Kimi Antonelli said he can finally dare to dream about winning his first Formula One world championship after he finished in third place at the Singapore Grand Prix and put himself in a position where he could secure the title at the next round in Austin.

Max Verstappen won with a dominant drive at the Marina Bay circuit but behind him, Antonelli’s podium means he could become F1’s youngest champion at the age of 20, in two weeks’ time. Antonelli leads his Mercedes teammate, George Russell, by 102 points and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton by 111. With six meetings remaining and 25 points for the winner of each race, the Italian will take the title if he wins in Austin and Russell finishes ninth or lower and Hamilton fifth or lower.

When asked if he dared to dream that his childhood ambition of becoming champion was within reach, he acknowledged he did with a smile. “For sure,” he said. “I know it’s very close, I know it’s there but I just need to make sure that I keep doing the best I can. The mindset is always the same, to go out there and win and perform the best way I can.”

Mercedes were outpaced by Red Bull in Singapore, with the silver arrows still striving to exploit recent upgrades but Antonelli feels he and the team will have more to come in Texas.

“This weekend I haven’t particularly driven that well,” he added. “I felt like I could have done a better job but I feel confident that a week to reset and I’m really looking forward to being back in Austin. But at the end of the day, if I don’t do my job well, then the result won’t come. So in order to achieve what I want, I need to perform, as simple as that.”

Hamilton, who finished sixth, issued an apology to his Ferrari team after his call to not pit under the virtual safety car proved costly, leaving him vulnerable on worn tyres at the death, where he was passed by three rivals. He was unwell after the race and given leave to miss his media duties but Ferrari issued a comment from the British driver. “A painful lesson today but I take full responsibility for the decisions I made,” the 41-year-old said. “Not every call will work out and I can accept getting it wrong but I’m sorry for the team for the points we lost today.”

The Ferrari team principal, Fred Vasseur, made it clear the team had not been at fault. “We were P2, P3 on track, we called two of our guys to pit behind the VSC, one of our guys said: ‘No I prefer to stay on track’, or he missed pit entry. Don’t blame the team,” he noted.