Kimi Antonelli has admitted he knows it is now "just a matter of time" until he secures Formula One history. Third place in Singapore was enough to extend his points advantage over team-mate George Russell, who fought back to ninth after engine penalties, to more than 100 points.
Antonelli, 20, can now mathematically secure his status as F1's youngest ever champion in Austin next time out. He was surprised when 2009 world champion Jenson Button told him that after the race.
Antonelli's reaction to Button's revelation
Asked if he can now dare to dream of glory, he replied: "For sure. I know it's very close, I know it's there. But I need to make sure that I keep doing the best job I can, to go out there and win and perform the best I can. If I don’t do my job well, the result won't come."
Antonelli hasn't won any of the last three races, hampered by Mercedes' upgrade which didn't deliver as the team hoped. But they made a breakthrough in Singapore and Antonelli is hopeful it will no longer hold him back.
He said: "I'm very proud of the team this weekend because we've pushed through the difficulties and started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's just a matter of time now. We go back to Austin and it's a normal, standard weekend where we can hopefully make a lot of changes and understand this package more."
Russell's struggles and Wolff's view
Russell knew he would start from the back, one day after crashing while leading the Sprint race. But ninth was a disappointing outcome, even if he was hampered by the virtual safety car ending just as he entered the pit lane.
The Brit said: "It was always going to be very difficult coming from the back. It's been a bit of a shame, these last two weekends – it could have panned out very differently. A little bit the story of the season, everything just not going in a fantastic way. I'm very much looking forward to the break now."
To make matters worse, Russell knows he has another grid drop coming. He added: "It will probably be later in the season now, to be honest, maybe looking at Vegas. But it will be there at some point. Now, we've got the choice to take it where we wish and we'll be choosing a slightly easier track than this one."
Team principal Toto Wolff knew Russell would have his work cut out to come through from the back at the Marina Bay Circuit. He said: "It's so difficult to overtake. He pulled off some really great moves but, at the end, it's just converging with the performance and, even with a car that is a second or a second and a half off the pace, you just can't overtake."
Wolff on Antonelli's title chances
As for Antonelli's situation, Wolff continues to be pragmatic despite the 102-point gap between his drivers. The Austrian said: "It's about scoring points. We didn't expect to be ahead of Lewis [Hamilton], because they were fast, so coming in and scoring more points that them is good.
"You look at the numbers and, if you ask me the probability of him winning, it's probably close to 100 percent. But this is motor racing: You can break down or have accidents and things start to stress, so we need to look at it race by race and make sure we continue to score points."
