Motor racing-Antonelli dares to dream as historic F1 title zooms in to view

Formula One F1 - Singapore Grand Prix - Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore - October 11, 2026 Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli after finishing third place in the Singapore Grand Prix REUTERS/Jakub Porzycki

SINGAPORE, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli ⁠said he is allowing himself to dream about a historic world title which is within reach at the next ⁠race in Austin, Texas, after the 20-year-old sealed his 14th podium finish of the season at Sunday's Singapore Grand ‌Prix.

The title would make Antonelli Formula One's youngest ever champion and Italy's first since 1953.

Antonelli's third place in a Singapore Grand Prix that was controlled from start to finish by Red Bull's Max Verstappen was scrappy, as he flirted with a penalty for testing the track's limits.

But it was enough to extend his lead over ​teammate George Russell to 102 points and when asked if he dared to ⁠dream of clinching the title in Austin later this ⁠month on the long journey home he said: "For sure.

"But at the same time, I know it's very close, I know it's ⁠there, ‌but I just need to make sure that I keep doing the best I can. The mindset is always the same, to go out there and win.

"I think this weekend I haven't particularly driven that well... but I feel confident that, (with) a ⁠week to reset and I'm really looking forward to being back in Austin.

"If ​I don't do my job well, then ‌the result won't come. So in order to achieve what I want, I need to perform at 100%."

Antonelli can mathematically win the ​championship in Austin on the assumption there are still five races to come after, with the fate of the Grands Prix in Qatar and Abu Dhabi up in the air due to the conflict in the Middle East.

However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is refusing to tempt fate.

"I remind myself that ⁠this is motor racing and crazy things have happened," Wolff said.

"It probably ​needs the other two (contenders), George and Lewis (Hamilton), to retire and him winning. So this is not a likely scenario," he added, while recognising that the title was within reach and maybe inevitable.

"It's going to come towards him, whether that's in Mexico or Brazil, or far down the ⁠line."

Russell, who worked his way up from the back of the starting grid due to engine penalties, finished a respectable ninth at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, where overtaking is notoriously tricky.

Wolff said both drivers would probably be running in Austin on an upgraded car as some, but not all, of its teething problems had been ironed out in Singapore.

"I think that this new car needs a ​very different setup philosophy than the previous car," he said.

"Does it have the performance that ⁠we were hoping the upgrade would bring? I don't think so yet, but it was a step in the right direction."

Antonelli narrowly avoided a ​five-second penalty, hitting the maximum limit of breaches of the track boundaries.

However, Wolff ‌praised his driving and joked about how he could boost the diminutive ​driver higher for a better view of the track edges.

"I have a good strategy. I'm going to put a pillow from the hotel under his arse, so he can actually see the road."

(Reporting by Tom WestbrookEditing by Toby Davis)

Thank you for your report!

一级方程式赛车（F1）——新加坡大奖赛——新加坡滨海湾街道赛道——2026年10月11日，梅赛德斯车队的安德烈亚·基米·安东内利在新加坡大奖赛中获得第三名后。（路透社/雅库布·波尔齐茨基摄）

新加坡，10 月 11 日（路透社）——梅赛德斯车队的基米·安东内利表示，在周日的新加坡大奖赛上，这位 20 岁的车手获得了本赛季的第 14 个领奖台席位，他开始梦想着在下一站德克萨斯州奥斯汀的比赛中赢得一个历史性的世界冠军，而这个冠军触手可及。

如果安东内利赢得这个冠军，他将成为一级方程式赛车历史上最年轻的世界冠军，也是自 1953 年以来意大利的首位世界冠军。

安东内利在新加坡大奖赛中获得第三名，这场比赛从头到尾都被红牛车队的马克斯·维斯塔潘掌控。安东内利的成绩并不理想，他因为试探赛道极限而险些受到处罚。

但这足以让他领先队友乔治·拉塞尔 102 分，当被问及是否敢梦想在本月晚些时候的奥斯汀站夺得冠军时，在漫长的回家途中，他说道：“当然。”

“但与此同时，我知道胜利就在眼前，我知道它就在那里，但我必须确保自己继续做到最好。我的心态始终如一，那就是全力以赴，争取胜利。”

“我觉得这个周末我的驾驶状态不太好……但我相信，经过一周的调整，我能够重整旗鼓，我真的很期待回到奥斯汀。”

“如果我工作做得不好，就不会有结果。所以为了实现我的目标，我需要付出百分之百的努力。”

假设奥斯汀站之后还有五场比赛要进行，那么安东内利在数学上可以赢得总冠军。由于中东冲突，卡塔尔和阿布扎比大奖赛的命运尚不明朗。

然而，梅赛德斯车队老板托托·沃尔夫拒绝冒险。

沃尔夫说：“我提醒自己，这是赛车运动，什么疯狂的事情都发生过。”

“可能需要另外两位竞争者，乔治和刘易斯（汉密尔顿）退役，然后他自己赢得冠军。所以这种情况不太可能发生，”他补充道，同时他也承认冠军头衔触手可及，或许是不可避免的。

“无论是在墨西哥、巴西，还是更远的地方，这件事都会朝着他袭来。”

由于引擎处罚，拉塞尔从发车格的最后一位起跑，最终在以超车困难著称的滨海湾街道赛道上获得了令人尊敬的第九名。

沃尔夫表示，两位车手在奥斯汀可能会驾驶升级后的赛车参赛，因为该赛车在新加坡的一些初期问题已经得到解决，但并非全部。

“我认为这款新车需要与之前的赛车截然不同的调校理念，”他说。

“它的性能是否达到了我们期望的升级效果？我认为还没有，但这无疑是朝着正确方向迈出的一步。”

安东内利险些被罚五秒，因为他已经达到了违反赛道边界次数的最高限制。

然而，沃尔夫称赞了他的驾驶技术，并开玩笑说他可以把这位身材矮小的驾驶员抬得更高，以便更好地观察赛道边缘。

“我有个好办法。我要从酒店拿个枕头垫在他屁股底下，这样他就能看清路了。”

（汤姆·韦斯特布鲁克报道，托比·戴维斯编辑）

感谢您的报告！