‘I’m trying to enjoy more’ – Antonelli explains his mindset in Sao Paulo as the new World Champion

Kimi Antonelli has explained that he’s hoping to prioritise enjoyment at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix now that the pressure of winning the Drivers’ Championship is off his shoulders.

The Italian was crowned F1’s youngest title-winner after he finished third in Mexico City, and after several days of celebrations, he confirmed that he has stopped thinking about the standings and wants to have fun in the remaining rounds.

That approach began on the first day of running at Interlagos, where he narrowly missed out on the top spot in FP1 to Lando Norris before establishing an advantage of two-tenths in the second hour of practice.

Asked after the session whether he feels more relaxed in the car, Antonelli replied: “Yes, definitely. I’m trying to enjoy more. Definitely not thinking about the championship now, but I’m enjoying it.

“I think it was enjoyable today. Not easy out there – conditions are tricky, but also the grip is quite low. Overall deg seems to be high in the race so it’s interesting. It’s not easy as well to find the right car balance. I think we did a good step between FP1 and FP2, and just need to work on [it] for tomorrow.”

One factor that could impact his weekend is the Sao Paulo weather, which has been known to change from sunshine to torrential rain rapidly – and there’s already a 70% chance of precipitation for Saturday afternoon.

“It’s so uncertain at the moment,” Antonelli said. “I think we’ll try to be ready for anything. It looked like the rain was coming even now, and it didn't do anything.

“Just need to be prepared, be dynamic because obviously we know how unpredictable the weather can be. We’ll just try to see where we can improve the car and everything – the driving as well – and then we’ll see tomorrow.

“McLaren look strong. Red Bull look strong as well, and Ferrari always in Qualifying can find a little bit extra. I think we will all be very close to each other. It’s going to be a very tight Qualifying.”

Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord agreed that the unpredictable weather will play a key role over the weekend, but it could also bring about opportunities for George Russell, who will start the race with a five-place grid penalty for taking a new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE).

“Ultimately, it’s our quickest way to get through to the end of the season,” Lord explained. “It’s likely that Kimi will have to take an extra ICE at an upcoming race as well.

“It’s the best balance of new engine performance versus having to manage an older power unit to the end of the season, and maybe turn it down to preserve reliability. It’s not the situation we want to be in but from that point, this is the quickest way to the end of the season and best chance of scoring as many points as possible.

“It’s going to be much warmer tomorrow but with a risk of rain, and then cooler again on Sunday so adapting to the conditions will matter. As usual, it’s the blue cars, the red cars and the orange cars that are out there fighting with our silver ones.

“It looks very close – short lap, tiny gaps. We need to get everything right on a single lap and then hopefully make the most of good race pace on Sunday afternoon.”