Mercedes reveal Antonelli almost retired from title-winning Mexico race
Kimi Antonelli almost retired from the Mexico City GP with four laps left because of a power unit problem, Bradley Lord revealed. The Italian sealed the F1 title in third place and became the youngest champion in history.
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Kimi Antonelli por pouco não completou a corrida que lhe deu o título da Fórmula 1. Vice-chefe da Mercedes, Bradley Lord contou que o italiano esteve perto de deixar o GP do México: a quatro voltas do fim, o carro apresentou problema na unidade de potência.
Em entrevista ao podcast High Performance, o dirigente explicou que a equipe encontrou óleo embaixo do assoalho do monoposto depois da prova.
“Recebemos o carro de volta após a corrida e removemos o assoalho, que estava coberto de óleo”, iniciou Lord.
“O cárter rachou e Kimi disse que, a cerca de quatro voltas do final, sentiu que o motor estava começando a apresentar dificuldades. Então, ele estava bem à beira de abandonar a corrida, mas o carro aguentou firme”, completou.
Antonelli garantiu o campeonato com o terceiro lugar no GP do México. Ele é o terceiro italiano a conquistar a categoria, pôs fim a um jejum de 73 anos e entrou para a lista que tem Giuseppe Farina e Alberto Ascari.
O italiano também superou a marca de Sebastian Vettel e, agora, é o mais jovem campeão da história da F1.
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