Antonelli becomes Formula One’s youngest champion with Mexico podium finish

Kimi Antonelli became Formula One’s youngest world champion at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday, securing the title with third place for Mercedes. The 20-year-old finished behind Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who lifted the Italian into the air as celebrations got under way. Antonelli is Italy’s first world champion since 1953.

Sharing the podium with four-time champion Verstappen and seven-time champion Hamilton was “truly incredible”, Antonelli said. He described the championship as a starting point for further improvement and future title challenges. His race engineer, Peter Bonnington, who previously worked with Michael Schumacher and Hamilton, hailed the occasion while affectionately recalling Antonelli’s pranks, including his use of water pistols.

Racing has shaped Antonelli’s life from an early age. He began karting at seven, and his father Marco brought him into the Formula One paddock at eight by concealing him in a stack of tyres topped with an umbrella. When he was barely 10, he steered a competition Lamborghini and changed gears while sitting on his father’s lap, with Marco controlling the pedals.

Despite that upbringing, Marco, a former driver and team principal, initially opposed his son pursuing a racing career. Antonelli said his father understood the financial difficulties of motorsport and how much success depended on finding the right support. The pair remain close, discussing and analysing racing together, while his mother Elisabetta keeps away from the spotlight.

Mercedes junior programme chief Gwen Lagrue recruited Antonelli at 11, and Hamilton became his mentor. After dominating in karting in 2020 and 2021, Antonelli won the Italian and German Formula Four titles in 2022 and a Formula Regional championship in 2023. He bypassed Formula Three for Formula Two in 2024, finishing sixth before Hamilton’s departure for Ferrari opened a place at Mercedes.

Antonelli’s first Formula One season included setbacks, but he finished seventh in the championship with three podium appearances, including second place in Sao Paulo. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the youngster needed that season to learn while adjusting to pressure, media attention and expectations. Hamilton praised his former protege as deserving of the world title.

His championship campaign gathered momentum in China on March 15, when he became the youngest pole-sitter and claimed his first grand prix victory at 19. Only Verstappen had won a race at a younger age. Victory in Canada on May 24 extended Antonelli’s winning streak to four races, followed by a fifth consecutive win in Monaco on June 7.

At the Italian Grand Prix on September 6, an engine penalty left Antonelli starting 19th. He fought through the field and passed teammate George Russell to become the race’s first Italian winner since Ludovico Scarfiotti 60 years earlier. Fifth place in Azerbaijan after a qualifying crash kept his title pursuit moving, while second in Malaysia, where Russell retired late, increased his championship advantage to 84 points.

Congratulations came from across the paddock and beyond, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, football clubs and tennis champion Jannik Sinner. Alongside his results, Antonelli’s jokes and cheerful presence have made him a popular figure among fellow drivers.