Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest Formula 1 world champion in history, dominating his second season at age 20 as Max Verstappen wins in Mexico.
Antonelli, who turned 20 in August, established a 50-point lead in the championship after taking six poles and six wins in the first 11 races. Mercedes lost their dominant form in the second half of the season as McLaren and Red Bull challenged, but Antonelli remained a consistent threat at the front.
The son of former driver Marco Antonelli, Kimi was described by his father as having been “born in a garage”; Marco says that from 15 days old he was in the garage hearing engines and smelling exhaust. His father first realised Kimi might have exceptional talent at age 10, when Kimi sat on his lap at Adria and controlled the steering and gears of a Lamborghini. Marco said he braked at 320km/h and Kimi then controlled the car's oversteer perfectly.
Mercedes signed Antonelli to their driver academy after scout Gwen Lagrue saw him racing a kart with less power than his rivals at age 11. Team boss Toto Wolff considered him a potential replacement for Lewis Hamilton, and when Hamilton decided to join Ferrari in 2025, Wolff immediately called Marco Antonelli to say, “We put Kimi in Formula 1.”
Antonelli's first practice session at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix was spectacular but ended in a heavy crash at the Parabolica corner. “No-one on earth could have got the car around the corner at the speed he was attempting,” said trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin. The crash had a significant impact on Antonelli. The middle part of his rookie season was a disappointment, and he made too many mistakes.
"The crash in Monza was very tough for him to forget. It created on him a big pressure," Marco Antonelli said. Wolff recalled a "spell of nine races that was really not good," saying that "other people doubted" within the team and externally.
But this year Antonelli transformed. Wolff said the driver's “self-confidence, without feeling any entitlement, has shone.” Antonelli killed off his Monza ghosts with a stunning victory at this year's Italian Grand Prix, starting 19th on the grid after an engine penalty and, with help from a safety car, catching his teammate George Russell in the final laps.
Antonelli acknowledged the influence of tennis legend Roger Federer, whom he met at Wimbledon. "About pressure, he just told me to focus on one race at a time, just focus on what you can control, and also to control the emotions, especially the ones that can make you do mistakes," Antonelli said.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen, the only other teenager to win an F1 race, said he never doubted Antonelli would make the jump. "In your rookie season, it can be quite tough, but at the moment, of course, he's doing an amazing job," Verstappen said.
Marco Antonelli described the project in February 2024: “The project was 2025 experience, 2026 start to achieve results. I think we overachieved.”
Analysis
Why This Matters
- Antonelli becomes the youngest champion in F1's 75-year history, a milestone that resets expectations for driver development
- His turnaround from a difficult rookie season to dominance shows how quickly talent can emerge with the right team support
- Mercedes' gamble on an untested teenager paid off, potentially reshaping how teams approach driver succession planning
Background
Kimi Antonelli was born in 2006 to Marco Antonelli, a former driver who came close to a works DTM drive in the 1990s but saw opportunities evaporate. Marco initially did not want his son to race, fearing he would relive the same struggles. The family could not afford to fund Kimi through all the categories to Formula 1, so Marco planned to fund only through karting and a year of Formula 4 before Mercedes signed him to their driver academy at age 11. Antonelli swept the board in Formula 4 in 2022 and Formula Regional in 2023 before being fast-tracked to F1 for 2025.
Key Perspectives
Toto Wolff (Mercedes team boss): The moments of brilliance were there but then there was "a spell of nine races that was really not good." This year, "the self-confidence, without feeling any entitlement, has shone."
Andrew Shovlin (Mercedes trackside engineering director): The best driver he had seen in an F1 car for the first time until Antonelli was George Russell. With Antonelli, "he took a couple of runs to work out how the car behaved and then he'd be more or less on the limit."
Max Verstappen (four-time world champion): "For me, there was never any doubt that he would make the jump the year after and already be a lot more consistently competitive."
Marco Antonelli (father): "In F4 and Freca, he started with not good results, and he was able to remake everything and, at the end, work hard and win the championship." The team's plan was "2025 experience, 2026 start to achieve results. I think we overachieved."
What to Watch
- Whether Antonelli can maintain his form as rivals McLaren and Red Bull develop their cars for 2027
- How Mercedes manages Antonelli's emotions, which have flared at times this season
- Whether Antonelli's success triggers a new wave of young drivers being fast-tracked to F1 without extensive testing
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedAntonelli is the youngest Formula 1 world champion in history and won the title at age 20.BBC News: “Kimi, who turned 20 only in August, has dominated F1 in only his second season, and become the youngest world champion in the sport's history.”
- Partly supportedAntonelli dominated his second season after a difficult rookie year.BBC News: “But the middle part of the season, through Europe, was a disappointment. A change to the rear suspension design made the car nervous and rocked his confidence. His pace was not impressive, and he made too many mistakes.”
- SupportedVerstappen won in Mexico as Antonelli became world champion.BBC News: “Antonelli becomes world champion as Verstappen wins in Mexico”
- SupportedAntonelli built a 50-point championship lead after taking six poles and six wins in the first 11 races.BBC News: “Antonelli took six poles and six wins in the first 11 races, establishing a 50-point lead in the championship.”
- SupportedMarco Antonelli described Kimi as having been “born in a garage.”BBC News: “This is the story of a boy his dad says was "born in a garage".”
- SupportedWhen Hamilton decided to join Ferrari in 2025, Wolff called Marco and said, “We put Kimi in Formula 1.”BBC News: “Hamilton, unimpressed, decided to look at his options, and signed to join Ferrari in 2025, telling Wolff in late January 2024, before the start of that season. Wolff immediately phoned Marco Antonelli, to tell him the "very big news". "'We put Kimi in Formula 1,'" Marco remembers Wolff saying.”
- SupportedShovlin said, “No-one on earth could have got the car around the corner at the speed he was attempting.”BBC News: “"No-one on earth could have got the car around the corner at the speed he was attempting," Shovlin says.”
- SupportedMarco said, “The crash in Monza was very tough for him to forget. It created on him a big pressure.”BBC News: “Marco Antonelli explains: "Mercedes needed to have a good result after a period that was not like the Hamilton era. And, of course, needed two cars that always take points. "Kimi felt this necessity. The crash in Monza was very tough for him to forget. It created on him a big pressure."”
- SupportedWolff recalled a “spell of nine races that was really not good.”BBC News: “Wolff said the "moments of brilliance were there" but then there was "a spell of nine races that was really not good".”
- SupportedAntonelli won this year's Italian Grand Prix after starting 19th following an engine penalty, and caught Russell in the final laps with help from a safety car.BBC News: “He killed off his Monza ghosts in the Italian Grand Prix with a stunning victory after an engine penalty led to him starting 19th on the grid. He put in a drive of clinical excellence and, with help from a safety car, chased down and caught Russell in the final laps”
- SupportedAntonelli said Federer advised him to focus on one race at a time, what he could control and controlling his emotions.BBC News: “"About pressure, he just told me to focus on one race at a time, just focus on what you can control, and also to control the emotions, especially the ones that can make you do mistakes."”
- SupportedVerstappen said he never doubted Antonelli would make the jump and praised his current performance.BBC News: “Verstappen says: "For me, there was never any doubt that he would make the jump the year after and already be a lot more consistently competitive. It's normal in the progression of a driver. In your rookie season, it can be quite tough, but at the moment, of course, he's doing an amazing job."”