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Lewis Hamilton said he has nothing to teach Kimi Antonelli with the Mercedes starlet set to rewrite Formula One history. Antonelli is on the brink of becoming F1's youngest ever champion and could seal glory in Austin this weekend. To seal it on Sunday, the 20-year-old must win the race and hope team-mate George Russell is ninth or lower, and Lewis Hamilton finishes no higher than fifth. The seven-time world champion was sat next to Antonelli yesterday as they faced the media and joked that his advice to the champion-elect would be to "slow down".
That sparked laughter from journalists in the press conference while the Ferrari driver also chuckled at his own joke. After laughing that off, Hamilton added: "He doesn't need any advice – I think he's shown his talent and his ability, the calmness in his approach. He's done an amazing job this year, I'm so proud of him.
"I'm so proud of the way he's carried himself, how he interacts with the other drivers, even [the media]. It's great to see him and the team excel. If it's not my team, I'd always want to see my old team do well."
Mercedes have indeed flown this year with a strong first half of the campaign laying the foundation for what is likely to be success in both championships. Russell was expected to lead their charge as the more experienced driver, but he has been upstaged by Antonelli who has won eight races compared to the Brit's three.
The Italian said it is unlikely he will get the job done this weekend and also knows there is no need to rush to get over the line. He said: "I'll have fun, just always the same mindset as I had all year, one race at a time and just try to do the best I can every race weekend, and then we'll see.
"To find myself in such a position is incredible. At the same time, I need to keep going, keep pushing. It's not over yet, so first we're trying to finish the job properly and then, yeah, we can enjoy the rest. For sure it would be an incredible achievement, but there's still a bit to go."
Antonelli has been kept grounded not only by his Mercedes team but also his father, Marco, who has been by his son's side throughout his rise through the motorsport ranks and to this point. Kimi said: "My dad is like my rock. He's the one, along with my mum and the rest of the family, that knows me best, and he knows how to handle me in certain situations.
"Growing up, he's been teaching me everything he knew, first of all, about racing, but then now he teaches me more about life. It's really important for me to have someone like him during races, especially in such a big year. He's been doing an incredible effort on trying to balance his work, his racing team, and coming to my races, so I really appreciate that from him.
"But when I was little, and before everything even started, he didn't want me to race, because the sport can be very cruel at times, and especially financially, it's a very difficult sport when you don't have the right support.
"I will always be very grateful for Mercedes, because they were the one gambling on me when I was very little, and without them, I wouldn't be here today, because they were the one who supported me all the way from karting to now, and they were the one who gave me the opportunities. Without them, I probably wouldn't be here.
"So that's why my dad didn't want me to race, because unfortunately, when he was racing himself, he had to face this reality. He didn't have any financial support, and he couldn't keep on going with his racing career, so that's why he started his own racing team.
"That's why he didn't want me to race, because he didn't want me to face the same kind of disappointments that he had faced back then, and because it was very hard for him to accept it, he just wanted to protect me. But then he saw I had passion, so he decided to give it a go."
Big moments. Packed grandstands. A championship battle that’s heating up.
When the Formula 1 season delivers like this, watching from home just isn’t the same as being there when the lights go out.
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