▲ Kimi Antonelli celebrates winning the F1 World Championship.
Twenty-year-old rising star Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) has become the youngest drivers' champion in Formula One history.
Antonelli crossed the finish line in third place at the final of the 19th round of the 2026 F1 World Championship, the Mexico Grand Prix (GP), held today (local time) at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (4.304 km, 71 laps) in Mexico City, Mexico.
Having secured 15 points, Antonelli brought his season drivers' standings points to 380, sealing his first-ever drivers' championship regardless of the results of the remaining four events.
Born on August 25, 2006, Antonelli claimed the top spot at 20 years and 68 days old, breaking the previous record for the youngest drivers' champion set by Sebastian Vettel (Germany) in 2010 at 23 years and 134 days old.
In addition, this marks the first time an Italian driver has won the season championship in 73 years, following Alberto Ascari in 1953.
Antonelli has become Italy's third drivers' champion, following inaugural champion Giuseppe Farina in 1950 and Ascari, who won back-to-back titles in 1952 and 1953.
Having debuted on the F1 stage with Mercedes to fill the vacancy left by Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain), who moved to Ferrari last year, Antonelli captured the championship throne in just his second season.
After showing some inconsistency in his debut season, Antonelli secured his first career win at the Chinese GP in March this year, followed by a victory at the Japanese GP, propelling him to the top of the drivers' standings.
He then solidified his dominance by going on a five-race winning streak starting from the Chinese GP through the Monaco GP.
After the race, Antonelli said, "I wouldn't be here without Mercedes and my family," adding, "It has been a truly amazing season."
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won the 19th round of the Mexico GP.
Verstappen finished with a time of 2 hours, 20 minutes, 28.772 seconds, edging out second-place Hamilton (2 hours, 20 minutes, 29.571 seconds) by 0.799 seconds to claim his third win of the season and his sixth career Mexico GP victory.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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