Antonelli becomes youngest Formula One world champion

• Andrea Kimi Antonelli has made history by clinching his maiden Formula 1 World Championship on November 2.

• The Mercedes racer became the youngest-ever driver to take the crown. 

• The 20-year-old Italian drove his Mercedes to a 16th podium finish of the season in the Mexico City Grand Prix.

• He finished third behind multiple champions Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in the race.

• Antonelli, at 20 years and 68 days, has beaten the record of Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 years and 134 days old when he clinched his first title with Red Bull in 2010.

• Antonelli is the first Italian to win the title since Alberto Ascari in 1953.

Who is Andrea Kimi Antonelli?

• He was born on August 25, 2006 in Bologna, Italy.

• Antonelli’s rise to the F1 grid has been nothing short of meteoric.

• Son of sportscar racer Marco, Kimi was scouted by Mercedes during a karting career that saw him collect a scarcely believable number of winner’s trophies.

• More commonly known by his middle name, Kimi joined the junior programme of Mercedes in April 2019, aged 12.

• He went on to make his car racing debut aged just 15, with more titles swiftly following – in both the Italian and ADAC F4 championships in 2022 and the Formula Regional Middle East and European categories a year later.

• Most onlookers saw F3 as the logical next move, but Mercedes already knew they had a star on their hands and decided that promotion to F2 – effectively skipping a step on the ladder – would better serve their latest hot prospect.

• It was always going to be a lot to ask of the teenager, with the noise around his future prospects only growing when Lewis Hamilton dropped the bombshell that he would be swapping Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025 – opening up a spot alongside George Russell.

• Antonelli got his head down to make a solid rather than spectacular start to life in F2, consistently scoring points, but not yet reaching the podium, while his Prema Racing team and the rest of the grid tried to understand the nuances of the series’ new car package.

• Then, midway through the season, Antonelli started to show a much larger audience what he could do.

• A breakthrough Sprint victory in the rain at Silverstone was followed by a maiden Feature win at the Hungaroring.

• Shortly after Antonelli’s 18th birthday, the squad announced at the Italian Grand Prix that the home favourite would indeed be replacing seven-time world champion Hamilton at the Silver Arrows.

• Despite some mid-season blips in form, Antonelli’s first F1 season included three podiums and 150 points.

• After a promising rookie season, his outstanding performances — nine Grand Prix wins and 16 podiums — made him F1’s youngest-ever champion at 20 years and 68 days old.

• He also became just the third Italian to win the world championship after Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Farina.