News Summary
- Mercedes found oil beneath the floor of Antonelli’s W17 after the Mexico City Grand Prix and traced the leak to a cracked sump.
- Deputy team principal Bradley Lord said Antonelli had felt the engine begin to struggle with about four laps to go.
- Antonelli passed Charles Leclerc for third and held the position to clinch the championship with four races remaining.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli came close to retiring from the race that made him Formula 1 world champion, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was within a few laps of winning his first Formula 1 world championship when he felt the engine in his Mercedes begin to struggle. He kept going and finished third in the Mexico City Grand Prix. Only after the W17 came back to the garage did Mercedes see the extent of the oil leak that had threatened his finish.
“We got the car back after the race, took the floor off the bottom – covered in oil!” Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord said on the High Performance Racing podcast.
Mercedes found a crack in the oil sump, the component that collects oil at the bottom of the engine. The estimate of when the trouble became apparent came from Antonelli himself. He reckoned there were about four laps left when he first felt the engine struggling.
Lord described the car as “right on the edge of retirement”. It made it to the chequered flag in third, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
The Turn 1 pass that put Antonelli on the podium
Antonelli had moved into third by passing Charles Leclerc. At the restart, Leclerc locked up heavily, and the damage to his tyre gave Ferrari reason to consider a pit stop. Antonelli saw a chance under braking for Turn 1 and completed the pass through the corner.
“His tyre was down to the canvas,” Lord said of Leclerc’s Ferrari.
The pass was for position on the road and put Antonelli on the podium with two former champions. Leclerc went on to finish fourth, while George Russell was classified sixth in the other Mercedes. Antonelli collected 15 points, taking him to 380 and securing the championship with four rounds remaining.
Antonelli described the emotion of the final lap after the race. The finish made him F1’s youngest world champion at 20 and Italy’s first since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
Mercedes can clinch the constructors’ title in São Paulo
Antonelli will make his first start as world champion at the São Paulo Grand Prix. Mercedes arrives at Interlagos with a 126-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship. If Mercedes outscores Ferrari by at least four points on Sunday, it will secure its first constructors’ title since 2021.
GRANDE PRÊMIO is covering every session of the São Paulo Grand Prix live from Interlagos. Follow our on-site coverage in Formula 1.
