norris] were sort of having their coming together, you just watch how he drives those four or five corners in Singapore to pick off two spaces against the reigning World Champion and the most successful driver the sport's ever seen battling with old and degrading tires.

"Kimi is utterly clinical when it comes to doing the bit that comes instinctively, and that's so impressive. Toto [Wolff] was cool. We realised what it brought about as well – suddenly you've got this podium of Max, Lewis, and Kimi.”