Three things we learned from the United States Grand Prix

AUSTIN, Texas (AFP) — Kimi Antonelli stands at the threshold of Formula One’s hall of fame, needing just two more points to become the sport’s youngest champion and first Italian for 73 years. His commanding triumph in Sunday’s United States Grand Prix was acclaimed as “his best so far” by Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, endorsing his talent again and proving that the “Silver Arrows” remain the team to beat. With five races remaining, AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from the 20-year-old Italian’s ninth win of an outstanding season: Antonelli maturing fast and adding strategic authority to his arsenal A brief comparison with the misfortunes and struggles of his teammate and nearest rival George Russell reveals how rapidly Antonelli has developed from a daring, precociously talented kid into a maturing competitor.

Team chief Wolff, having seen him deliver staggering wins in Monaco and Monza, called Sunday’s success “the race of a champion who isn’t the champion yet”. It is as if his passage from teenager to twenty-something has taken him into a higher level of authoritative and complete racing — adding a strategic dimension to the raw pace that set him apart. While the luckless Russell, who began the season as favourite for the drivers’ title and won the opener in Australia, laboured to eighth — the minimum required to keep alive his academic title fight — Antonelli skated home on the same one-stop strategy. Hampered by an early and harsh five-second penalty, Russell admitted he could not deliver the pace, or panache, needed. Before the race, Antonelli had called on Wolff in his office. “He comes in, sits on my chair, feet up, and chats away saying ‘this is so funny — I’m not thinking about the championship at all! ’ in a kind of youngish excitement, like it’s…