Valentino Rossi backs Andrea Kimi Antonelli's Formula 1 championship challenge.

Rossi said Antonelli's title bid is especially significant for Italian supporters. The 19-year-old Mercedes racer leads Lewis Hamilton by 50 points after 11 Grands Prix in his second Formula 1 season.

Antonelli is pursuing Italy's first Formula 1 drivers' championship since Alberto Ascari won the 1953 title, having already recorded a run of five consecutive victories this season.