By Tyler Cheung
At just 20 years old, Kimi Antonelli has made history as the youngest Formula 1 World Driver’s Champion ever. The Italian Mercedes driver finished third in the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday, just behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. This result earned him enough points to officially be named champion.
An iconic image emerged from the podium celebrations as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen lifted Antonelli onto their shoulders in front of thousands of fans in Mexico City. Hamilton dominated the late 2010s, while Verstappen took over the early 2020s. Now, Antonelli begins what could become a defining era of his own. Three generations of greatness coming together.
This season as a whole marked a big turn around for Antonelli, who replaced seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes seat in 2025 under enormous expectations. Mercedes, one of the bigger market Formula 1 teams, faced scrutiny for replacing Hamilton with a 19 year old rather than a more experienced driver. Early in the 2025 season these fears may have been legitimate, Antonelli got off to a poor start, with lackluster performances.
However one year later, doubts were replaced by a historic championship campaign. The 20 year old has won a total of 9 of the 19 grand prix so far, consistently outperforming his more experienced teammate George Russell. While the Mercedes car was no doubt the best performing car on the grid, both Mercedes drivers were given the same opportunity to succeed and Antonelli emerged as the driver most capable of turning that opportunity into a championship.
Mercedes was so dominant this season because they were able to build the best car with the new regulations. Introduced this year, F1 made significant changes to car dimensions, implementing a new hybrid engine with a greater emphasis on battery management and replacing DRS with active aero. Mercedes emerged as the team that best capitalized on these changes, developing what proved to be the strongest overall car. However despite Mercedes’ lead on straights, Ferrari’s car still performed the best on corners.
Nonetheless this lead is not necessarily permanent, performance gaps are often more significant in the first year of a new regulation because teams have limited time to collect data, test new designs, and make adjustments to their cars. In the coming years, teams will have more time to develop their cars and the performance gap will shrink.
With Antonelli securing the championship, the focus for the final four races of the season shifts to the battle for second. Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, George Rusell and Charles Leclerc are separated by 16 points and any of them have a good chance at getting second. Verstappen’s recent resurgence, winning three of the last four grand prix has made him the favorite to win the runner up spot.
As the 2026 Formula 1 season comes to a close, one thing is certain: Kimi Antonelli has the potential to become one of Formula 1’s defining drivers and establish himself as the sport’s next generational talent.
