MEXICO CITY, Oct 27 - Kimi Antonelli says he is just getting started as the 20-year-old Italian prepares to become Formula One's youngest world champion with a flourish in Mexico City this weekend.

The Mercedes driver, in only his second season, has a 123-point lead over teammate and closest rival George Russell with a maximum 100 still available after Mexico.

Two points on Sunday -- a ninth place -- is all he needs to become Italy's first champion in 73 years even if Russell wins the race.

"It would be very cool to close this off, to be the next Italian champion, but of course then this has to be just the beginning, you know," Antonelli told Reuters at last weekend's US Grand Prix in Austin, where he took his ninth win of the season.

"We'll focus on finishing this off in style, because it will be good to finish off well, and then we'll keep going and look to do even better and be even more successful in years to come."

RACING WITH FATHER MARCO IS ANOTHER DREAM

The Bologna-born youngster wants sportscar racer father Marco, a regular presence in the paddock, to feel something of what he has experienced on track once the dust has settled.

"He's never driven a Formula One car," he said. "That's another thing I want for him. But this I need to ask Mercedes."

Antonelli also intends to do some GT3 racing with him.

"That's a dream of his and something we need to arrange. For sure next year there will be, at the start of the season or halfway, a time we can find because it will be good to fulfil this dream of his," he said.

BORN RACER

The sound of engines and smell of exhausts has been part of Antonelli's life since he was a baby.

The future Mercedes driver was barely 10 when he first sat on his father's lap at the steering wheel of a competition Lamborghini, changing gears and guiding the car around a racetrack while Marco operated the brake and accelerator pedals.

He was eight when his father smuggled him into the Formula One paddock for the first time inside a stack of tyres with an umbrella on top.

"Sometimes we may look like lunatics because we just talk about racing," said Kimi. "A couple of days ago my dad put out this really funny picture of when I was probably nine or 10 and I was sitting on his legs and we were watching onboards (driver view footage) together at the racetrack.

"We like to watch onboards together. We like to analyse things together. Racing is always in our minds. We have a lot of fun together and racing is our passion. It's what I live for."

Antonelli was fast-tracked by Mercedes as replacement for seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton when the Briton went to Ferrari, but despite the family background racing was not a given.

"When I was little, before everything even started, he (Marco) didn't want me to race because the sport can be very cruel at times," the Italian, who passed his driving test only last year, recalled last week.

"I'd always be very grateful to Mercedes because they were the ones gambling on me when I was very little. Mainly without them, I wouldn't be here today because they were the ones who supported me all the way from karting to now.

"My dad didn't want me to race because, unfortunately, when he was racing himself, he had to face this reality: He didn't have any financial support, and he couldn't keep going with his racing career... he didn't want me to face the same kind of disappointments he had faced back then."

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Antonelli's practice debut at Monza in 2024 was a tough baptism when he crashed in front of his home crowd, and last year was a rollercoaster in which he made mistakes and tested the limits.

There have been few errors this year, with new rules and a different kind of racing. Although Antonelli was well beaten by Russell in 2025, with the Briton starting this year as title favourite, he ripped up the script by securing five straight victories from China to Monaco.

Antonelli has won at tracks fast and slow, and stood out for his calm, natural joy of racing and as the leader of a new generation.

"He came to my office just before getting dressed (for the race in Austin) and just sat on the sofa and said 'I'm going to enjoy this one. And isn't it funny, I'm not thinking at all about the championship'," Mercedes team principal and co-owner Toto Wolff said. "So he also has the right mindset."

At Monza this year Antonelli carved his way from the back of the grid to become the first Italian winner at the "Temple of Speed" since 1966, a sensational achievement even if -- according to Wolff -- still not as good as the win in Austin.

The rewards, even as a Mercedes driver in a country where Ferrari is a national obsession, are evident.

Antonelli has moved to San Marino, where he is building a house with plenty of garage space. The suggestion he might live in Monaco was dismissed immediately but he was nonplussed when asked how he would reward himself for taking the title.

"I don't know," he said. "I've got everything I need." REUTERS