How Kimi Antonelli can become F1 world champion at the US GP
Despite the fact that there are still six races left of the 2026 season, Kimi Antonelli could be crowned champion in Austin.
In the Singapore Grand Prix, Antonelli finished third behind Charles Leclerc and race winner Max Verstappen, netting himself 15 points to take his tally for the season up to an impressive 340.
With Mercedes teammate George Russell in P9, having started the race in P19 after being penalised for use of additional power unit elements, Antonelli now has a spectacular chance to seal his maiden F1 Drivers' Championship title in the next race in Austin,Texas.
How Kimi Antonelli could win the F1 Drivers' Championship title in Texas
Next up on the Formula One race calendar is the United States Grand Prix, set to take place at the iconic Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas from October 22-25.
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Heading into the race, Antonelli has a 102-point gap over Russell in second, with 150 points left available in the 2026 campaign across the remaining six races.
With 23 points being awarded to grand pix winners and five races remaining after the US Grand Prix, Antonelli must therefore hold a gap of at least 125 points if he is to be crowned in Austin.
Should he do so, he will become the 2026 champion with five races remaining, placing him just one race behind the current record achieved by F1 legend Michael Schumacher in the 2002 season.
The most obvious scenario for this to happen would be if Antonelli wins in Austin while Russell finishes ninth or lower.
Although this scenario would leave the gap between the Mercedes teammates at 125 points, which could still be achieved in the remaining five races if Russell were to win them all while Antonelli finished P11 or lower, this would still be enough for the Italian to be named champion.
That is because Antonelli would therefore become champion due to a countback of wins, with a win at the US GP taking Antonelli to nine victories for the season, with the maximum Russell could then get being eight.
Should Antonelli win in Austin while Russell finishes P10 or lower, he could also automatically become champion simply based on his points total.
However, Russell isn't the only driver Antonelli needs to keep an eye on if he wants to secure his first championship at the next race, as he also needs current third-place Lewis Hamilton to finish P5 or lower, assuming Antonelli wins, if he is to clinch the title.
If Hamilton wants to remain in contention heading into the Mexico Grand Prix, he must ensure that Antonelli does not outscore him by 14 or more points.
But, when he was told he could he could win the title in the next race, Anontelli kept it cool.
"Can I? Really? Well let's not worry about that. Let's try to do the best weekend possible and finish the job," he told Jenson Button in Singapore.
How Max Verstappen can still win the F1 Drivers' Championship title
Heading into the United States Grand Prix, there are technically six drivers mathematically in the championship title race.
They are, Antonelli, Russell, Hamilton, Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.
At the moment, Verstappen is absolutely the driver in form with two wins in a row getting fans excited over what could be yet another late charge from the four-time champion.
But, if he is to somehow win his eighth Drivers' Championship title this year, Verstappen will need nothing short of a miracle.
If Antonelli wins any of the remaining races this season, that's enough for Verstappen to be ruled out of the championship battle.
Even if he were to finish second in a race, fourth or below at any stage would put the Dutchman out of contention.
Put simply, with six Grands Prix remaining, Antonelli cannot score more than 30 points if Verstappen is to become world champion.
In this scenario, Verstappen must also win all of the remaining races.
It's not looking good for the Red Bull driver, but if anyone can do it, it feels like Verstappen is that man.
READ MORE: The seven F1 race tracks Max Verstappen is yet to win at after Singapore triumph
Topics: Formula 1, Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen, George Russell, Mercedes
Ben McCrum