Kimi Antonelli is Formula 1’s youngest world champion. The Mercedes driver clinched the 2026 title by finishing third at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday, behind race winner Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. He was 20 years and 68 days old.
The Italian beats a record Sebastian Vettel had held since he won the first of his four titles with Red Bull in 2010, aged 23 years and 134 days. Antonelli also becomes Italy’s first drivers’ champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953, and only the third in the sport’s history. He has done it in only his second season, with four races still to run.
“I’m speechless,” Antonelli told the crowd at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. “I’m trying to process what has just happened.”
How the title was sealed in Mexico
Antonelli came to Mexico 123 points clear of his Mercedes team-mate George Russell. He needed only ninth place to make the title his, whatever his rivals did. He started fourth and drove like a man who knew a safe result was enough.
The race went wild around him. Hamilton led from his first Grand Prix pole for Ferrari, but he and team-mate Charles Leclerc went off at Turn Four on the opening lap. Leclerc came out in front on the grass and was given a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Russell made a poor start, then hit Isack Hadjar and was given a 10-second penalty. Hamilton, unhappy at being “pushed out by my own teammate”, said so on the radio. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said afterwards that he was “having trouble swallowing it”.
Valtteri Bottas’s Cadillac suffered a front suspension failure and hit the barriers. The race was stopped for a long time while they were repaired, and Bottas walked away unhurt. At the restart Antonelli passed Leclerc for third and stayed there through a second safety car. Verstappen held off Hamilton by 0.799 seconds to win.
“On the last lap, I just backed off, because I just couldn’t see the track,” Antonelli said. “I was getting emotional.” Over the team radio, race engineer Peter Bonnington told him: “Get in there, Kimi. Champion of the world.”
A season that rewrote the record books
Few saw this coming. Antonelli has blown everyone away. Russell was the pre-season favourite and won the opening race in Australia. Antonelli’s first Grand Prix win came in China in March, and the records followed quickly:
- He became the first driver to win each of his first three Grands Prix from pole position.
- His victory at Suzuka made him the youngest championship leader in F1 history, a record previously held by Hamilton.
- He put together a run of five consecutive wins, including victories in Belgium and Spain.
- At Monza he won his home race from 19th on the grid, one of the greatest recovery drives in the sport’s history. Only John Watson’s win from 22nd at Long Beach in 1983 came from further back. He was also the first Italian to win the Italian Grand Prix since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966.
Antonelli now leads the championship by 119 points and cannot be caught. Russell finished sixth on Sunday and has dropped to fourth in the standings, 130 points behind. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted the car “just didn’t work” for Russell this year. Even so, the Briton was beaten in identical machinery by a team-mate more than eight years his junior.
Ending Italy’s 73-year wait
The historical weight is huge. Giuseppe “Nino” Farina won F1’s first world championship with Alfa Romeo in 1950, and Ascari won back-to-back titles with Ferrari in 1952 and 1953. Since then a country with a deep motorsport culture, home to Ferrari, Monza and Imola, has waited 73 years for another Italian champion.
Antonelli is the 36th different world champion. It is also the second year running that F1 has crowned a first-time winner, after Lando Norris took the 2025 title.
Mercedes chose Antonelli to replace Hamilton in 2025, which was a big gamble. They promoted a teenager who had skipped Formula 3 in his rush through the junior categories, into the seat of the sport’s most successful driver. After an up-and-down rookie season, the gamble has paid off spectacularly.
“Without them, I wouldn’t be here – without Mercedes, without my family,” Antonelli said. “So I’m very grateful for this moment, and it’s one that will live forever.”
What comes next
For Mercedes, the job is not quite done. The team lead Ferrari by 630 points to 504 in the constructors’ championship and could seal that title at the next round in Brazil. It would complete a clean sweep in the first season of the new regulations.
For the rest of the grid, the worry is obvious. Vettel, Hamilton and Verstappen all added more titles after their first, and Antonelli has reached the top earlier than any of them. If Mercedes keep their advantage under these rules, it is hard to see where the challenge comes from.
Antonelli was emotional on Sunday, but he did not take risks. He drove only as hard as he needed to, and that maturity may matter more than his speed. At 20, he is champion of the world. He looks as though he could stay at the top for a long time.
Ahmad Ali, Sports Editor
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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