(PRIMASPORT) MEXICO CITY – History knocks, but a nasty viral infection gets in the way. Andrea Kimi Antonelli is preparing for the weekend that could earn him the Formula 1 world championship title at the age of 20 (an all-time record), but his arrival in Mexico City coincides with a medical setback. The land known for Montezuma's Revenge has immediately given him such discomfort that Mercedes has decided to spare him the Thursday traditionally dedicated to press briefings. So it's time for the others, starting with those at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez who are aiming not for the points needed to secure the title but for the Grand Prix victory: Red Bull and Ferrari, with a reinvigorated Charles Leclerc.
Antonelli can afford to play defense, given that even finishing ninth in the Mexico City Grand Prix would secure the championship regardless of the results of others. It's a good thing, given that since his arrival in the city last Tuesday, he's been experiencing the first health problems (shared with some members of the Mercedes team and also with a colleague from another team, Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas). He's therefore scheduled for a few more hours of rest, to return to the track regularly on Friday and aim for the much-coveted two points on Sunday. And be careful, because even then, there will be plenty of unknowns: in addition to the traditional pitfalls of the Mesoamerican circuit (starting with the thin air caused by its altitude of over 2,000 meters above sea level), paddock radio reports that it's a track that should offer the lowest tire grip of the season. The characteristics of the track, which combines high top speeds and great traction on the one hand but also the need to release a lot of aerodynamic load, enhances the current strengths of Red Bull and Ferrari respectively.
Precisely for this reason, Leclerc is aiming high: "I can't say we're the favorites to win the Mexico City Grand Prix, but we're certainly getting close to the top. We're on a good run, and this weekend could be excellent. We need to sort out the qualifying issue, because Ferrari is very fast but very sensitive outside of its peak performance window. I'd like to win a few more races until the end of the championship. We want to finish on a high." Lewis Hamilton also believes so: "The updates have given us a good feeling, and I'm proud of the work the team has done. I think we've been the leaders of the grid in terms of innovation this year. We deserve second place in the constructors' championship; I want to use these five races to secure it and lay the foundations for a real victory next year. And already here in Mexico, we could do very well.".
Max Verstappen, on the other hand, is cautious to the point of caustic, even less inclined than the Ferrari drivers to play favorite. "We're not the fastest in the low-speed corners, and we're not the fastest in the high-speed ones," emphasized the Red Bull Dutchman, who after two victories had to settle for a rather fortunate podium finish at the United States Grand Prix, snatched on worn-out tires. "Here we race at altitude, and we'll find much less grip than usual. We need to work really hard on the setup and interpret an extreme track as best we can, then strategy will be crucial. To do well at the Mexico City Grand Prix, we'll have to improve on the choices we made in Austin." He then went on to praise his colleague, friend, and likely future heir to the Formula 1 hall of fame, Antonelli: "I really appreciate him. He's a normal, genuine, kind-hearted guy with a beautiful family, and he doesn't feel like a superstar. He'll win a lot in the future." George Russell also spoke about the Bolognese driver, denying speculation about bad internal relations within Mercedes: "There's no reason why we shouldn't continue to get along as well as we always have this year. Rivalries often arise from clashes or incidents on the track, and that's never happened to us. During the race, everyone tends to keep to themselves, working with their own engineers, but that's absolutely normal." But now the spotlight will inevitably shift to the one notable absentee from Thursday's discussions: the Italian who, at just twenty years old, could rewrite the history of world motorsport on Sunday. (PRIMASPORT)
