Kimi Antonelli: from a boy from Bologna to the youngest Formula 1 champion

On Sunday, 1 November 2026, Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished the Mexico City Grand Prix in third place. On paper, just another podium. In reality, the moment he became the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history. He was 20 years and 68 days old, and the Mercedes driver secured the title four races before the end of the season.

Max Verstappen won in Mexico, and Lewis Hamilton was second, but the main story of the day belonged to the Italian, who crossed the finish line high enough to mathematically secure the title. Antonelli started the race from fourth place, and to clinch the championship, it was enough for him to finish in the top nine. Instead of playing it safe for the minimum, he claimed a podium finish.

First laps: the boy who wouldn't get out of the kart

Antonelli was born on 25 August 2006 in Bologna, a city and region where motorsport is a part of everyday life. His father Marco was also a racing driver and later managed his own racing team. Kimi first sat in a kart at five years old, on a track near Forlì. In one of his later interviews, he recalled that after his first lap, he didn't want to stop.

His first serious results arrived very early. As early as 2015, he won the EasyKart 60 Italian Championship, and he confirmed his international success by winning the EasyKart International Grand Final. In the following seasons, he progressed through the Mini and OK-Junior classes, collecting victories in WSK competitions.

The year 2019 was a turning point. He won the WSK Euro Series and WSK Super Master Series in the OK-Junior category, finished second in the FIA European Championship, and fifth in the World Championship. Mercedes' young driver programme recognised his potential and welcomed him into the academy in April. He was only 12 years old.

Dominance in junior categories – and skipping Formula 3

He transitioned to single-seaters in 2021, when he competed in Italian Formula 4. A full 2022 season brought an explosion of results: with PREMA, he won the Italian and ADAC German Formula 4 championships. In those two competitions, he recorded a total of 22 wins from 35 starts, alongside 21 pole positions and 27 podium finishes. The same year, he also won gold in the F4 category of the FIA Motorsport Games.

The next step was Formula Regional. In early 2023, he won the Middle East regional championship, followed by the FRECA European championship in his very first season, with five wins. With that, he reached five titles in two single-seater seasons. Instead of the usual progression through Formula 3, Mercedes decided he was ready for a direct jump to Formula 2.

The decision was risky. F2 is significantly more demanding, and Antonelli was an F2 rookie in 2024 as well as one of the youngest drivers on the grid. He won the rain-hit sprint race at Silverstone, and then the feature race in Budapest. He finished the season sixth in the overall standings. He didn't win the title, but he showed enough for Mercedes to make a decision that would shape the next two years.

Inheriting Hamilton's seat at 18 years old

When Lewis Hamilton announced his departure from Mercedes to Ferrari for 2025, one of the toughest seats in Formula 1 opened up. Mercedes chose Antonelli, despite the fact that he didn't even have a full season of F2 under his belt. The Italian thus became George Russell's teammate and one of the youngest drivers ever to start a Formula 1 race.

His debut season was not a fairytale without mistakes. There were retirements, difficult weekends, and periods that showed just how demanding it is to learn at the highest level. Still, Antonelli claimed three podiums and 150 points, finishing seventh in the 2025 championship. That was a solid foundation, not a finished product.

Second season: from promise to champion

A breakthrough happened in 2026. Antonelli started winning, took the championship lead, and turned his speed into consistency. Official statistics after the Mexican Grand Prix show 380 points, nine Grand Prix wins, 16 podiums, and seven pole positions. In six sprint races, he added another win and two podiums. In total, he scored 31 sprint points, which form part of the final 380.

He secured the title at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit. The race was red-flagged following a heavy incident involving Valtteri Bottas, and later a safety car was deployed as well. Antonelli stayed out of major trouble, made another good restart after the stoppage, and finished third, behind Verstappen and Hamilton. It was the performance of a driver who knew he didn't need heroic risks, but rather a calm and precise race.

The points comparison shows the scale of his progress: in his second season, he scored more than double the points of his debut year. But the numbers do not tell the whole story. In 2025, he was learning how to survive a season where every weekend brings a new track, tyres, strategy, and pressure. In 2026, he began making decisions like a driver who knows how a championship is won.

Youngest champion – but not just because of his age

Antonelli broke Sebastian Vettel's record to become the youngest Formula 1 World Champion. He is also the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari, who won the title in 1953. For Italy, a country with a deep motorsport tradition, this is a return to the summit after 73 years.

However, the most interesting part of his story is not just his age. Antonelli didn't skip his way to the top without foundations: for years he won in karting, came through the Mercedes academy, won titles in F4 and Formula Regional, and then faced the rigours of F2 and F1. Skipping Formula 3 was unusual, but it didn't mean skipping development.

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