Source : @F1
AUSTIN — Lewis Hamilton had just two words of advice for Kimi Antonelli as the Mercedes driver prepares for a potential title-clinching weekend at the United States Grand Prix: “Slow down.”
Formula 1’s official X account shared the moment from Thursday’s (Oct 22) drivers’ press conference at the Circuit of The Americas with the caption: “Sound advice from Lewis to Kimi”, alongside the hashtags #F1 and #USGP. The 12-second clip shows Antonelli, in Mercedes team kit and a brown cap, sitting beside Hamilton on a red sofa in front of a United States Grand Prix backdrop. Asked whether he has any advice for Kimi at this moment, Hamilton, in a Ferrari team shirt, replies “Slow down” and breaks into a grin.
According to the official FIA transcript, the seven-time world champion quickly turned serious. “No, I don’t know. He doesn’t need any advice,” Hamilton said. “I think he’s shown this year, and also last year, but particularly this year, his talent and his ability, his calmness and his approach. He’s done an amazing job this year, and I’m so proud of him.”
Hamilton added that he was proud of the way the 20-year-old Italian had conducted himself. “I’m so proud of the way he’s carried himself, how he interacts with the drivers and even with you guys,” he said, and said: “If it’s not my team, I’d always want to see my old team do well.” Antonelli replaced Hamilton at Mercedes after the Briton’s move to Ferrari, and Hamilton said he had known who his successor would be while he was still at the team. “Kimi was around the team, following us a lot, particularly in the last year that I was there,” he said, adding that Antonelli “deserves to be the champion”.
Antonelli, who shared the second part of the press conference with Hamilton and Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas, played down the prospect of being crowned in Texas. “I mean, it definitely is crazy if you think about it, but that’s why I won’t think about it,” he said. “For me, it needs to be a perfect weekend. The others need to have a poor result, which is unlikely to happen.” He revealed that a meeting with his race engineer, Peter “Bono” Bonnington, that morning had ended with a simple message: “Just have fun.”
The equation for Sunday is demanding. Antonelli leads the drivers’ standings on 340 points, 102 clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell, with Hamilton third on 229 and Max Verstappen fourth on 221. Antonelli will be champion in Austin only if he wins the race, with Russell ninth or lower and Hamilton fifth or lower. Victory would make him the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history, beating the record Sebastian Vettel set in 2010.
Hamilton was less certain about his own prospects, saying Ferrari had brought only a very small upgrade, worth around half a tenth of a second. “I have no idea whether or not we can win,” he said, pointing to Red Bull’s recent form after Verstappen won the past two rounds. He also addressed his strategy call at the Singapore Grand Prix on Oct 11, where he chose to stay out during a Virtual Safety Car period. “I owned up to it, took responsibility for it, and you move on,” he said.
The United States Grand Prix runs from Oct 23 to 25, with qualifying at 4pm local time on Saturday and the 56-lap race starting at 3pm on Sunday, which is 4am on Monday (Oct 26) in Malaysia. The original Formula 1 post can be viewed on X: https://x.com/F1/status/2113391473093677086.
About The Author
