The race that took Kimi Antonelli to the brink of a record-breaking world championship was, in the words of his Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, "the best he has delivered so far" and "the race of a champion who isn't the champion yet".

Not yet. Not quite. But so very near.

The 20-year-old Italian's victory in the United States Grand Prix puts him in an impregnable position.

Antonelli is so far ahead in the points that the only way he could not win the title in Mexico City next weekend is if either his team-mate George Russell or Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton win the race.…