Mercedes' Italian prodigy tore up the pre-season script to claim the 2026 crown in only his second year on the grid.
Formula One has a new king, and he is only 20. Kimi Antonelli has won the 2026 world championship with Mercedes, becoming the youngest champion in the sport's history and doing it in just his second season.
The script looked very different in the winter. Mercedes had the fastest car on the grid, and George Russell was the clear favourite to take the title. Antonelli, his teenage teammate, was seen as a huge talent who still needed polishing after a bumpy rookie year. That view barely survived the opening race. By the sixth round it had been flipped completely, and the young Italian was firmly in the title fight.
Few doubted Antonelli would be quick in a car that was the class of the field for roughly the first two-thirds of the year. What stunned the paddock was how he used it. He attacked from the start, and his racecraft and decision-making often looked like those of a veteran twice his age. Having a rocket under you is one thing, but turning it into a championship takes nerve and composure, and he showed both.
The title also ends a long wait for Italy. Antonelli is the first Italian world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953, a gap of more than seven decades. He has the record and the history, and at 20 he has plenty of seasons ahead to add to them.
