Kimi Antonelli is F1's youngest world champion, at 20

He did not need to win. He just needed to finish the job. With third place at the Mexico City Grand Prix on 1 November 2026, Kimi Antonelli became the 2026 Formula 1 world champion, and at 20 years old he is the youngest champion in the history of the sport.

The record nobody thought would fall this soon

The previous mark belonged to Sebastian Vettel, champion with Red Bull in 2010. Antonelli has beaten it by more than three years. In only his second Formula 1 season with Mercedes, the Italian has gone from rookie to the man every driver on the grid now has to chase.

He had already made history earlier in the year, when he became the youngest driver ever to lead the championship at the Japanese Grand Prix.

A tense afternoon in Mexico City

The maths before the race were simple: if neither Lewis Hamilton nor his Mercedes teammate George Russell won, the title was his. It still felt anything but simple.

• Hamilton started from his first pole position with Ferrari and fought for the win until the final laps, finishing second just 0.799 seconds behind the winner.
• Max Verstappen took the victory for Red Bull after soaking up that pressure.
• Charles Leclerc collected a five second penalty for a first lap move on his teammate and finished fourth.
• Russell, who started second, faded to sixth.

Antonelli kept his head, brought the car home on the podium and the title was sealed with the 19th of the season's 23 rounds.

Italy has a champion again

Italy is the home of Ferrari and Monza, yet it had to wait more than 70 years for this: the last Italian world champion was Alberto Ascari, in 1953. A 20 year old from Bologna has ended that wait.

Four more races, zero pressure

Brazil (8 November), Las Vegas (22 November), Qatar (29 November) and Abu Dhabi (6 December) are still to come, and the champion now gets to race them with nothing to lose. Every one of them is now a chance to add to his record.

The race on Instagram

A world title is exactly the kind of moment that sends a driver's audience through the roof, and motorsport is one of the fastest moving categories on Instagram. This is where the leaders stand right now:

Check the full world motorsport ranking and the Italy ranking, and come back next week: the champion's numbers are about to move.