Few drivers can measure another against Michael Schumacher from first-hand experience. Nico Rosberg is one of them.
The 2016 world champion, who partnered Schumacher at Mercedes from 2010 to 2012, has put Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s season firmly in that bracket.
“I knew he was very, very fast; I know him from karting. But after last year, when he struggled so much, nobody would have thought he’d be driving so brilliantly this year, that’s world-class, Michael Schumacher-level,” Rosberg told PlanetF1.
“He fully deserves the F1 2026 title. He’s the only one who’s consistently up there at the front.”
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What Antonelli needs in Austin
Antonelli arrives in Texas on 340 points, 102 clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell and 111 ahead of Lewis Hamilton. With six rounds remaining and a maximum of 150 points still available, the title can be settled this Sunday, but only if several results line up.
Antonelli has to win the race, Russell has to finish ninth or lower, and Hamilton has to finish fifth or lower. A 125-point gap would be enough thanks to Antonelli’s superior win count on tiebreak.
Should the maths fall into place, Antonelli would become the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history, lowering Sebastian Vettel’s 2010 mark of 23 years and 134 days by more than three years. He would also be the first Italian world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
‘That’s why I won’t think about it’
The driver himself is refusing to engage with any of it.
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“I mean, it’s crazy if you think about it, but that’s why I won’t think about it,” Antonelli said.
“Just have fun, just always the same mindset as I had all year, one race at a time.”
He has pointed back to his junior-category title fights as the template: focus on executing the weekend in front of him rather than the trophy at the end of it.
The United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas gets under way at 3pm local time on Sunday, 25 October.
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