Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin on 25 October 2026, starting from pole [4]. Autosport counted it as his ninth Grand Prix win of 2026 [6]. The result put him at the top of the drivers' championship. The title was still open [4].

Pole, the win and the gap to the title

Antonelli sealed pole position with what Toto Wolff called "a miracle lap" [4]. In the race he finished in 1:35:16.650, with Charles Leclerc 13.078 seconds behind and Max Verstappen third [4]. Autosport put him 13 seconds clear of Leclerc at the finish [6]. The gap was not close.

The race strategy mattered. Mercedes ran one stop, while Leclerc and Hamilton ran two-stop strategies for Ferrari [4]. Antonelli's engineer told him to "go as long as we can", and he made his only stop at the end of lap 24 [4]. Hamilton finished fourth, 18.515 seconds behind the winner. He missed the podium [4].

A title win in Austin would have needed three things: victory, George Russell finishing ninth or lower, and Lewis Hamilton finishing outside the top four [4]. Russell served a five-second time penalty during his pit stop and finished eighth [4]. Hamilton's fourth place kept the fight open, so the championship was not decided that afternoon [4].

Sky Sports reported the gap after the race. Antonelli was 123 points clear of Russell and 124 clear of Hamilton, with a maximum of 125 points still available [5]. Autosport noted that he needed just two points to become the youngest ever title winner, at 20 [6]. Sky Sports also said he would clinch the title at the Mexico Grand Prix, with four rounds to spare, if he finished in the top nine [5]. Points tables change after every round, so these figures reflect race-day coverage and should be checked against the official standings.

Born in Bologna, raised on karts

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was born on 25 August 2006 in Bologna, Italy [1] [2]. Mercedes says he is more commonly known by his middle name, Kimi [2].

He began karting at seven. He raced for his father's team [3]. His first kart title came in 2015, in the Trofeo Easykart and Kart Grand Prix EasyKart 60 category [3]. His father, Marco, is a former racing driver who runs his own motorsport team, Antonelli Motorsport [3].

Into the Mercedes Junior Programme

Antonelli joined the Mercedes Junior Programme in April 2019, aged 12 [2]. Mercedes says he joined "after claiming numerous titles and wins in the junior karting categories" [3].

Single-seaters and Formula 2

His single-seater debut came in 2021, in the Italian F4 and Formula 4 UAE Championship Trophy round [3]. He won the Italian F4 title in 2022. He went on to claim the ADAC Formula 4 title too [3].

In 2024 he raced in Formula 2 with PREMA. He won the sprint race at Silverstone, then the race in Hungary two weeks later, "becoming the youngest multiple winner in series history" [3]. Mercedes' own profile lists those 2024 wins at Silverstone and Budapest [2].

Debut season in 2025

Antonelli made his debut at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, as the third-youngest driver to start an F1 race and the 13th Mercedes driver to race a Grand Prix [3]. He finished fourth there, which brought his first points [3]. He became the youngest driver in F1 history to lead a lap at the Japanese Grand Prix [3].

He finished third in Canada, which made him the third-youngest driver to stand on an F1 podium [3]. By the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he finished second, he had become the highest-scoring rookie in F1 history [3]. He chose number 12 as his race number for 2025 and beyond [3]. He finished the season seventh in the drivers' standings with 150 points and three podiums [2].

The 2026 season and the first win

Antonelli took pole for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai at 19 years, six months and 17 days old, the youngest Grand Prix polesitter in the sport's history [3]. A day later he won the race, becoming the second-youngest Grand Prix winner of all time, behind Max Verstappen [3]. He was the first Italian to win a Grand Prix since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix [3].

The Formula 1 driver profile lists him first in the championship with 365 points and nine Grand Prix wins for 2026 [1]. The Austin win was the ninth of those wins [6]. Going into the race he was already the championship leader. The title could be settled as early as the Mexico Grand Prix [4] [5].