Kimi Antonelli will miss Thursday’s media session in Mexico ahead of the weekend where he is set to seal his place as Formula One’s youngest world champion.

The 20-year-old needs to finish only ninth or better in Sunday’s race to get his hands on the title with four scheduled rounds still remaining, in just his second season in the sport.

But he has started this round in Mexico suffering from a “viral illness”, although Mercedes expect him to be ready for practice on Friday.

A Mercedes statement read: “Kimi is feeling under the weather today as he recovers from a viral illness. As a precaution, the FIA has excused him from his mandatory media duties to give him the chance to rest ahead of the weekend.

“We expect him to be back tomorrow.”

The Italian’s dominant win in Austin last weekend – a ninth success of the season – left him 123 points clear of team-mate and nearest challenger George Russell, with only 125 left to play for.

Barring calamity, he will be celebrating following Sunday’s race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Antonelli was not the only driver skipping Thursday’s media duties, with Cadillac confirming that Valtteri Bottas was also absent due to illness.