Russell throws in the towel as Antonelli running away with title

Kimi Antonelli looks ever so likely now to seal the world championship even before the F1 bandwagon moves to Abu Dhabi for the final race of the season.

Following his eighth win this year at the Spanish GP on Sunday, Mercedes’ Italian driver has opened up a seemingly unassailable 81-point lead on his suffering teammate George Russell with just nine races to go.

And Russell seems to have already given up the ghost on trying to catch Antonelli following his disappointing fifth-place finish in Madrid.

"Realistically, I'm not in the fight for the drivers' (championship), and that just allows me to focus race by race and try to get some good results," the British driver admitted.

And that is a reality Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also seems to have accepted, following another masterclass by the youngster on the notoriously difficult-to-overtake Madring circuit.

The Austrian believes Antonelli was born at "another level" to his peers and rivals – and can stay at the top in Formula One for 20 years.

"I think he's cool," he said. "Sometimes for me, an inch too cool when he brushes the wall, five laps to the end, and comes on to the radio 'check the car I think I brushed the wall'.

"You're like: 'Really? Again?' Maybe that's what helps keep him in the zone."

A week ago Wolff, who oversaw six of Lewis Hamilton's title-winning seasons and one by Nico Rosberg in 2016, had forecast that Antonelli would "walk on water" to win the Italian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid, despite Russell starting on the front row.

The young Italian duly picked his way through the field to record one of the most extraordinary wins in Formula One.

After his latest, more comfortable victory in Madrid, Wolff predicted that Antonelli would be around for a long time to come.

"He gets in the car and just drives," he said.

"I feel his youth helps him a lot there. He's 20. He could probably stay in the sport for 20 years.

"He's so above all our expectations. He's just going with the flow. And there's a genetic factor, you're born with cool, cool as a cucumber, or you're not."

At the Spanish GP on Sunday, Antonelli took advantage of an unlucky break for Lando Norris to pull farther away in the title race.

"It's good to win and I think the pace at the end was good," Antonelli said.

"Lucky for the virtual safety car, feel a bit bad for Lando.

"It doesn't feel as good [as the Italian GP win] because I think Lando today deserved to win," Antonelli added. "But overall, you know, we'll take it."

Indeed he will and when the season ends and he is crowned the youngest-ever F1 champion, these are the small breaks that will have helped him towards that remarkable feat.