Antonelli relieved Verstappen is not in the title fight

Kimi Antonelli is relieved that Max Verstappen is not in a position to challenge for this season’s Formula 1 title. “It would be very scary!” the driver said when asked about the prospect of Verstappen being a championship rival. The Dutchman scored maximum points across the Sprint weekend in Singapore after winning a race in Malaysia earlier this month. But, unlike last year, he is too far back to mount a title challenge.

Antonelli, meanwhile, could be crowned at the next event in Austin, from October 23 to 25. To do so, he must score 23 more points than Mercedes team-mate George Russell and finish 14 points ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. The title race is therefore also shaped by those margins, with six races still to go in the season.

In Singapore, Antonelli limited the damage and finished third. A Mercedes strategy call to put him on fresh soft tyres helped him pass McLaren’s Lando Norris and Hamilton late in Sunday’s race. The result was unexpected: the upgrades Mercedes introduced in Malaysia had not delivered the major performance gain the team had hoped for.

Red Bull’s recent resurgence appears to have ended Mercedes’ substantial dominance over the season. Even so, team principal Toto Wolff believes Antonelli is almost certain to win the title. He tempered that confidence by noting that failures and accidents could change the picture. Verstappen, meanwhile, said his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase could hear him during the Singapore race, but not the other way around. “Maybe he was happy that it was not working!” he joked.

Antonelli also praised his team’s work and said Mercedes was still trying to understand its new package. The next stop is the United States Grand Prix in Austin, from October 23 to 25. The driver hopes the team can make changes there and gain a better understanding of how the car is working.