Kimi Antonelli has already mapped out the battlefield for 2027, naming Red Bull's Max Verstappen as the primary danger to his upcoming title defence. The Mercedes driver is looking ahead to a fiercely contested campaign after sealing the 2026 Drivers’ Championship with a third-place finish in Mexico City, a crown built on nine race wins and seven additional podiums.
Verstappen's relentless form over the past two seasons—including missing the 2025 title by just two points and driving a stunning Red Bull turnaround—makes him the obvious benchmark. Speaking in Italian at a press conference hosted by Sky Sport F1 Italia in his home town of San Marino, Antonelli made his view clear: “If I had to choose one driver, I'd say Max – he's the one who might cause the most problems.”
It would be amazing to have a fight among all of us from the top teams, including Lewis, Charles, my team mate, Max and Lando,
Beyond Verstappen, the competitive landscape is set to boil over with Ferrari and McLaren hunting for more consistency at the sharp end. While the Scuderia took two wins and McLaren's Lando Norris claimed three victories in 2026, their fluctuating form allowed Red Bull to surge back from a difficult start to the current technical era.
Factor in George Russell's hunger to bounce back from a rollercoaster year and fight for his first championship, and the grid is primed for a massive showdown. Antonelli expects the leading outfits to be tightly matched right out of the box, noting how Red Bull's relentless upgrade path kept them moving forward while McLaren fought through fluctuating spells and Ferrari remained a constant presence.
“It would be amazing to have a fight among all of us from the top teams, including Lewis, Charles, my team mate, Max and Lando,” Antonelli concluded. “I think it will be a very close fight.”
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