Antonelli Eyes World Title After Singapore Podium Surprise

Kimi Antonelli, representing Mercedes, left Singapore with more than just a trophy to his name. His third-place finish at the Marina Bay Street Circuit has put him in a prime position to potentially secure the 2026 F1 World Championship, much to his own surprise. When informed of his championship prospects after trailing Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc across the line, Antonelli's reaction was one of disbelief: "Can I? Really? Let's not worry about that! Let's try to do the best weekends possible and finish the job."

Currently, Antonelli holds a commanding 102-point lead over his nearest competitors, including his teammate George Russell, who managed to climb from the back of the grid to finish ninth. With six races left in the season, and 150 points still available, Antonelli could seal the championship if he leaves Austin's Circuit of The Americas with a lead of 125 points or more.

Reflecting on his Singapore performance, Antonelli converted a fourth-place grid start into a podium finish by capitalizing on a late-race tussle between Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris. His success also highlighted the strides Mercedes has made in understanding their latest car upgrades, an area where Antonelli seems to have an edge over Russell, who opted for an older car setup.

Antonelli shared insights on his race experience, "It was not easy out there. I felt very good on the soft tyre, but on the medium, I struggled a lot. Then on the soft, the pace was very good at the end; it was very, very good, so that’s a positive." He acknowledged the team's efforts in adapting to the car changes, "The team did a great job on trying to turn things around, especially the car. I think we can be very happy and proud of the job we did, especially looking at how we started the weekend."

The Italian driver remains focused on maximizing performance, "I try to do the best with what I have, try to help the team as much as possible, and really just try to do the best job as possible, and trying to on my side even overcome some difficulties with the car." Optimistically, he added, "I can say that we’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with this package, and it’s just a matter of understanding which one is the best window, how to put the car in the best window, in order to extract the maximum out of the package."