E ven as Kimi Antonelli may be world champion-elect, it is sometimes hard to equate the young man who has driven with such exceptional skill and no little verve to touching distance of an historic first Formula One title with the smiling, wide-eyed kid with tousled hair who still almost looks out of place in the F1 paddock. Yet what has become clear in this extraordinary season is that Antonelli’s talent and his personable, endearing character are inextricably entwined.

Whether the Italian seals his place as F1’s youngest world champion, at 20 years old, at this Sunday’s US Grand Prix in Austin or the next round in Mexico or even beyond that is moot – that he will do so is all but assured and for all that he is still in only his second season in the sport, a more rounded, well-liked champion than the Mercedes driver would be hard to find.

Engage with Antonelli and it is almost impossible not to still see the three-year-old child who insisted on taking to his father Marco’s knee to try out the racing…