MEXICO CITY (AP) — Kimi Antonelli, who could become the youngest Formula 1 champion in history this weekend, has a viral illness and will miss Thursday’s media obligations at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Mercedes said.
The 20-year-old Italian driver was scheduled to meet with the media Thursday afternoon at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
“Kimi is feeling under the weather today as he recovers from a viral illness,” Mercedes said in a statement. “As a precaution, the FIA has 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.”
To secure the title on his own terms, Antonelli needs only a ninth-place finish Sunday.
If he secures the crown, he will become the first Italian driver to win the F1 world championship since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
Antonelli traveled to Mexico following his victory at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, last weekend.
Cadillac driver Valtteri Bottas also missed Thursday’s media commitments due to illness.
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Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy celebrates on the podium after winning the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix auto race in Austin, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy celebrates on the podium after winning the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix auto race in Austin, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court filed an order Thursday that will keep the two dozen players involved in an eligibility case in that state available to play for teams across the country, with the start of college basketball season beginning next week.
The order kept in place a ruling from earlier this month, when the state's high court stayed a lower-court ruling that would have declared the players ineligible.
The NCAA is the defendant in a case filed by lead plaintiff Filip Borovicanin of Xavier, which opens its season on Monday. Other basketball players in the case include Gonzaga's Javon Bennett, Cincinnati's MJ Collins and Auburn's Kolby King.
The NCAA legal office sent a memo to its members late Thursday saying it was “deeply disappointed” in the latest legal outcome from a saga that upended the start of football season and is now bleeding into the start of basketball.
"Every minute played by an ineligible player is an opportunity deprived to an eligible student-athlete — sometimes in the pinnacle events of a season," the letter said. “And it provides a significant competitive advantage to schools rostering experienced players who exhausted their eligibility.”
The court became involved in the college eligibility issue when it was asked to determine the legality of an executive order issued earlier this month by Gov. Mike DeWine that granted athletes in Ohio who graduated from high school in 2022 a fifth year of college eligibility in defiance of NCAA rules.
Part of the case involved both parties asking the court to weigh in on the Borovicanin case.
The NCAA then sued DeWine in federal court, saying his order made it “impossible for all schools to compete on a level playing field.”
Earlier this year, the NCAA passed a rule granting players five seasons of eligibility, but it did not include the high school class of '22 in the new rule. That, in turn, has triggered dozens of lawsuits across the country and created chaos as coaches try to finalize their rosters.
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FILE - Utah State guard MJ Collins, who has since transferred to Cincinnati, celebrates during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Villanova, Friday, March 20, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
FILE - Butler guard Kolby King (12), who has since transferred to Auburn, dribbles during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against St. John's in the quarterfinals of the Big East Conference tournament, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith, File)
FILE - Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine talks with former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel while standing on the sideline prior to the start of an NFL football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns, Oct. 20, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Kirk Irwin, File)
FILE - Dayton guard Javon Bennett (0), who has since transferred to Gonzaga, brings the ball up the court against BYU during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Kissimmee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
FILE - Xavier's Filip Borovicanin, right, drives on UConn's Jayden Ross (23) during second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinals of the Big East basketball tournament Thursday, March 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
