Antonelli, Bottas skip Mexico City media day due to illness

Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli is not attending the media and team commitments at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Thursday as he recovers from a viral illness.

Antonelli will wrap up the drivers’ championship with a top-nine finish on Sunday, or becomes champion automatically if neither George Russell or Lewis Hamilton wins the race. However, while Antonelli’s crowning is seen as a formality, his weekend has started off with an exemption from the governing body to miss his pre-race duties.

“Kimi is feeling under the weather today as he recovers from a viral illness,” a Mercedes spokesperson said. “As a precaution, the FIA have excused him from his mandatory media duties to give him the chance to rest ahead of the weekend. We expect him to be back tomorrow.”

Antonelli is not the only driver who is unwell in Mexico City – the middle race of a second consecutive tripleheader of consecutive weekends on the schedule – as Cadillac announced Valtteri Bottas would also be absent.

“Cadillac Formula 1 Team can confirm that Valtteri Bottas will unfortunately be unable to attend today’s media day in Mexico City as he is unwell," a statement from the team read. “The team has taken the decision to allow him a day of rest, to support his recovery.

“This is a precautionary measure and does not currently affect his participation in the remainder of the race weekend. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates if necessary.”

Bottas was originally due to sit out FP1 anyway as Colton Herta drives again for Cadillac, but Antonelli is scheduled to drive as Fred Vesti replaces George Russell for the opening session at Mercedes.