AUSTIN: 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 United States Grand Prix.
Red Bull's four-time world champion won both the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and then 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 was won five times.
But 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," he said after his Singapore win.
"But the last few weekends have been great. 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 last eight races, including two wins and three second places, Verstappen, 119 points adrift in fourth, may 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.
- Title within reach -
To seize the title in Texas, the Italian, who leads Mercedes team-mate 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. Italy's last champion was Alberto Ascari for Ferrari.
McLaren's deputy team principal Bradley Lord drew upon tennis when he described Antonelli's position by saying: "We're in that uncomfortable phase where you have to navigate the media with everyone saying 'you can do it - you've got first match point."
Russell's hopes of reining in Antonelli may be aided by Verstappen while Hamilton could also be a threat as he returns to one of his favourite circuits seeking a record sixth win and seventh in the United States GP.
Both Mercedes drivers will run the team's latest updates package as they go into a decisive triple-header of races in Texas, Mexico and Brazil, but it may be that Ferrari and Red Bull can steal the initiative.
These races may be run on bumpy tracks and in hot conditions that deliver unexpected results, a prospect that Verstappen has anticipated.
"From what I saw in the world endurance championship race in Austin, the track is incredibly bumpy and I will probably need to order a new spine after the weekend - or become like Robocop. It's crazy." - AFP
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