Antonelli on brink of title with US Grand Prix victory

Kimi Antonelli moved to within striking distance of his first world championship title as he powered to an emphatic victory at the US Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday. It was his ninth win of the season and with his only rivals Mercedes teammate George Russell and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton finishing eighth and fourth respectively, the 20-year-old Italian needs just to come in ninth in next week's race in Mexico to become the youngest ever Formula One champion. He is also set to become the first Italian to win the title since Alberto Ascari in 1953. Antonelli finished over 13 seconds ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc with Red Bull's Max Verstappen completing the podium. Antonelli started the race in pole position and after a clean start already had a 2sec lead by the end of the opening lap, at which point the result never seemed in doubt, mechanical failure and pit stop disasters notwithstanding. Verstappen was beaten off the start by Leclerc, who started in third, but the four-time world champion wasted no time in reclaiming second spot. Leclerc, however, overtook him in the latter part of the race and Verstappen was left hanging on for third as Hamilton also closed. Antonelli would have...