AUSTIN: Max Verstappen is set to be a party-pooper this weekend as he seeks to delay Kimi Antonelli's title celebrations by notching a third consecutive win with another triumph at the United States Grand Prix.

Red Bull's four-time world champion won both the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and then the Singapore Grand Prix to emerge as a leading contender for more success just when Mercedes' precocious 20-year-old Italian moved within reach of the title.

The 29-year-old Dutchman, who has acknowledged Antonelli's generational talent, won from pole at the Circuit of the Americas last year and is chasing a fifth win at the Texan track where Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was won five times.

But Verstappen has been reluctant to claim that Red Bull's recovery in form and results will automatically translate to more success. "It's difficult to say - I don't want to say now that I will be in the fight in Austin," he said after his Singapore win.