“It’s one that will live forever. I’m speechless.”
Those were the first words from Kimi Antonelli after clinching the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship in Mexico City. The 20-year-old Italian finished third behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in Mexico to secure the overall title with four races remaining. He has become the youngest champion in the sport’s 76-year history.
The image that followed will endure even longer. Verstappen and Hamilton, with a combined 11 world championships, lifting the emotional teenager onto their shoulders on the podium. It was a moment of pure respect; two of the greatest drivers of the modern era acknowledging the arrival of the next.
“I will definitely frame the picture and put it in my house,” Antonelli said. “To see so much respect from two incredible drivers who have written the history of this sport is truly special. It’s a moment that will live forever.”
This is what dreams are made of ❤️ https://t.co/aUocA2TBTT
The son of sportscar racer Marco Antonelli, Kimi Antonelli displayed a natural ability behind the wheel by the age of three. He began karting seriously at seven.
Mercedes’ scouting network was already talking about him by 2017, when the Italian was just 11. Gwen Lagrue, then head of the team’s junior programme, travelled to Adria to watch the boy in the Mini 60 category and was impressed by what he saw. An agreement was reached by the end of the year. The deal was signed in early 2018, and in April 2019 Antonelli was officially announced as a Mercedes Junior at the age of 12.
In February 2024, Lewis Hamilton stunned the F1 world by announcing his departure from Mercedes to join Ferrari. The team that had delivered six of his seven titles was suddenly without its talisman.
Toto Wolff’s first thoughts turned to high-profile names. Max Verstappen was the dream target. Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz were the experienced, safer options. Then came the wildcard.
Mercedes had watched Antonelli dominate karting and tear through the junior ranks. They had even fast-tracked him, skipping Formula 3 entirely and placing him straight into Formula 2 in 2024. Hamilton’s exit changed the timeline completely. An intensive testing programme followed, giving the teenager extensive running in recent Mercedes cars. Those sessions convinced Wolff to take the biggest gamble of his career.
In August 2024, just days after Antonelli turned 18, Mercedes confirmed that the Italian would partner George Russell in 2025. Many in the paddock were sceptical. Some openly questioned the decision. Wolff, still carrying the regret of missing out on Verstappen a decade earlier, was not prepared to let another generational talent slip away.
Antonelli made his Formula 1 free practice debut at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix in Monza, stepping into the car before Mercedes had even officially announced him as Hamilton’s replacement. Just 10 minutes into FP1, he lost control at high speed and destroyed the car against the barriers, an early, very public reminder of how steep the learning curve would be.
His first proper qualifying session in Melbourne the following March did not go much better. Knocked out in Q1, he looked overwhelmed. Yet on race day, in wet and chaotic conditions, he produced a mature and composed drive to finish fourth, the first real sign that the talent was real.
A Sprint pole position in Miami offered another glimpse of the speed that had been promised. he claimed his first Grand Prix podium in Canada in June. For a brief moment, it seemed the breakthrough had arrived. Then the season turned dark.
A run of poor results across the European races left Antonelli scoring just one point in five consecutive weekends. While Russell regularly extracted top-five finishes from the same car, the teenager struggled. The pressure mounted visibly. In Belgium, after another early qualifying exit, cameras captured him dabbing tears from his eyes with a tissue as he tried to complete his media duties. At Monza, his home race, a crash in practice disrupted his weekend and he could only finish ninth.
Toto Wolff described the performances as “underwhelming.” The criticism was public and cutting. Antonelli later admitted how close he came to breaking: “I let the pressure kind of destroy me during that period, because I felt like I was letting down so many people who had believed in me.”
He finished the year seventh in the championship with 150 points, a decent score for a rookie, but one that left him comprehensively outperformed by his teammate. By the end of 2025, many in the paddock openly questioned whether Mercedes had promoted him too early and if Mercedes will continue to go with Antonelli. But Wolff trusted the young driver.
Antonelli’s first season was about learning how unforgiving Formula 1 can be but his second was about showing just how quickly he could adapt. Mercedes entered 2026 with a genuinely competitive car and Russell was widely regarded as the stronger championship contender. A handful expected the 19-year-old to challenge him so comprehensively.
Yet over the winter, Antonelli made a remarkable leap in his development. He finished the opening race of the season right on Russell’s tail. In China, he claimed his maiden pole position and first Grand Prix victory. That win marked the start of an extraordinary sequence: Five consecutive victories, the first time a driver had won their first five races in Formula 1. The championship lead was his, and he never looked like relinquishing it.
The transformation left Russell struggling for answers. The title opportunity the Briton had patiently waited for was suddenly being taken away by his much younger teammate. At first, Russell appeared reluctant to accept the scale of the step Antonelli had made, pointing to external factors. By Monaco, where Antonelli dominated and Russell finished 12th, the hierarchy was clear to everyone.
Austin offered Antonelli his first mathematical chance to seal the title. He won the race but could not quite clinch the championship that weekend. He arrived in Mexico City needing only a ninth-place finish to become world champion, regardless of where Hamilton or Russell finished. He got the job done. Finishing third behind Verstappen and Hamilton, Antonelli became Formula 1’s youngest-ever world champion at the age of 20 years and 68 days.
Something special about him... ✨Kimi's Dad, Marco Antonelli, reacts to his son's historic title!#F1 #MexicoGP https://t.co/ymyATU6jiN
What exactly changed over the winter remains something of a mystery. Even Toto Wolff admitted he was surprised by the transformation. “It’s been 30 or more years that I’ve tried to understand racing drivers’ brains, and I still don’t know what happened to Antonelli over the winter,” Wolff said. “His ability to process and deliver something outstanding, which we didn’t see coming.”
Antonelli’s success was no overnight phenomenon. It was the product of nine years of careful development. “People don’t get that this is the work of nine years. The development of nine years, the hardship of nine years, the integration into the team, working with the engineers, the $10 million or more spent on his career,” Wolff reflected. “His ability, his character, together with his parents. It’s not that it just landed like this.”
The championship is secured, but Antonelli’s journey is only beginning. Formula 1 has a new world champion, a first from Italy in 73 years, and he is only 20.