The remarkable rise of F1’s new world champion, Kimi Antonelli
Photo: Race Pictures
Ben Hunt is an award-winning motorsport journalist with over two decades of experience in Formula 1 and international media. As a former editor-in-chief and bestselling author, he delivers in-depth analysis and strategic insight from the highest level of the sport.
Kimi Antonelli factfile: Meet Formula 1’s youngest world champion
Kimi Antonelli has won the 2026 Formula 1 drivers’ championship, becoming the youngest world champion in the sport’s history. From his racing family to the junior titles that persuaded Mercedes to make him Lewis Hamilton’s successor, here is your guide to F1’s new champion.
Kimi Antonelli: The key facts
- Full name: Andrea Kimi Antonelli
- Born: August 25, 2006
- Birthplace: Bologna, Italy
- Nationality: Italian
- Age: 20
- Team: Mercedes
- Race number: 12
- Grand Prix debut: Australia, 2025
- First Grand Prix podium: Canada, 2025
- First Grand Prix pole: China, 2026
- First Grand Prix victory: China, 2026
- First drivers’ championship: 2026
Who is Kimi Antonelli?
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Born in Bologna, Antonelli grew up in a family already immersed in motorsport. His father, Marco, raced in sportscars and established his own racing team, giving the future Mercedes driver an early introduction to the paddock.
Karting provided the first evidence of his potential. Antonelli won back-to-back FIA European titles in the senior OK category in 2020 and 2021 before transferring that success to single-seaters.
As GPblog’s Antonelli profile details, his route towards Formula 1 was characterised by championship success and unusually rapid promotions.
Is he named after Kimi Raikkonen?
Despite sharing his name with the 2007 world champion, Antonelli was not named after Kimi Raikkonen.
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Kimi is his middle name, with Andrea his first name. According to Mercedes, a family friend suggested Kimi because it worked well with his other names.
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When did Antonelli join Mercedes?
Antonelli joined the Mercedes junior programme in April 2019, aged 12. The relationship gave Mercedes years to assess his development before promoting him to its Formula 1 team.
Rather than recruiting an established replacement when Hamilton chose Ferrari, the team entrusted the vacant seat to a teenager it had supported through karting and the junior categories.
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What did he win before Formula 1?
Antonelli won both the Italian and ADAC Formula 4 championships in 2022, collecting 22 victories across the two series.
He followed that with another championship double in 2023, winning the Formula Regional Middle East and Formula Regional European titles.
Those results encouraged Mercedes to back a direct move to Formula 2 for 2024, bypassing FIA Formula 3 entirely.
Racing for Prema, he won the Silverstone Sprint in wet conditions and the Hungary Feature Race, finishing sixth in the championship.
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How did his first F1 season unfold?
Antonelli replaced Hamilton at Mercedes for 2025, partnering Russell.
He finished fourth on his Grand Prix debut in Australia and secured pole position for the Miami Sprint. His first Grand Prix podium followed in Canada, where he finished third.
Further podiums in Brazil and Las Vegas helped him complete his rookie campaign seventh in the standings, with 150 points and three Grand Prix podium finishes.
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When did he become an F1 race winner?
Antonelli’s breakthrough Grand Prix victory came in China in 2026. He also became Formula 1’s youngest Grand Prix polesitter that weekend, before converting his starting position into victory.
The result made him the first Italian Grand Prix winner since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix, a race held before Antonelli was born.
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What makes his championship historic?
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At 20, Antonelli has surpassed Sebastian Vettel as Formula 1’s youngest world champion. Vettel was 23 when he secured his first title in 2010.
Antonelli has also become Italy’s first drivers’ world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953, ending a 73-year wait. His success comes in only his second Formula 1 season, turning Mercedes’ decision to promote him directly into a front-running seat into a championship-winning investment.
Will he swap number 12 for number 1?
Winning the championship gives Antonelli the option of using number 1, but he has already indicated that he would prefer to retain number 12.
As GPblog reported ahead of his title opportunity in Mexico, Antonelli said he intended to keep the number associated with his rise through the ranks.
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Number 12 also connects him to his racing idol Ayrton Senna, who carried it when he won his first world championship in 1988.
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