Kimi Antonelli is the 2026 Formula 1 (F1) world champion, and he sealed it with three races to spare. Before anyone turns to the F1 odds for 2027, it is worth looking back at how he got here. Two years ago, he was a teenager with no F1 starts, picked by Mercedes to take the seat Lewis Hamilton was leaving. These are the moments that turned him from a junior prospect into a champion.
Winning everything in the junior series
Antonelli made his car racing debut in Italian F4 with Prema in 2021, three weeks after his 15th birthday. A year later, he won both the Italian F4 and the German-based ADAC F4 championships.
In 2023, he added the Formula Regional Middle East and Formula Regional European titles, sealing the European crown at Zandvoort with two races to spare. Mercedes then moved him straight into Formula 2 (F2) with Prema for 2024, skipping Formula 3 altogether. His F2 season was uneven, but he won the sprint race at Silverstone.
Named as Hamilton’s replacement
Mercedes confirmed on 31 August 2024, during the Italian Grand Prix weekend, that Antonelli would replace Hamilton when the seven-time champion left for Ferrari. A day earlier, his first practice session for the team had lasted 10 minutes before he lost the car at Parabolica and hit the barrier. Toto Wolff said the crash would not change how the team saw him.
From 16th to fourth on debut
His first grand prix, in Melbourne on 16 March 2025, was run in the rain and won by Lando Norris. Antonelli started 16th, recovered from a spin and crossed the line fourth. A five-second penalty for an unsafe release in the pits briefly dropped him to fifth, but the stewards overturned it after the race and restored his fourth place.
Sprint pole in Miami and a first podium in Canada
At the Miami Grand Prix in May 2025, he outqualified George Russell for the first time and took sprint pole by 0.045 seconds from Oscar Piastri. In June, he finished third in Canada for his first F1 podium, the first by any of that season’s rookies.
Mistakes in Austria and a summer slump
The European season exposed his inexperience. At the Austrian Grand Prix, he locked his rear tyres into Turn 3 on the opening lap and took out Max Verstappen. The stewards ruled him wholly to blame and gave him a three-place grid drop for Silverstone.
After Canada, he scored three points in six race weekends, and he retired from four of the seven races in the European part of the calendar.
Back on the podium in Brazil and Las Vegas
He finished the year strongly. At the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in November, he was second in both the sprint and the main race. Two weeks later in Las Vegas, he started 17th and was promoted to third when both McLarens were disqualified. He ended his rookie season seventh in the championship with 150 points.
A first win and a record pole in China
Antonelli’s first F1 win came at the Chinese Grand Prix on 15 March 2026. He started from pole, which made him the youngest polesitter in F1 history, and led Russell home in a Mercedes one-two. Hamilton was third for his first podium with Ferrari.
Five wins in a row, ending in Monaco
China started a run of five straight wins, through Japan, Miami, Canada and Monaco. His victory in Japan made him the youngest driver ever to lead the world championship.
At Monaco on 7 June, he took pole, the win and fastest lap while leading every lap, a feat known as a grand chelem. At 19 years and 286 days, he also became the youngest winner of the race, beating Hamilton’s record.
Victory from 19th at Monza
At his home race on 6 September, Antonelli started 19th and won, with Russell second and Verstappen third. Only John Watson has won a grand prix from further back, from 22nd at Long Beach in 1983. Antonelli was also the first Italian to win at Monza since Ludovico Scarfiotti for Ferrari in 1966.
Champion in Mexico City
He arrived in Mexico City on 1 November needing only ninth place. He started fourth, passed Charles Leclerc at Turn 1 and finished third behind Verstappen and Hamilton. That took him to 380 points, 119 clear of Verstappen with four races left.
At 20, Antonelli is the youngest world champion in F1 history, more than three years younger than Sebastian Vettel was in 2010. He is also the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
