In a 71‑lap showdown at Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday, 20‑year‑old Italian Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli became the youngest champion in Formula 1 history after finishing third at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Antonelli’s triumph in only his second season broke Sebastian Vettel’s record for the youngest winner and ended a 73‑year wait for an Italian title, the first since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
The race began under chaotic conditions, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc taking the lead on an opening lap that saw an off‑track battle with teammate Lewis Hamilton and the eventual winner of the race, Max Verstappen. Antonelli, who started from fourth on the grid, stayed alongside the frontmen before a brief stint at the front as the leaders made their pit stops. He retook fourth place after moving from soft to medium tires at lap 44 and remained there until a safety car, triggered by Ferrari’s Valtteri Bottas crash, brought the field together. A red flag followed when the circuit split, leaving the Mercedes driver poised for a title‑breaching finish.
After the restart on lap 47, Hamilton passed Leclerc while Antonelli held his spot. At lap 48, the Italian used a decisive move on Leclerc’s Turn 1 to slot into third place—his finish that would secure the championship regardless of his rivals’ results. A subsequent safety car, sparked by Arvid Lindblad’s crash on lap 59, left Antonelli in the position to close out the race.
We did it! And I wouldn’t be here without Mercedes and without my family. I’m speechless, I’m trying to process what’s just happened.
Antonelli reflected after the race, saying that attaining the title would not have been possible without his team's support and his family’s encouragement.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull took the checkered flag in 71 laps, followed by Lewis Hamilton in second place. Antonelli crossed the line third, a finish that, with his championship lead at the time, was sufficient to keep the title remaining within his grasp.
Tass reported that the Italian driver was 20 years and 69 days old, a figure that outstripped Vettel’s 23‑year‑old age record from 2010. According to the Saudi Press Agency, Antonelli’s championship also marked the first Italian world title since 1953 and confirmed that the title had four rounds remaining when he clinched it.
With the championship officially behind him, Antonelli’s rise from a newcomer at Mercedes—facing off the lobby of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in 2025—to youngest world champion in less than a year exemplifies a meteoric ascent in the sport. The event remains a landmark moment in Formula 1 history where a young driver entered the catalogue of champions, changing the narrative around age and longevity in the sport’s elite echelons.
