Kimi Antonelli finished third at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday, 1 November, and became Formula 1 world champion at the age of 20 years and 68 days. That makes him the youngest champion in the sport’s history, beating Sebastian Vettel’s record of 23 years and 134 days. He is also the first Italian to take the title since Alberto Ascari in 1953. His father Marco says he was “born in a garage”. He also says his son was a natural behind the wheel by the age of three.
Max Verstappen won the race and Lewis Hamilton was second for Ferrari. Antonelli needed only ninth place, so third was more than enough. He leads the standings by 119 points with four races left. Mercedes team-mate George Russell is fourth, 130 points back.
From the paddock to the simulator
Motorsport surrounded Antonelli from birth. He was born in Bologna on 25 August 2006. His father Marco raced in the Italian Superturismo championship between 1992 and 1996, and in 1993 he founded Antonelli Motorsport, a team that later won the 2018 Italian GT Championship. Marco says Kimi was in the garage from about 15 days old.
The driving started at home. Marco had bought a racing simulator so guests could use it at the Bologna Motor Show. When he brought it back to the house, his three-year-old son wanted to drive it every evening. Kimi sat on his father’s leg and the two of them shared the controls.
Marco did not push him towards a racing career. Kimi has said his father “didn’t want me to become a driver because motorsports can be very cruel at times, especially financially”. He started karting anyway, and the results soon made the choice for the family. In 2019 he won six international karting titles and his first Italian championship. He then won back-to-back senior European titles in 2020 and 2021. By that point Mercedes had already signed him to its junior programme.
A fast track to Formula 1
Antonelli’s rise through the junior single-seater series was unusually quick:
- 2022: Italian F4 and ADAC F4 champion
- 2023: Formula Regional European and Formula Regional Middle East champion
- 2024: Sixth in Formula 2 with Prema, with his first win at Silverstone
- 2025: F1 debut with Mercedes, replacing Hamilton; seventh in the championship with 150 points
Mercedes skipped Formula 3 and gave him only one season in F2, which drew criticism. His rookie season in F1 was mixed. He became the youngest driver to take a sprint pole, in Miami, and finished on the podium in Canada and Brazil, but he also had a run of poor weekends in Europe. Team principal Toto Wolff said at the time that his driver would need “a season in F1 to grow and learn through both great moments and setbacks”.
The 2026 season showed what that year had taught him. He took his first win from pole in China in March and became the first driver to win his first three Grands Prix from pole position. After Suzuka he was the youngest championship leader in F1 history. At Monza he won from 19th on the grid, and only John Watson’s win from 22nd at Long Beach in 1983 came from further back. That made him the first Italian to win the Italian Grand Prix since Ludovico Scarfiotti. He arrived in Mexico with nine wins this season.
What the title means
Antonelli is the 36th different world champion and only the third Italian, after Nino Farina in 1950 and Ascari. Italy has waited 73 years since Ascari’s second title. For much of that time Ferrari has been the country’s main hope. This time the champion is an Italian driving a German car, and the Ferrari driver he replaced at Mercedes lifted him onto his shoulders after Sunday’s race.
“He’s incredibly impressive and deserves to be world champion,” Hamilton said. Antonelli said he backed off on the final lap because he “couldn’t see the track” and was getting emotional. “I’m speechless. I’m trying to process what has just happened.”
The title also changes things inside Mercedes. On 630 points to Ferrari’s 504, the team could clinch the constructors’ championship in Brazil. Russell, who joined as Hamilton’s successor, has been clearly beaten by his younger team-mate. Wolff admitted that “the car just didn’t work for him this year”.
Antonelli can now race the final four rounds without pressure. With the title already won at 20, he will start next season as the champion defending it. “This is just the beginning,” he said on the podium.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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