Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that Kimi Antonelli sneaked into his office ahead of winning the United States Grand Prix to tell him he did not feel any nerves about the world title.
Antonelli has moved to the brink of becoming Formula 1's youngest world champion after a dominant win from pole position at the Circuit of the Americas.
It represented his first victory since the Spanish Grand Prix and one that has made it all but a formality that he will become world champion in Mexico City.
The 20-year-old made an excellent start and kept the lead into the first corner before committing to a one-stop strategy, while those around him all chose a two-stop.
He remained calm and near-perfect throughout the race and only exceeded track limits once, in a drive that left Wolff incredibly proud.
Asked how proud he is of Antonelli, Wolff told Sky F1: "Yeah, what a boy, no? I was just saying before, I got a question about whether he was nervous before the race, and I said, ‘Oh, he just sneaked into my office before getting ready and said, 'I'm just going to enjoy this right now, and it's weird, I'm not thinking about the championship at all. Isn't that funny?'
"So he's on a discovery mission there, also in terms of what's happening to him emotionally, and then he just delivered from the beginning to the end. It was exceptional at any time."
Mercedes reap reward of one-stop confidence
Mercedes very much stuck to its guns when it came to Antonelli's strategy, despite Max Verstappen, who was running second early in the race, having committed to a two-stop strategy very early on.
The Silver Arrows did not blink, with a one-stop strategy turning out to be the quickest option, switching from the medium compound to the hards.
"Yeah, strategy has really done a good job today," added Wolff. "We discussed the possibility that Max could undercut us, and we stayed firm with the decision, saying the one-stop looks like the fastest strategy.
"Norris hit the hards and looked very good, so we stayed solid. And at the end, it came out pretty much as expected. In theory, it was eight seconds quicker, and at the end, it was a little bit more."
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