Kimi Antonelli became Formula One's youngest world champion on Sunday, clinching the title with a third-place finish for Mercedes at the Mexico City Grand Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
The Italian driver was 20 years and 68 days old when he took the chequered flag, surpassing the previous record held by Germany's Sebastian Vettel, who won the first of his four titles with Red Bull at 23 years and 134 days old in 2010. Antonelli is also the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari, 73 years earlier.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the race — his second victory of the season — in a contest that was red-flagged and restarted. Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton finished second after starting from pole position, the first pole-to-podium result for Ferrari at a full Grand Prix in that position. Antonelli's overall championship lead reached an unassailable 119 points after the result.
Antonelli sobbed with joy over the team radio as he crossed the line. His race engineer, Peter Bonnington, told him: "Get in there, Kimi. Champion of the world." The driver responded: "We did it. Thank you so much." His parents and sister were waiting to embrace him when he stepped out of the car, and he was then mobbed by his pit crew.
"I'm speechless. I'm trying to process what has just happened," Antonelli told the crowd from the podium, an Italian flag wrapped around his shoulders. "It's been an incredible season, and to share this podium with Max and Lewis is truly incredible. And looking forward to some more battles in the future. This weekend, I did feel a bit more tense, but I'm just so happy that we got it done, and now we can enjoy the rest of the season."
At a later news conference, he added: "On the last lap, I just backed off, because I just couldn't see the track. I was getting emotional. So it was just good to bring it home."
The race itself was eventful. Hamilton led away from pole for the 105th time in his career, but his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc cut turn four and went across the grass as they battled for the lead in the opening laps, allowing Verstappen to take second. Hamilton said over the radio: "Pushed out by my own teammate." Leclerc was handed a five-second penalty by the stewards.
George Russell, who had started from the front row, made a poor start and dropped to fifth. He also collided with Hadjar, punting the Red Bull off the track, and received a 10-second penalty from the stewards.
The race was halted on lap 46 of 71 after Valtteri Bottas suffered a high-speed front-left suspension failure on the straight, his Cadillac pitching uncontrollably into the barriers at turn one. Bottas received medical attention in the car before walking to an ambulance and giving a thumbs-up. He was taken to the medical centre and later released.
Verstappen led from the restart, with Antonelli passing Leclerc. A further safety car was deployed after Lindblad and Piastri collided, before the field was released to race again with nine laps remaining.
Leclerc finished fourth, McLaren's Lando Norris fifth, and Antonelli's teammate Russell sixth — a result that ended any realistic hope Russell had of staying in championship contention.
In the overall standings, Verstappen moved to second, Hamilton to third, and Russell dropped to fourth, 130 points behind Antonelli. Mercedes lead the constructors' championship with 630 points to Ferrari's 504, and could clinch that title in Brazil the following weekend.
Antonelli's path to the title began long before his F1 debut. His father Marco, a former racing driver himself, first sensed his son's exceptional talent when Kimi was just 10 years old. The pair were at the Adria circuit in north-east Italy, where Marco strapped them both into his Lamborghini sports car — Marco controlling the throttle and brake, Kimi handling the steering and gears. They reached 320 km/h on the straight.
"When I saw the video, 10 years old, on my leg, oversteer, everything perfect, I said: 'Maybe he has something special,'" Marco told sources.
Kimi had first tried a go-kart at the age of five, immediately showing an awareness of racing lines, braking points and car control. Marco had not originally wanted his son to pursue a racing career, having experienced his own disappointments — including missed opportunities with Alfa Romeo and BMW in the DTM series during the 1990s. "I suffered a lot for it," he said. "And, of course, I was scared that my son [would] relive the same situation."
The family, which Marco describes as "a normal family," could not afford to fund a full junior career. Marco planned to support Kimi through karting and a single season of Formula 4, after which he hoped to place him in one of his GT cars. But Kimi's rapid progress changed those plans. Whatever category he entered, he was quick, and he won.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff had already identified Antonelli as a future F1 driver and a potential successor to Lewis Hamilton. When contract negotiations with Hamilton in 2023 broke down — Hamilton wanted at least two firm years, Wolff offered one, and they settled on 2024 with an option for 2025 — Hamilton chose to explore other options and signed for Ferrari in 2025, informing Wolff in late January 2024.
Wolff immediately called Marco Antonelli. "'We put Kimi in Formula 1,'" Marco recalled Wolff saying. "'What do you think?' I said: 'Oh, [it] is a difficult question you ask me. Of course I'm happy that you think about Kimi but are you sure he's ready?'"
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said the team moved quickly to a decision. "We were all keen to just go with Kimi, which we knew was a bit of a risk. But it was quite exciting and we thought, based on his career to date, he had a good chance of being very good. It seemed like a good challenge."
At the time Wolff made the call, Antonelli had not yet driven an F1 car.
