Verstappen seeks to delay Antonelli’s F1 coronation

Max Verstappen is set to be a party-pooper this weekend as he seeks to delay Kimi Antonelli’s title celebrations by notching a third consecutive win with another triumph at the US Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s four-time world champion won the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and the Singapore Grand Prix to emerge as a leading contender for more success just when Mercedes’ precocious 20-year-old Italian moved within reach of the title.

The 29-year-old Dutchman, who has acknowledged Antonelli’s generational talent, won from pole at the Circuit of the Americas last year and is chasing a fifth win at the Texan track where Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton has won five times.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen sits on the Parc Ferme after winning the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Oct. 11.

Photo: EPA

However, Verstappen has been reluctant to claim that Red Bull’s recovery in form and results will automatically translate to more success.

“It’s difficult to say — I don’t want to say now that I will be in the fight in Austin, but the last few weekends have been great,” he said after his Singapore win. “I just take it race by race and we’ll see how it goes there. It’s another very different kind of track.”

After a run of seven podium finishes in his past eight races, including two wins and three second places, Verstappen, 119 points adrift in fourth, might well scupper hopes that Antonelli can win and, with the stars aligning, become Italy’s first champion since 1953 and the youngest in F1 history.

To seize the title in Texas, the Italian, who leads Mercedes teammate George Russell by 102 points, needs to win the race and see Russell fail to finish in the top nine and Hamilton outside the top four.

Antonelli was only four years old when Sebastian Vettel took the record as youngest champion, with Red Bull, in 2010, and he knows he must stay focused and race to win, as he always does.

“I know it’s very close and I know it’s there, but I need to make sure I keep doing my best and go out and win and perform in my best way,” he said.