Key highlights
- Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has clinched the 2026 Formula 1 drivers’ championship at 20 years and 68 days.
- A third-place finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix was enough to secure his maiden title, with four races remaining.
- Antonelli breaks Sebastian Vettel’s record, becoming the youngest F1 world champion by more than three years.
Formula 1 has a new record-holder, and his name is Kimi Antonelli. The Mercedes driver has become the youngest-ever Formula 1 world champion after finishing third at the Mexico City Grand Prix. At just 20 years and 68 days old, the Italian has taken a record that had stood since Sebastian Vettel won his first title with Red Bull in 2010.
What makes the achievement particularly impressive is that this is only Antonelli’s second full season in Formula 1. He has also become the first Italian driver to win the championship since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
Promising rookie to a championship winner
Antonelli’s rise has been anything but ordinary. Mercedes took a calculated gamble when it promoted him to the senior team for the 2025 season, placing the young Italian in the seat vacated by Lewis Hamilton, who moved to Ferrari.
His debut season had its share of highs and lows. He scored three podium finishes and collected 150 points, eventually finishing seventh in the drivers’ standings. But there were also difficult weekends, including a run of ten races in which he struggled to score points. There were questions about whether Mercedes had promoted him too early.
The team chose to back its young driver, and the decision has paid off spectacularly. Antonelli has won nine races so far in 2026 and has been a consistent force throughout the season. He took his first Grand Prix victory in China, followed it up with a win in Japan and then went on a remarkable run that included victories in Miami, Canada and Monaco.
A third place was all he needed in Mexico
Antonelli arrived in Mexico City with a comfortable championship advantage. He needed only to finish ninth or higher to make the title mathematically secure, irrespective of how his closest challengers performed.
The result was enough to put the championship beyond reach, with four rounds still remaining in the season. His title advantage stood at 119 points after the race.
Vettel’s record finally falls
Sebastian Vettel was 23 years and 134 days old when he won his first world championship in 2010. Antonelli has lowered that record by more than three years, doing so at 20 years and 68 days.
He is also only the third Italian to win the Formula 1 drivers’ championship, following Giuseppe Farina in 1950 and Alberto Ascari in 1952 and 1953. For Italy, which has waited 73 years for another world champion, this is a particularly significant moment.
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