The Mercedes driver secured his first championship with third place at the Mexico City Grand Prix, breaking Sebastian Vettel’s age record and ending Italy’s 73-year wait for another drivers’ champion.
Mexico / Italy | Formula 1 and Sports News
Information checked on 2 November 2026.
Kimi Antonelli has become Formula 1’s youngest world champion, securing the 2026 Drivers’ Championship at the Mexico City Grand Prix on 1 November.
The Mercedes driver finished third at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, collecting enough points to settle the championship with four races remaining. At 20 years and 68 days old, he surpassed the previous record held by Sebastian Vettel.
Max Verstappen won the race, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finishing second. Antonelli joined them on the podium as a first-time world champion in only his second Formula 1 season.
His achievement also makes him the first Italian driver to win the championship since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
How Kimi Antonelli Secured the 2026 F1 Championship
Antonelli arrived in Mexico City with a substantial championship advantage. A finish of ninth or better would have guaranteed the title regardless of the results achieved by his remaining challengers.
Starting fourth, he delivered a podium finish despite a race interrupted by a red flag and a late Safety Car.
The leading results were:
| Position | Driver | Team | Race points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 25 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 18 |
| 3 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 15 |
Antonelli’s result increased his championship total to 380 points. Verstappen moved into second place on 261, followed by Hamilton on 259 and George Russell on 250.
That left Antonelli with a 119-point advantage over his nearest rival and an unassailable position in the championship.
The race victory and championship therefore went to different drivers: Verstappen took the Mexican Grand Prix win, while Antonelli completed the season-long task of securing the title.
Managing a Disrupted Mexico City Grand Prix
The championship situation gave Antonelli a clear objective, but reaching the finish still required careful decisions through an eventful afternoon.
Extending the Opening Stint
According to Mercedes’ race report, Antonelli managed his soft tyres beyond 40 laps, combining competitive pace with tyre preservation.
That extended stint created strategic options for the later stages. However, a heavy accident involving Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas brought out the red flag and changed the race’s direction.
The interruption removed the tyre advantage Antonelli had been developing.
Recovering a Podium Position After the Restart
Although Antonelli had been running third when the race was suspended, the restart order placed him fourth.
He regained third by overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc into Turn 1 on the second lap after the restart. A later Safety Car following Arvid Lindblad’s accident created another interruption before the finish.
Antonelli held his position to complete the 71-lap race 4.006 seconds behind Verstappen.
At the front, Verstappen resisted Hamilton’s pressure and won by 0.799 seconds, securing his sixth victory at the Mexico City circuit.
Breaking Sebastian Vettel’s Youngest Champion Record
Vettel had held Formula 1’s youngest world champion record since securing his first title with Red Bull in 2010, aged 23 years and 134 days.
Antonelli lowered that benchmark by more than three years.
The comparison places his achievement alongside several of Formula 1’s most prominent modern champions:
| Driver | Age when first title was secured | Championship year |
|---|---|---|
| Kimi Antonelli | 20 years, 68 days | 2026 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 23 years, 134 days | 2010 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 23 years, 300 days | 2008 |
| Fernando Alonso | 24 years, 58 days | 2005 |
| Max Verstappen | 24 years, 73 days | 2021 |
The record concerns the age at which a driver secured the World Drivers’ Championship. Winning a Grand Prix, taking pole position and leading the championship are separate achievements with their own records.
Antonelli’s title establishes a new benchmark for how early a driver has completed a championship-winning campaign.
Nine Grand Prix Wins Built His Championship Advantage
Mexico City supplied the decisive result, but Antonelli’s lead developed across the season.
His official 2026 results show nine Grand Prix victories by the time he secured the championship.
An early run of five consecutive wins—in China, Japan, Miami, Canada and Monaco—gave his campaign a strong foundation.
Further victories followed in Belgium, Italy and Spain. His ninth win came at the United States Grand Prix on 25 October, immediately before the Mexico City round.
That Austin victory took his points total to 365 and put him within reach of securing the championship the following weekend.
The campaign also contained setbacks. He retired from the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix and finished 15th in the British Grand Prix. His results elsewhere allowed him to retain a substantial advantage despite those difficult rounds.
The combination of repeated victories and points across the calendar explains why third place in Mexico was sufficient to complete the title challenge.
From Bologna to Formula 1
Born in Bologna on 25 August 2006, Andrea Kimi Antonelli progressed through karting and junior single-seater competition before reaching Formula 1.
Mercedes became involved in his development well before his promotion to its race team.
Joining Mercedes’ Junior Programme
Antonelli joined the Mercedes junior programme in 2019, aged 12.
His subsequent career included several significant steps:
- 2022: Won both the Italian and ADAC Formula 4 championships.
- 2023: Claimed the Formula Regional Middle East and European championships.
- 2024: Moved into Formula 2 with PREMA Racing, winning the Silverstone Sprint and the Budapest Feature Race.
- 2025: Joined Mercedes’ Formula 1 line-up alongside George Russell.
He finished sixth in the 2024 Formula 2 standings before making the move to Formula 1.
Learning During His Rookie Season
Antonelli entered F1 in the Mercedes seat vacated by Hamilton’s move to Ferrari.
His first season included three podium finishes and 150 championship points, according to Formula 1’s driver profile.
Those results provided experience at the highest level, while his second campaign brought the progression from promising newcomer to world champion.
The speed of that transition is a central part of the achievement: Antonelli secured the sport’s leading individual prize before completing two full seasons on the grid.
What the Title Means for Mercedes and Italian Motorsport
For Mercedes, Antonelli’s success delivers its first Drivers’ Championship since Hamilton’s 2020 title.
The team identifies it as the 10th drivers’ title for Mercedes’ works racing history. Antonelli also becomes the first graduate of its junior programme to win the championship.
His progression offers a concrete outcome from the team’s long-term driver development work: identifying talent in karting, supporting advancement through junior categories and eventually providing a Formula 1 race seat.
For Italy, the result ends a 73-year gap between drivers’ championships.
Antonelli joins Giuseppe Farina and Alberto Ascari among Italy’s Formula 1 world champions, adding a new name to a small group with a foundational place in the sport’s history.
Antonelli Credits His Team and Family
Speaking after the race, Antonelli acknowledged the people who had supported his career and described the difficulty of immediately absorbing the achievement.
“I’m speechless. I’m trying to process what has just happened.”
He thanked Mercedes and his family, reflected on the strength of the car and the team’s consistency, and said he had felt additional tension entering the Mexico weekend.
Sharing the podium with Hamilton and Verstappen added another dimension to the celebration. Both had already experienced championship-winning campaigns; Antonelli stood alongside them having secured his first.
His comments also recognised the collective work behind the result, from those supporting his early development to the team delivering the car and race operations.
What Comes Next After the Championship Win?
Four Grands Prix remain on the 2026 calendar: São Paulo, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Antonelli can approach those races with the Drivers’ Championship secured. Mercedes still has a Constructors’ Championship campaign to complete, with both drivers contributing to that separate competition.
The remaining rounds will determine his final points and victory totals for the season. His place in the record books is already established: at 20, Kimi Antonelli is Formula 1’s youngest World Drivers’ Champion.
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