Kimi Antonelli is the youngest world champion in Formula One history. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver sealed the 2026 drivers’ title with a third-place finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday, 1 November 2026.
Antonelli crossed the line at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez behind race winner Max Verstappen of Red Bull and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari. Third place was more than enough: he had needed only a ninth-place finish to make the championship mathematically certain.
At 20 years and 68 days old, Antonelli is more than three years younger than the previous youngest champion, Sebastian Vettel, who won the first of his four titles with Red Bull in 2010 at 23 years and 134 days. He is also the first Italian world champion since Alberto Ascari, who won his second title with Ferrari in 1953, a gap of 73 years.
The result took Antonelli to 380 points with four races still to run, in São Paulo, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Verstappen moved to second on 261 points, 119 behind, meaning neither he nor any other rival can now catch the Mercedes driver.
A season of dominance
Antonelli started the Mexico race from fourth on the grid and moved into third with an overtake on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The race was stopped and restarted after a safety car period on lap 46 of 71, following a high-speed suspension failure for Valtteri Bottas, but Antonelli held his position to the flag.
The title caps a remarkable second season in Formula One for the Bologna-born driver, who made his debut in 2025. He has won nine grands prix this season, taken seven pole positions and stood on the podium 16 times, and all nine of those victories came while he was still a teenager.
His rivals were generous in defeat. Both Hamilton and Verstappen described the achievement as incredible, and Antonelli was in tears over the team radio as he took the chequered flag, later celebrating on the podium draped in the Italian flag.
What comes next
Mercedes also led the constructors’ championship after Mexico, on 630 points to Ferrari’s 504, with the team title still to be decided in the remaining rounds.
Antonelli, who was born in Bologna on 25 August 2006, now carries a record that once looked untouchable. Vettel’s mark had stood for 16 years; the new champion has lowered it by more than three. With four races left in the season, the youngest champion in the sport’s history still has room to add to a campaign that has already rewritten Formula One’s record books.
