Kimi Antonelli has revealed he is relieved that Max Verstappen is no longer a factor in the 2026 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship, describing the prospect of the Red Bull driver being a rival as “very scary.” The comment follows Verstappen’s dominant performance in Singapore, where he secured maximum points over the Sprint weekend to complement his win in Malaysia earlier in the month.
Despite the back-to-back victories, Verstappen’s challenges are effectively over. With Antonelli leading the standings, the young Mercedes driver is now just six races away from securing the title. He has the opportunity to clinch the championship at the United States Grand Prix in Austin on October 23-25, provided he outscores Mercedes teammate George Russell by 23 points and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton by 14.
Antonelli, 20, continues to close in on Sebastian Vettel’s record for the youngest F1 world champion. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff stated that the likelihood of Antonelli winning is “almost 100 per cent,” though he cautioned that motor racing remains unpredictable.
In Singapore, Antonelli adapted to a difficult weekend where new car upgrades failed to deliver the expected performance gains. However, a strategic call to switch to fresh soft tyres allowed him to overtake Lando Norris and Hamilton late in the race to secure third place.
“It would be very scary!” Antonelli told Sky Sports F1 when asked about avoiding a title duel with Verstappen. “All in all I feel like we are doing a great job… I’m very proud of the team this weekend because we pushed through the difficulties and started to see life at the end of the tunnel.”
Verstappen’s Singapore win marked his first victory at the circuit, though it was not without complications. The Dutch driver suffered from radio issues throughout the race, unable to hear engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. He also faced pressure from Charles Leclerc at the start due to Red Bull’s poor launches this season, managing to hold off the Ferrari driver after initial deployment problems.
The championship now heads to the Americas triple-header, beginning with the United States Grand Prix in Austin.
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