It’s been a couple of weeks since Kimi Antonelli became the youngest World Champion in Formula 1 history, so now feels like a perfect time to reflect on exactly what his success means for both him and the sport.
We asked our writers Lawrence Barretto, Chris Medland and James Hinchcliffe to give us their thoughts on his record-breaking title…
Lawrence Barretto (F1 Correspondent & Presenter)
I first spent some proper time with Antonelli back in 2024 at Monza. It came just a day after he crashed on his FP1 debut but you wouldn’t have known it. He’d already addressed it, learned from it and compartmentalised it. Admittedly, Mercedes had also just announced he would get his F1 debut the following year with the team, but the way he was handling everything was impressive.
He needed all that mental strength in his rookie year as he encountered a rollercoaster season that yielded some brilliant highs – such as three podiums – but also some painful lows, including scoring just one point across the entire European leg that culminated in boss Toto Wolff calling his performance at his home race in Monza “underwhelming”.
Once again, Antonelli didn’t let anything get him down. His close-knit family unit and inner circle of Mercedes team members whom he had bonded with since he joined the programme provided him with the bubble he needed to avoid spiraling, reset and go again in search of the immense potential they were convinced he had.
So, when Mercedes offered him a title-contending car for 2026, a year earlier than they had planned – and after a winter where he knuckled down and learned all the harsh lessons he’d been handed in 2025 – Antonelli seized his opportunity and never looked back.
As his more experienced team mate and title favourite George Russell toiled, Antonelli excelled. It’s true that Antonelli didn’t know what he didn’t know regarding the enormity of fighting for the F1 title but all the evidence from the last two years proved he was made of special stuff – and it’s still on him to deliver.
Nine Grand Prix wins, including stunning victories in Monza and Austin, showed just how good he is in just his second season. To win a title so quickly, and take the mantle from four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel as the youngest ever champion, was remarkable. And he’s not changed one bit from the charming, funny, kind and thoughtful guy I chatted to back in 2024.
Chris Medland (Special Contributor)
I don’t mind admitting I made some pretty poor predictions ahead of the 2026 season, but I definitely didn’t feel like I was being overly harsh on Kimi expecting a season of highs and lows. I had him down for a few wins and some real flashes of brilliance, but a lack of consistency up against Russell, who I thought would win the title.
It’s easy to point to the new generation of car as levelling the playing field, and in many ways it did as Russell had three years of ground effect experience when Antonelli made his debut, but Russell had also raced the previous generation of car and had adapted well already. For Antonelli to be so much stronger than his team mate this year should not be dismissed as just down to the regulations.
The step forward has been remarkable, but I think what really stands out is the way in which Antonelli has handled pressure. It barely seemed to affect him at any stage. He maximised his race result so often, and that did not drop even as he took the title. He said he was tense in Mexico City but the only time he wasn’t on it in the race was the final lap when he had to back off due to tears.
He even erred on the more cautious side in wheel-to-wheel battles at first (think back to the Sprint in Canada) and then pushed the limits slightly more once he knew where the line was in the internal battle at Mercedes. He’s also raced others really well, too, taking a patient approach.
Antonelli was so good this year that he actually was rarely tested in terms of a high-pressure title battle or that many intense on-track fights, but the prospect of seeing him in both in future is exciting. He has so much developing still to do, and so much potential, that this genuinely feels like the beginning of a special career.
His race engineer Peter Bonnington said Antonelli can definitely match the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher given his ability. That’s huge praise, but also depends on him being given another title-contending car next year. I really hope he gets it, because the idea of him fighting Hamilton, Max Verstappen and even Lando Norris – three other champions in three different teams – in 2027 is mouthwatering.
James Hinchcliffe (IndyCar Race Winner and Analyst)
With Antonelli’s podium in Mexico City, which he shared with Verstappen and Hamilton, we saw another record fall to the Italian. One that, barring some nearly unimaginable miracle, may never be beaten. Taking the crown of youngest World Champion from Vettel by over three years is a truly monumental feat. It’s the type of statistic that usually leads a list of career accomplishments that most could only dream of.
It really does feel like just the start for Antonelli. This did not feel like a flash in the pan type of performance. This wasn’t a ‘lucky’ year where everything fell his way. Yes, his Mercedes certainly started the year as the dominant package, but it’s what he did with it that was so impressive.
Antonelli still had to beat a much more experienced team mate in Russell. He had to out-qualify, out-race and overall outperform someone who went toe-to-toe with Hamilton and came out on top. He was placed in so many situations where it took more than just raw speed to win. It took good decision making. It took exceptional race craft. It took the kind of calm under pressure that simply can’t be taught.
In the same way that when Mercedes dominated the mid-teens, or Verstappen crushed the competition in the 2023 season, you could separate the driver’s accomplishment from the superior machinery. When you did that this season, some of Antonelli’s performances were simply sublime.
And Antonelli hasn’t had the best car all season. As the competition got better – got closer – he kept his cool and kept executing at a level that you’d expect from someone far his senior in both age and experience.
When you saw Hamilton’s early performances, when you saw Verstappen’s, you thought you were watching something special. And you were right. They went on to be the two most dominant drivers of their day. You get that same feeling watching Antonelli. It made the visuals from that Mexico podium all the more prophetic.
Pull up a chair. We’re witnessing greatness.