Antonelli becomes youngest F1 world champion with third place in Mexico
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli finished third at the Mexico City Grand Prix to clinch the Formula 1 world title at 20 years and 68 days old. He is the youngest champion in the sport's history.
Italian driver Kimi Antonelli of the Mercedes team secured the Formula 1 world championship on Sunday by finishing third at the Mexico City Grand Prix, the 19th round of the 2026 season. At 20 years and 68 days old, he is the youngest champion in F1 history, beating the previous record held by Sebastian Vettel by more than three years. Vettel won his title in 2010 aged 23 years and 134 days.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the race, with Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari second. Antonelli is only the third Italian to win the drivers' title and the first since Alberto Ascari in 1953. Giuseppe Farina won in 1950, and Ascari took the championship in 1952 and 1953.
Tears on the final lap
Antonelli said tears blurred his vision as early as the penultimate lap. By his estimate he lost around two seconds because of it, and he said he could see two Ferraris ahead only through the tears. He recalled memories from his karting days to the present, and said he let his emotions out after crossing the line.
On the podium, Verstappen and Hamilton lifted him up while the Italian songs "Nessun Dorma" and "Sarà, perché ti amo" played. Antonelli said the first song had been a favourite of his late grandfather, and that he believes his grandfather would be proud.
Family and team
Antonelli replaced Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025, after Hamilton moved to Ferrari. The driver has been part of Mercedes since he was 12. His father, Marco Antonelli, who runs a rallying team, has attended nearly every race since his son's F1 debut at the start of 2025, and flew to Mexico on Saturday morning with Kimi's sister. Antonelli thanked his family, Mercedes and his race engineer Peter Bonnington.
Formula 1 next travels to Brazil for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this weekend.
