This weekend's US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, marks Mercedes star Kimi Antonelli's first chance to wrap up the 2026 F1 world championship.

However, Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord has insisted that the team are treating the weekend just like any other, and that they actually don't want him to win the title this weekend.

That's because for Antonelli to be crowned the youngest-ever world champion in the Lone Star State, it means that his team-mate George Russell has to have a pretty terrible day, and that's not what Mercedes want.

Antonelli leads his team-mate by 102 points ahead of the race on Sunday, and a victory for the Italian could see the title fight ended. Crucially, though, he also needs Russell to finish P9 or lower, and Lewis Hamilton to finish P5 or below.

Bradley Lord: Antonelli title not result Mercedes aiming for

Speaking in Austin on Friday, deputy team principal Lord was quizzed on preparations for the weekend and how the team were feeling by Sky Sports in the media pen.

Lord insisted that the only thing the team were doing differently in the build-up to the race was talking about the matter, and made it clear the team wants a high finish for both cars, which would prevent Antonelli from wrapping things up.

“The main thing we're doing differently is answering questions about it, to be honest,” Lord said.

“Ultimately, for Kimi to win this weekend, it means the team's had a really bad race because the maths say George needs to be ninth or below, and that isn't how we want to go racing and the result we're aiming for.

"So it's a very minimal chance, it's theoretically possible. But in practical terms, this isn't the match point weekend, and we'll just try and get out there, get as many points as possible and then see when the maths starts to come towards us a little bit more.”

Whether or not the young Italian has the pace to win the grand prix and give himself the chance remains to be seen, but Friday got off to a wobbly start, with Antonelli down in P5 and nearly half a second off the pace in FP1.

Fortunately, Antonelli and Mercedes put on a stronger showing in FP2, but their pace was still only good enough for second, with Leclerc once again topping the session.