• Championship leader hails ‘perfect execution of strategy’

• Win in Austin leaves Italian two points away from title

Kimi Antonelli has acknowledged the Formula One world championship is within his grasp after the Italian took a dominant victory at the US Grand Prix which has put him just two points away from clinching his first title at the Mexican Grand Prix next weekend.

Antonelli beat the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc into second place and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen into third. With his title rivals George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finishing eighth and fourth respectively, Antonelli will take the title if he finishes in ninth or higher in Mexico City.

The 20-year-old, who stands to become Formula 1’s youngest champion, was jubilant as he crossed the line at the Circuit of the Americas. “Yeah! That’s how we fucking do it,” he exclaimed to his engineer Peter Bonnington. “Another small step,” the Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, told Antonelli over the radio after the victory. “Another small step.”

With the team having worked hard to iron out issues with their recent upgrades to the car, the victory was of import to the team, who pulled off a coup in opting for a one-stop strategy which paid off handsomely for their world champion-elect driver as well. Antonelli paid tribute to his team.

“We’re very close [to the title], hopefully we can clinch it soon,” he said. “It was a result we needed to be fair, the whole team deserved it all this time working to bring this new package and finally seeing the result is very pleasant. It was a perfect execution of strategy to call the one-stop. Today was a great team effort.”

This view was echoed by the Mercedes deputy team principal, Bradley Lord. “It felt like everyone was getting a bit excited but all Kimi could do today is go out and win,” he said. “Amazing job by everyone on the pit wall and the strategists back at base. What a drive, what a win.”

However Verstappen, whose Red Bull team opted for a two-stop strategy, was far from enamoured with his afternoon and a car that was suffering from problems. “Yeah, that was terrible,” he said. “The pace, the wrong tyre, shit pitstop, shit engine braking. Nothing worked.”