Kimi Antonelli admits he can now “dare to dream” after moving to the brink of the world championship in Singapore.
Max Verstappen clinched back-to-back wins, his first in Singapore, on his 250th Formula 1 start as a dominant display capped a perfect weekend following sprint victory and two pole positions.
While his commanding drive was reminiscent of his title-winning prowess, towards the end of a difficult season for Red Bull, he remains 119 points adrift of runaway leader Antonelli.
The Italian claimed the final step of the podium after a late charge, to stretch his advantage over nearest challenger George Russell -- who clinched ninth from last on the grid -- to 102 points.
That means Antonelli could become the sport’s youngest world champion, aged just 20, at the Texas’ Circuit of the Americas in a fortnight. He would need to be 126 points clear following that event -- assuming all six scheduled rounds are completed, a doubt due to the conflict in the Middle East.
The Mercedes driver was informed that he was now on the cusp of history by former world champion Jenson Button in the post-race interviews, responding: “Can I? Really?! Well, let’s not worry about that.”
But he later confessed that the dream is now nearly a reality.
Antonelli said: “For sure [I can dare to dream]. I know it is very close, I know it is there but I need to make sure that I keep doing the best job I can. To go out there and win and perform the best I can.
“This weekend I don’t feel like I have driven that well, I feel like I could have done a better job.
“Looking forward to be back in Austin but, at the end of the day, if I don’t do my job well the result won’t come.”
Russell, whose title hopes were further derailed after crashing out of Saturday’s sprint, a week on from an engine failure in Malaysia, started from the back due to a power-unit change and could only recover to take two points.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed second but his teammate Lewis Hamilton paid the price for his costly strategy call, admitting he had ignored instruction to pit under a Virtual Safety Car.
He was overtaken late on by Antonelli, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to finish sixth.
But out front it was peerless from Verstappen, who is enjoying improved fortunes in his upgraded Red Bull after a season of frustration with his car and bitter unhappiness at the 2026 regulations.
He is now ready to enjoy the rest of the campaign, free from the shackles of title pressure.
“We are not in the championship fight and that is why I think until the end we will try to have a good time and hopefully add more wins,” Verstappen said.
“It is very difficult so say if I will be in the fight in Austin. I will just take it race-by-race and we will see how it goes there.
“The car has felt a lot nicer from Baku onwards, a lot more balanced. The way that we have turned that around and the progress we have made makes it feel nicer.
“When you can add podiums and wins too, that’s nice.”