After a remarkable year, the Italian’s aim now is simply to close out the year in fine fashion

Kimi Antonelli has officially done it; he’s wrapped up the Formula One driver’s championship in great style, hoisted by the greats of the sport, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, during podium celebrations after the Mexican Grand Prix.

After a remarkable year, Antonelli’s aim now is simply to close out the year in fine fashion, as the last four races of the season will be nothing more than a ceremony for the youngest F1 champion in history.

The São Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil this afternoon will be the first to embrace his procession. However, there is still a job to do.

For the Mercedes team that has worked around the clock all over the world to give the drivers their Silver Arrows, there is still the matter of wrapping up the constructors’ championship as well.

Antonelli is not the only one who deserves praise at Mercedes; the engineers and mechanics toiling away endlessly at the factory, the pit crew and technical staff that bring life to championship-winning strategy, and the relentless drive of the team that fuels the organisation, play an indelible role in the driver’s success.

Without them, Antonelli and George Russell have no cars with which to chase their dreams, no strategy to direct their desire to win races, and no upgrades to continue competing.

Sealing the double

In São Paulo, Russell and Antonelli are tasked with paying back the work of the team by outscoring the Ferrari duo by 3 points to seal the double. At 126 points ahead, the duo will have a chance to add another championship double to the Mercedes trophy room this afternoon around a testy track with complex conditions forecasted.

Antonelli led the pack in free practice two with a beautiful lap early into the session that remained unbeatable despite the efforts of Lando Norris and Verstappen, who only managed to come within 0.300s of a second to Antonelli’s 1:10.763s time.

Both Mercedes vehicles looked planted around a track that’s set to test the rear downforce adherence of the cars on the grid.

Similar to Mexico, the high altitude and reduced air pressure mean that each driver will first be fighting to stay on the track, as even at speed there won’t be much forcing the cars down into the tarmac.

The consequence is a back-end that will want to spin out at the entry of every corner and a front-end that will have to compete with unwanted movement under braking, especially into the Senna S and throughout Sector Two with its sharp corners.

Expectedly, then — although unfortunate for Ferrari — this spells nothing but disaster for its drivers, who both finished their Saturday running perhaps with resignation that barring any equalising weather, their races might turn out to be exercises in damage mitigation.

Wet-weather race

That great equalising force that the Scuderia will pray for is rain. The Interlagos circuit is famous for its spectacular wet-weather races, with the latest being Verstappen’s all-conquering drive in 2024.

There is a 40-80 chance of rain predicted for today’s race, a possibility that the “Flying Dutchman” will welcome as he continues his push to seal second in the drivers’ standings and aid the Red Bull team to climb to second in the constructors’ championship, a massive feat in their first year as an engine manufacturer.

Russell, having a five-place grid penalty, and Hamilton’s unhappiness with the car, will only strengthen Red Bull’s chances.

Interlagos looks set to produce a riveting racing drama once again. Racecraft and luck might well be the themes tonight.

The protagonists might be away from the racing line and on the pit walls instead, as the strategists will have to wrestle with the unpredictable weather conditions to manufacture any kind of advantage for their drivers.

The spoils, then, will fall at the feet of the bravest schemers around the São Paulo circuit.