Kimi Antonelli makes 'very scary' Max Verstappen threat admission

 Kimi Antonelli believes it would be "very scary" if Max Verstappen were closer in the points amid Red Bull's resurgence over recent races.

Antonelli is on the cusp of winning his first F1 title and can do so next time out in the United States, with Verstappen now 119 points behind the Italian, with 150 left over the final six races, following his win in Singapore.

Verstappen and Red Bull are finding their form after a tough early part of the season, with the Dutchman winning the previous two races and the Sprint in Singapore, whilst finishing 0.196s behind George Russell in Azerbaijan. 

Across the recent triple-header, Verstappen took 28 points out of Antonelli, but he is unlikely to be able to repeat his 2025 heroics when he came from 104 points behind Oscar Piastri after the Dutch GP to fall just two points short of overhauling Lando Norris to the title. 

As Red Bull continues to pick up momentum, Antonelli has quipped that if Verstappen was within realistic striking range, it would be a "very scary prospect."

"I know it would be very scary," Antonelli told Sky Sports F1 if Verstappen was closer in points.

"It would be very, very scary, but all in all, I feel like we're doing a great job, and if you look at the season, we've always been there.

"Obviously, we've had a great car, and now we're trying to understand this new package, but I am very proud of the team this weekend because we pushed through the difficulties and started to find light at the end of the tunnel. 

"So it is just a matter of time, and now we go to Austin, which is a normal weekend, a standard weekend, where we can hopefully make a lot of changes and understand this package more."