Kimi Antonelli Becomes Youngest F1 World Champion at 20 After Mexican Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli pictured at the 2025 US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas — Image via Wikimedia Commons

Kimi Antonelli is the 2026 Formula 1 world champion — and at 20 years and 68 days old, the youngest driver ever to win the sport's biggest prize, according to Reuters and CNN.

How the title was won

• The Mercedes driver finished third at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday, November 1, behind race winner Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton — enough to make his championship lead unassailable with four races still to run.
• Antonelli needed only a ninth-place finish to clinch the title; he entered the weekend 123 points clear of teammate George Russell.
• Over team radio as he crossed the line, a tearful Antonelli said, "We did it, we did it," according to CNN's race coverage.

A record-breaking season

• The Italian has won nine of 19 races this season, along with seven pole positions and 16 podiums, in just his second year in Formula 1.
• He shattered the previous youngest-champion record held by Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 years and 134 days old when he won in 2010.
• He is the first Italian world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953 — only the third Italian champion in the sport's history.
• He replaced seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes after Hamilton's move to Ferrari in 2025, and has also set records as the youngest driver to lead the championship, take pole position and win the Monaco Grand Prix.

Drama in Mexico

The title was sealed in a chaotic race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez — red-flagged on lap 46 after Valtteri Bottas crashed heavily, restarted, and marked by clashes between the Ferrari drivers and a 10-second penalty for Russell's collision with Red Bull's Isack Hadjar. Russell finished sixth, with Verstappen moving up to second in the standings and Hamilton third. Team boss Toto Wolff said Russell was "distraught" and excused him from media duties.

Antonelli's coronation caps one of the most dominant seasons in modern F1 — and at 20, the new champion's era may only just be beginning.