Kimi Antonelli and other F1 driver hit with illness just days before Mexico GP as statements issued

Kimi Antonelli's hopes of becoming F1’s youngest-ever champion in Mexico this weekend took a hit today after his team confirmed he had fallen ill - and he’s not the only driver.

The long 24-race season often takes its toll on the paddock, particularly with the two triple headers of USA-Mexico-Brazil and LAs Vegas-Qatar-Abu Dhabi which end the year.

Antonelli was set to attend media duties at the circuit on Thursday, but the Silver Arrows squad has now revealed why he won’t be present.

Why Kimi Antonelli will miss start of the Mexico City GP weekend

Kimi Antonelli will become the youngest-ever Grand Prix champion at 20 years and 68 days on Sunday if he finishes ninth or better, beating Sebastian Vettel’s 2010 record by over three years.

However, his challenge on Sunday has taken a hit after his Mercedes F1 team released a statement.

"Kimi is feeling under the weather today as he recovers from a viral illness,” it said. “As a precaution, the FIA have excused him from his mandatory media duties to give him the chance to rest head of the weekend.

"We expect him to be back tomorrow."

However, he’s not the only driver to be feeling the strain. Now the Cadillac team has confirmed that Valtteri Bottas will miss his media duties too.

“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,” the American outfit stated.

“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.”

Whole sections of the paddock have been known to fall ill during the F1 run-in in recent years, an indication of how tough the schedule is.

When triple-headers first became prevalent in F1 from 2021 onwards, team bosses warned against the danger - with some of their worst fears now proved correct.

Former Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer said triple headers were “unsustainable”. Former McLaren and Audi boss Andreas Seidl added:

"From my point of view, we should avoid them completely, again to reduce the burden on our people. The calendar should try to get through with avoiding any triple headers."

George Russell has also previously commented on F1 running them too, speaking in 2023 after the Las Vegas GP.

“The drivers, we have it best from every single person in this paddock. The way we travel, we’re in a very fortunate position,” he said.

“I’ve got so many mechanics who are ill, people in the engineers’ office, just really struggling with the constant time zone shifts, the body not knowing where you are, eating at different times, staying in different hotels, different environments, different climates,” he said.