Antonelli falls ill on eve of possible Formula One title triumph in Mexico

MEXICO CITY, Oct 30 — The biggest weekend in Kimi Antonelli’s motor racing life so far began in silence on today when he was excused from media duties at the Mexico City Grand Prix due to a viral illness.

Instead of attending news conferences and talking to reporters at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the 20-year-old Italian was left to rest and recover ahead of his expected confirmation as Formula One’s youngest champion and first Italian in 73 years.

A spokesperson for his Mercedes team said Antonelli was feeling under the weather with a viral illness and was excused from the media day by ruling body the International Automobile Federation (FIA) “as a precaution to give him the chance to rest”.

“We expect him to be back tomorrow,” the team added.

The precocious runaway leader of the drivers’ title race would normally have faced a heavy schedule ahead of such a potentially momentous race.

He is 123 points clear of nearest rival and Mercedes team-mate George Russell and 124 ahead of Ferrari’s seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.

He can clinch the title, even if Russell wins, by finishing ninth or better and will be champion if either one of his two title rivals fails to win — even if he finishes pointless or does not take part.

Antonelli was not the only driver to go down with illness ahead of the high-altitude second race of a Transamerican triple-header of consecutive races in Texas, Mexico and Brazil as Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas was also unwell and declared to be absent.

In a statement, the American team said it had “taken the decision to allow him a day of rest, to support his recovery”.

If Antonelli is too ill to race, his seat is likely to go to Mercedes reserve driver Frederik Vesti who would make his Formula One racing debut after taking part in six free practice sessions for the team.

Wolff calls for calm

Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff called for a cool, calm and collected approach as they bid for part one of a first Formula One double title success.

“The championships are moving closer, but our mindset does not change,” said Wolff, stressing that concentration and discipline are essential to success.

“Thinking about the outcome won’t help us achieve it,” he added. “We will stay disciplined, take each session as it comes and concentrate on doing all the fundamentals well.

“That includes Fred (Vesti, the team’s reserve driver), who will take over George (Russell)’s car in opening practice. He is an important member of our team and we know we can rely on him to deliver precise, useful feedback as we work through our Friday programme.”

Cadillac’s reserve is Chinese racer Zhou Guanyu who raced for Sauber from 2021-2024, but they also have American Colton Herta available. He is scheduled to run in opening practice for the team on tomorrow as they build up his mileage and assess him as a potential replacement for Bottas next year. — AFP

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墨西哥城，10 月 30 日——基米·安东内利迄今为止赛车生涯中最重要的周末今天悄然开始，他因病毒性疾病被免除了在墨西哥城大奖赛上的媒体职责。

这位 20 岁的意大利小将没有出席新闻发布会，也没有在罗德里格斯兄弟赛道与记者交谈，而是被留下来休息恢复，等待最终确认他将成为一级方程式赛车历史上最年轻的冠军，也是 73 年来第一位意大利冠军。

他的梅赛德斯车队发言人表示，安东内利因病毒感染感到身体不适，国际汽车联合会（FIA）出于“预防考虑，让他有机会休息”，特地允许他缺席媒体日活动。

球队补充道：“我们预计他明天就能回归。”

这位在车手冠军争夺战中早早脱颖而出的领跑者，通常会在这样一场可能意义重大的比赛之前面临密集的赛程。

他领先最接近的竞争对手、梅赛德斯车队队友乔治·拉塞尔 123 分，领先法拉利车队七届世界冠军刘易斯·汉密尔顿 124 分。

即使拉塞尔获胜，他只要获得第九名或更好的成绩就能锁定冠军；如果他的两位冠军竞争对手中有人未能获胜，他将成为冠军——即使他一分未得或没有参赛。

在德克萨斯州、墨西哥和巴西连续举行的泛美三连赛第二场高海​​拔比赛之前，安东内利并不是唯一一位生病的赛车手，凯迪拉克车队的瓦尔特里·博塔斯也身体不适，宣布缺席比赛。

美国队在一份声明中表示，“已决定让他休息一天，以帮助他恢复健康”。

如果安东内利因病无法参赛，他的席位很可能将由梅赛德斯车队的预备车手弗雷德里克·维斯蒂顶替，维斯蒂将在代表车队参加六次自由练习赛后迎来他的F1首秀。

沃尔夫呼吁保持冷静

梅赛德斯车队领队托托·沃尔夫呼吁车队采取冷静沉着的态度，力争实现他们首次F1双料冠军的首个目标。

沃尔夫说：“锦标赛越来越近了，但我们的心态不会改变。”他强调，专注和自律对于成功至关重要。

“考虑结果对我们实现目标没有帮助，”他补充道。“我们会保持自律，认真对待每一节训练课，专注于把所有基本功都练好。”

“这其中就包括弗雷德（维斯蒂，车队的预备车手），他将在首场练习赛中驾驶乔治（拉塞尔）的赛车。他是我们车队的重要成员，我们相信他能在周五的练习赛中提供精准、有用的反馈。”

凯迪拉克车队的后备车手是曾于2021年至2024年效力于索伯车队的中国车手周冠宇，但他们也有美国车手科尔顿·赫塔可供选择。赫塔计划于明日参加车队的首次练习赛，以增加他的里程数，并评估他是否具备明年接替博塔斯的潜力。——法新社

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