Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes Kimi Antonelli will go on to have a more successful F1 career than four-time champion Sebastian Vettel.

Antonelli is on the verge of winning his maiden F1 championship, and will be crowned at this weekend's Mexican Grand Prix if he finishes in the top nine. At 20, he would break Vettel's record as F1's youngest champion, set in 2010.

Vettel went on to win four consecutive titles with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013.

Steiner discussed Antonelli's future during an appearance on The Red Flags Podcast. 

"Absolutely," Steiner said when asked whether he thinks Antonelli will become more successful than Vettel. "I mean Vettel was good, but I mean Vettel was also at the right time, at the right place. But if you see when he went to Ferrari, there was not a lot left. Sebastian was very good, but he was not an exceptional talent like Max [Verstappen], or I think Kimi will be."

Asked to clarify if he thinks Antonelli will win more than four championships, Steiner confirmed: "Yes."

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Alex Slitz / Getty Images

In just his second season in F1, Antonelli took the lead of the drivers' championship after back-to-back wins at the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix. Since then, he has gone on to claim nine grand prix wins in total. 

He currently leads the standings with 365 points, ahead of his Mercedes team-mate George Russell in second on 242 points. Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton follows in third on 241 points.

"The championships are moving closer, but our mindset does not change. Thinking about the outcome won’t help us achieve it," Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff said in the Brackley outfit's Mexican Grand Prix preview.

"We will stay disciplined, take each session as it comes, and concentrate on doing the fundamentals well."

While Antonelli could claim the drivers' championship this weekend, Mercedes also has the opportunity to secure the constructors' title. Mercedes leads on 607 points after the United States Grand Prix, 133 points clear of Ferrari on 474.