# Antonelli to miss Mexico media day with illness

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/antonelli-to-miss-mexico-media-day-with-illness/
- Published: 2026-10-29T17:25:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T04:03:33+00:00
- Original publisher: BBC Sport (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/cke8rlrrzpqyo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
- Topics: Americas, Motorsport, Sport, World

## Key points

- Antonelli is resting after a viral illness.
- He could become F1’s youngest champion on Sunday.
- Bottas is also unwell, but Cadillac expects no impact on his weekend.

## Summary

Kimi Antonelli will miss Thursday’s Mexico City Grand Prix media day after Mercedes said he has a viral illness. The FIA excused him as a precaution so he can rest ahead of the weekend; Mercedes expects him to return on Friday, when practice begins at 18:30 GMT. His absence comes as he approaches a chance to become Formula 1’s youngest world champion.

Antonelli leads Mercedes team-mate George Russell by 123 points and will clinch the title if he loses no more than two points to Russell and one to Lewis Hamilton in Sunday’s race. If Russell wins, ninth place would be enough for Antonelli; if Hamilton wins, he would need 10th. Cadillac driver Valtteri Bottas is also missing media day through illness, but the team says this currently does not affect his participation in the rest of the weekend. Russell, who has won three races this season to Antonelli’s nine, said he is trying to understand why his own form has fluctuated.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.