AUSTIN, Texas, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Kimi Antonelli delivered a dominant US Grand Prix victory for Mercedes on Sunday to stand on the brink of becoming Formula One's youngest ever champion with four rounds to spare in Mexico next weekend.
The 20-year-old Italian did all he could to put the championship out of reach of his rivals in Texas but Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes teammate George Russell did just enough to delay the inevitable with fourth and eighth respectively..
Antonelli now needs to score only two points -- a ninth place -- in Mexico City to be sure of the title even if Russell wins.
"It was the result we needed and the whole team deserve it so much," he said of his first win since Spain last month."I know we're very close. We try to finish on a high and hopefully we can clinch it very soon".
LECLERC SECOND AND VERSTAPPEN THIRD
Ferrari's CharlesLeclerc finished second, 13.078 seconds behind, in Sunday's race at Austin's Circuit of the Americas with Red Bull's Max Verstappen third and helped by a late virtual safety car that slowed a chasing Hamilton who finished one second down the road.
The win from pole position on a one-stop strategy was Antonelli's ninth in of the season and he now leads Russell by 123 points, and Hamilton by 124 with a maximum 125 remaining to be won and that reducing to 100 after Mexico.
"The main headline is that for me (it is) the best race he's delivered so far," said Mercedesteam bossToto Wolff.
"The race of a champion who isn't the champion yet, but exceptional".
McLaren's reigning champion Lando Norris finished fifth on a one stop strategy after being passed by both Verstappen and Leclerc on lap 47 of 56 with his tyres struggling. Red Bull's Isack Hadjar was sixth, and ahead of McLaren's OscarPiastri.
Liam Lawson was ninth for Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly took the final point for Alpine.
Antonelli made a flying getaway and was 2.3 seconds clear at the end of the opening lap while the Ferrari pair took the fight to slow-startingVerstappen for second place.
Leclerc went ahead, before being passed again by the Red Bull, and nearly made contact with Hamilton after the uphill scramble off the grid.
The virtual safety car was briefly deployed on lap two to allow marshals to clear debris and Russell, who had started sixth, had to serve a five second penalty at his sole stop after stewards ruled he hadgained an advantage onPiastri on the opening lap at Turn 13.
Russell was then unable to find a way past the McLaren.
"Six good laps, 50 bad laps," he said of his race. "I want to understand why the pace was so bad on the first stint. The penalty was a bit ridiculous as well, but that's the least of my worries after such a bad weekend.
"For me, as long as we're in the constructors' (lead), that's the main thing. Obviously I'd like to finish best of the rest, but P2, P3, P5 is not champion, so it doesn't mean anything."
Haas's Ollie Bearman also collected a 10 second penalty for causing a collision withGasly and retired at the half-distance.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
