As the media prepares to crown him, Kimi Antonelli insists that he wants to take title fight one step at a time.

Having devoted much of its weekend to Kim Kardashian, for which all F1 fans will be most thankful, the media now turns its attention to the United States Grand Prix and the prospect of Kimi Antonelli becoming the first Italian world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953.

With a 102-point advantage over his Mercedes teammate, this would require George Russell to win at least four of the remaining races and Antonelli failing to score any further points.

To date, the Italian has 8 wins this season, compared to the Briton's 3, and whereas Antonelli has averaged 20 points a race and completed all but 6 of the season's race laps, Russell has averaged 14 points and completed 90.7% of the laps with two DNFs.

Then there is the little matter of how many races remain. While Stefano Domenicali insists that Qatar and Abu Dhabi will go ahead, ongoing events in the Middle East suggest otherwise.

And that's not counting the Max factor!

Nonetheless, told that he can secure the title in two weeks', Antonelli admitted surprise - even though his father has no doubt already marked the date on his calendar and started preparing the celebrations, as has much of Italy.

"Can I? Really?" said the youngster, when told by Jenson Button, in the post-race interviews, that the title can be secured in Austin.

"Well, let's not worry about that," he added.

However, he subsequently told reporters, when asked about the prospect, and whether he dares to dream: "For sure...

"I know it is very close," he admitted, "I know it is 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.

"This weekend I don't feel like I have driven that well," he continued, "I feel like I could have done a better job.

"I'm looking forward to be back in Austin but, at the end of the day, if I don't do my job well the result won't come."

While we all agree that the youngster has done a fantastic job, especially when one considers his age and how he has come back from that nightmare period last year, one balks at the total hysteria the media is intending to generate.

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