Kimi Antonelli has been a motorsport champion since the beginning. Signed by Mercedes at 12 years old and skipping F3, it’s no surprise that this weekend he could rewrite the record books with one more win.
He currently leads by 123 points entering this weekend’s Mexico Grand Prix, he has the potential to break a record that has stood for 16 years.
Antonelli’s name is being thrown around a lot, but most people don’t understand just how remarkable the rookie is. From the inception of his career, he has taken the motorsport world by storm, and now is the perfect time for fans to learn about his journey up to this F1 season.
If you're unfamiliar with how F1 works, here is a quick breakdown:
The F1 season runs from March to December with 24 races across the globe — however, this year there are only 23. There are 11 teams with 2 drivers each. Each race runs for three days, typically Friday — Sunday. There are 3 Free Practice (FP) sessions, a Qualifying session, and the main event, the Grand Prix. For six of the races there will be Sprints, which are shorter races that have their own Qualifying round that replaces FP2. This weekend in Mexico City marks the 19th round of the 2026 season.
Before we learn why this weekend is such a big deal, let’s dive into Kimi Antonelli’s journey to F1.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was born in Bologna, Italy, on Aug. 25, 2006, and began his karting career at age 5. His father was a sports car racer and owns his own motor sport team, AKM Motorsports.
Kimi found success very early on while karting for his father’s team, and was scouted by Mercedes at the ripe age of 12. In 2021, he competed in the Italian F4 and Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC) F4, securing the title for both and amassing 22 wins out of 35 races across both seasons. Continuing his success in 2023, he had five wins and six podiums to win the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) and three wins and four podiums to win the Formula Regional Middle East Championship.
In 2024 he was allowed to skip F3 and move onto F2, which is not a common occurrence and demonstrates how much confidence Mercedes has in him from the beginning. As a Formula 1 article put it, he had a “solid rather than spectacular start” to this season, even after a crash in his first FP that had many labelling him as “not ready”.
Throughout the season he began to stand out more and more, ending the season as the “youngest multiple winner in series history” with a win in the Sprint race and another in Hungary. With these impressive accomplishments under the youngster’s belt, Mercedes was eager to get him on the F1 track as soon as possible. The opportunity for Antonelli’s debut came at the perfect time. Right as he had proven himself to the team, Mercedes and F1 legend Lewis Hamilton announced he was moving to Ferrari. This left the perfect opening for Antonelli to come in.
Antonelli made his F1 race debut on March 16, 2025 in Melbourne. His rookie season was one to remember as he finished 7th, and broke many records along the way. As the Mercedes website details, he was the “third youngest driver to ever start an F1 race,” as well as the second youngest driver to score an F1 point. With points in his first three Grand Prix, Antonelli became only the third driver since 1965 to ever do so. In Japan he became the youngest F1 driver to lead a lap and record the fastest lap, and in Brazil he became the highest scoring rookie in F1 history with 150 points smashing the previous record of 109 points.
Now deep into his sophomore season, Kimi Antonelli continues to make history. On March 15 of this year he had his first win, with it he became the youngest Grand Prix pole-sitter at just 19 years old.
Antonelli became the second youngest Grand Prix winner in F1 history behind Max Verstappen. This 2026 season Kimi Antonelli has been crowned winner an impressive 9 times in 18 rounds, the first 5 being consecutive.
To put his growth between the 2025 and 2026 seasons in perspective, according to F1 photographer and YouTuber Kym Illman, Antonelli averaged 6.25 points per event last year and this year he averages 18.5 points per event. As of today he is at the top of the leaderboard with 365 points, with his Mercedes teammate George Russell following behind with 242 points.
The likely winning scenario for Antonelli is this weekend, Oct. 30 to Nov 1 in Mexico City. With his win in Austin last weekend, if he wins in Mexico, the two wins would leave him with 390 points. This leaves only 100 more points available in the final four races for his opponents, which would not be enough to push anyone else over 390 points, securing the title. Fans of Mercedes and Antonelli are eagerly awaiting to see how things will play out this weekend.
Antonelli is popular for more than his remarkable F1 performances, becoming a fan favourite because of his personality. He is often involved in F1 and Mercedes social media content as he appeals to the younger audience with his passion for pranks.
There are countless videos of him shooting staff with water guns or smashing a bowl full of whipped cream in his trainer’s face. His fun and youthful personality lets fans truly feel they know him as a human being, which has increased his popularity even more than all his historical races.
Featured on Amelia Dimoldenberg’s PASSENGER PRINCESS Youtube series, where F1 drivers teach her to drive. During the video, Antonelli frequently moved the car in erratic motions, causing Dimoldenberg to jokingly call out his immaturity.
Antonelli’s playful personality and social media presence, along with his fellow drivers, consistently draw in new fans by demonstrating a human side to the sport which builds a personal connection with the audience.
Based on statistics from the Formula 1 website, F1 has grown exponentially in the past few years, specifically because of online engagement with videos similar to Antonelli’s.
Last year there was a 57 per cent growth of new fans under the age of 35 and 48 per cent of new fans were female. Thanks to record breakers like Antonelli, the sport has had a rebirth with the new generation and this weekend has the potential to grow the fan base even more.
With his impressively quick rise to the top, Antonelli is on the verge of history. The current youngest world champion is Sebastian Vettel, raising the trophy at the age of 23. Even if the rest of the season goes south for Antonelli, he’s only 20 and still has time to overtake Vettel’s record.
Tune in this weekend to potentially witness Antonelli possibly make history as the youngest F1 world champion.
