Kimi Antonelli, who turned 20 in August 2026, has become the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history after dominating his second season with Mercedes. The Italian driver's journey began in his father Marco's garage, where he was exposed to racing from infancy.
Marco Antonelli, a former touring car driver, first recognized his son's exceptional talent when Kimi was 10, controlling a Lamborghini at 320 km/h during a test at Adria circuit. "He controlled the oversteer perfectly," Marco recalled. By age 11, Antonelli had attracted Mercedes' attention, joining their driver academy under Gwen Lagrue.
Antonelli swept through junior categories, winning Italian Formula 4 in 2022 and Formula Regional European Championship in 2023. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff identified him as a potential successor to Lewis Hamilton, accelerating his F1 debut for 2025 after Hamilton's move to Ferrari.
His rookie season was marked by brilliance and struggle. A spectacular crash on his practice debut at Monza in 2024 created pressure, and a mid-season car update shook his confidence. Wolff admitted a "spell of nine races that was really not good," but maintained belief in Antonelli.
The turning point came after the European leg of the 2025 season. Antonelli won six of the first 11 races, took six poles, and built a 50-point championship lead. He overcame a 19th-place start to win the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, exorcising his earlier crash. "We overachieved," Marco Antonelli said of the original two-year development plan.
Max Verstappen, the only other teenager to win an F1 race, said there was "never any doubt" Antonelli would make the jump. Antonelli credits his father as his "rock" and sought advice from tennis legend Roger Federer on managing pressure: "Focus on one race at a time, just focus on what you can control."
Wolff praised Antonelli's maturity: "He's so clear in what he needs to do in a car. I don't see lots of emotion. I see full focus, full concentration." The championship victory caps a remarkable rise for the driver his father says was "born in a garage."
