How Kimi Antonelli saw off the grid to become F1’s youngest world champion

Mercedes driver makes history at 20 years old by exceeding all expectations in only his second season

Before the 2026 season had begun there was something of a consensus within Formula One. Mercedes appeared to have the fastest car and George Russell was favourite for the title. Beside him in what was indeed a dominant Mercedes, his teenage teammate, Kimi Antonelli, was the prodigious talent who was expected to require honing after a tricky rookie season. Said consensus lasted one race, by the sixth it had been turned on its head and Antonelli was squarely on his way to being champion.

Few had doubted that the then 19-year-old Italian would prove to be strong in a car that for the first two-thirds of the season was the class of the field but for Antonelli to come out of the blocks with such verve, aggressive skill and also the judgment and at times maturity of a veteran was revelatory. As the youngest F1 world champion and Italy’s first since Alberto Ascari in 1953, Antonelli made history this year but it was the way he did it which truly caught the eye.

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