Max Verstappen resurgence puts Mercedes on high alert for F1 2027

Kimi Antonelli has pinpointed Max Verstappen as the driver that he expects to pose the greatest threat to his hopes of retaining the Formula 1 title in 2027.

Antonelli sealed his maiden championship with four rounds to go in Mexico earlier this month, becoming the youngest-ever driver to be crowned at 20 years and 68 days.

However, the Italian’s record achievement owes much to Mercedes’ dominance at the start of the campaign, when he won five successive races between China and Monaco.

Indeed, since the summer break, Antonelli has only added three victories to the six that he accrued prior to the mid-season shutdown, as the chasing pack has gradually whittled away the initial advantage the German marque harboured in this rules cycle.

Red Bull, in particular, has emerged as a consistent presence at the sharp end, with Verstappen capitalising on improvements to the RB22 to win three of the last five races, catapulting him up to second in the championship, albeit 111 points behind Antonelli.

Therefore, when asked who he considers to be the biggest threat to his crown next season, Antonelli unsurprisingly singled out the four-time world champion: “If I have to choose one driver, I’d say Max, [as] the one who might cause the most problems.”

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Along with Red Bull, Antonelli is expecting McLaren, who won the previous race in Brazil after introducing several new upgrades, and Ferrari to also trouble Mercedes.

“I think next year will be a very close fight among all of us, among all the top teams, because we are already very close,” he assessed.

“Looking at Red Bull too, with all the upgrades they have brought, they have kept improving. McLaren had a period when they made huge gains, then a spell when they perhaps struggled more, but now they have bounced back. Ferrari is always there.”

And while he views Verstappen as the likeliest hurdle to his aspiration of going back-to-back, Antonelli is relishing the prospect of increased competition from elsewhere.

“It would be amazing to have a fight among all of us from the top teams, including Lewis [Hamilton], Charles [Leclerc], my teammate [George Russell], Max and Lando [Norris],” he added. “I think it will be a very close fight.”

Mercedes fearing revitalised Verstappen/Red Bull combination

Meanwhile, Mercedes development driver Anthony Davidson has revealed that he shares Antonelli’s perspective on how dangerous the Verstappen and Red Bull combination is shaping up to be in 2027 based on their impressive late-season surge.

“I reckon, as it sits right now, I would say he’d be my tip for Drivers’ Champion next year,” Davidson said regarding Verstappen on Sky Sports’ F1 Show.

“The way it’s looked at the tail end of this season, the rapid development of, not just their car, but when you think this is season one of their brand-new power unit, it’s mightily impressive what the team has done.

“They were fighting McLaren hard through to the end of last year in the championship, and they needed to continually focus on that development of last year’s car, a completely different style of design.

“They obviously started very much on the back foot this year, and they are now, I feel like, in the best position.”

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