Antonelli admits ‘it’s not over until it’s over’ in ‘intense’ title battle

Kimi Antonelli has conceded that although the Drivers’ Championship is on his mind, he’s aware that “it’s not over until it’s over” and is determined to maintain his high standards over the remaining rounds.

The Italian has excelled this season by taking eight Grand Prix victories and a further four podiums, which have enabled him to steadily build an advantage of 81 points over George Russell.

A win in Madrid caused his Mercedes team mate to state that he’s “not in the fight for the drivers’ title”, but Antonelli insisted that he’s not allowing himself to lose focus, instead opting to take each race weekend as it comes.

“It's not over until it's over,” he said. “Until you cross that finish line, it's not over. It's like tennis, one point at a time, here one race at a time.

“Keep giving your best and keep trying to raise that bar, keep delivering results and see where we end up at the end of the year. As we're getting closer, I've thought about the championship and stuff, but by thinking about it I’ve always come to the final conclusion that I need to keep driving like I am and delivering the results.

“The sooner it's over, the better it is. Still a long way and it's not going to be easy. It’s going to be intense but I’m ready to give my best and to keep having fun.”

The 20-year-old could add another win to his tally at the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix, held at the Baku City Circuit where he narrowly missed out on a podium to Williams’ Carlos Sainz in last season’s race.

Despite his previous strong showing, Antonelli was keen to manage expectations, especially as rival teams McLaren and Red Bull have joined Ferrari in closing the gap to the Silver Arrows.

“I think it could be a good track for us but if McLaren have the upperhand, or Red Bull with Max [Verstappen] or even with Isack [Hadjar], then it might be one of those weekends where you have to be satisfied with maybe a podium or a P4. Of course the goal is always to win but we'll see.

“You have no margin for mistakes, or very little, and it's going to be important to build up throughout the weekend, and when it matters to squeeze everything out of it. Always keep that tiny margin in case something happens. It is a cool track, very challenging. Hopefully we're going to be fast.”