Kimi Antonelli has revealed nerves ahead of Sunday’s potential title decider at the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix while battling fever.
Antonelli was exempt from media duties on Thursday, after he and Valtteri Bottas fell ill with a fever.
The timing of his illness came at a start of a weekend where the runaway championship leader needs to score just two points to become F1’s youngest title winner.
Recovering to the point he could drive the car during practice and qualifying, he lines up fourth on the grid, putting him a strong position to seal the championship.
After qualifying, the young Italian revealed the internal battle he has faced to not only recover from illness, but calm the growing nerves of what Sunday may bring.
“I feel very tired to be fair; I still haven’t recovered completely,” he said.
“It hasn’t been an easy weekend to be fair, and definitely I’ve been a bit more tense than usual, especially when you keep hearing, wherever you go, any time of the day, the same thing, and people telling me that [the title is] already done.
“And knowing myself…I’ve been trying to block this noise as much as possible, but it hasn’t been easy.
“Definitely, I’ve been a bit more tense today, but I felt decent in Q2, especially on the used tyre. Then in Q3 on the new tyre, I struggled to put the lap together, just to find the grip.
“But I feel we have a good chance tomorrow, still P4, and we saved a set of new tyres, so hopefully we can use that and move forward.”
Kimi Antonelli lays bare impact of illness
Revealing the consequences of his illness, Antonelli confirmed he felt low on energy, before revealing his strategy to speed up his recovery.
“Now I feel OK, just low on energy,” the Mercedes driver said, adding he will “bombard myself with melatonin” in a bid to sleep for “a good 10 hours”.
“I feel pretty tired, so it’s going to be important to try and sleep well, because I haven’t been sleeping well in these days, and hopefully tomorrow I will have more energy.”
Recovering from a virus or fever is a challenge at the best of times, but throw in possibly clinching your first world championship into the equation, and its not unfair to say that Sunday could be the making of Antonelli if he comes out on top.
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