Last updated: October 23, 2026
Kimi Antonelli is a 20-year-old Italian Formula 1 driver for Mercedes who leads the 2026 World Drivers’ Championship and could become the youngest world champion in F1 history at the United States Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday, October 25. Picked by Mercedes as a 12-year-old karting prodigy and chosen to replace Lewis Hamilton in 2025, he has won eight Grands Prix this season and sits 102 points clear of teammate George Russell with six races left.
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Quick facts
Full name: Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Born: August 25, 2006 (age 20) in Bologna, Italy
From: Bologna; family racing business based in San Marino
Role: Formula 1 driver, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (car No. 12)
Known for: Taking Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes seat at 18; F1’s youngest-ever pole sitter and championship leader; five straight wins to start his winning career
2026 season: 8 wins, championship leader by 102 points heading into Austin
Family (public): Son of Marco Antonelli, a former touring/sports-car driver and team owner, and Veronica Pomaro; one younger sister
Contract: Retained by Mercedes for 2027
Who is Kimi Antonelli?
Andrea Kimi Antonelli grew up around a paddock. His father, Marco, raced touring cars and in the early 1990s founded Antonelli Motorsport in San Marino to help other drivers get into the sport. Marco has said he didn’t want his son to race at first. “Motorsport is a beautiful sport, but at times it can be very cruel,” Antonelli told GQ. He drove a go-kart for the first time at age five anyway, and was soon winning.
He became one of the most decorated junior drivers of his generation: back-to-back European karting titles in 2020 and 2021, Italian and German Formula 4 championships in 2022, and both the Formula Regional European and Middle East titles in 2023. Mercedes signed him to its junior program as a 12-year-old, publicly announced in 2019. A former Ferrari team principal has said Ferrari noticed him at 10 or 11 but couldn’t back a driver that young.
When Lewis Hamilton announced he was leaving Mercedes for Ferrari, team boss Toto Wolff made a bold call. Antonelli skipped Formula 3 entirely, spent one season in Formula 2 in 2024 (two wins, sixth overall), and was announced in August 2024 as Hamilton’s replacement. He made his F1 debut at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix at 18, the third-youngest starter in the sport’s history, and finished fourth in the rain.
His rookie year was uneven, with a first podium in Canada, a mid-season slump, and strong late results in Brazil and Las Vegas. He finished seventh with 150 points, the most ever scored by a driver in a first F1 season. Then F1 introduced new car and engine rules for 2026, Mercedes built the fastest car, and Antonelli outran Russell, the preseason favorite. He took his first win in China in March and won the next four races (Japan, Miami, Canada, Monaco), making him the first driver in history whose first five career wins came consecutively.
Career timeline
2019 — Mercedes announces him as a junior driver, at age 12
2020–2021 — Back-to-back senior European karting champion
2022 — Wins Italian F4 and ADAC (German) F4 titles; gold for Italy at the FIA Motorsport Games
2023 — Wins Formula Regional European and Middle East championships
2024 — Skips F3; races F2 with Prema (2 wins, 6th); named Hamilton’s Mercedes replacement (Aug. 31)
March 2025 — F1 debut in Australia at 18; finishes 4th
2025 — Finishes 7th with 150 points, a record for a debut season
March 2026 — First win and youngest pole in F1 history, Chinese Grand Prix
March–June 2026 — Five straight wins: China, Japan, Miami, Canada, Monaco
September 2026 — Wins the Italian Grand Prix at Monza from 19th on the grid
Oct. 25, 2026 — Can clinch the world title at the United States Grand Prix in Austin
Notable deals & projects
Mercedes’ succession bet: Replacing a seven-time champion with an 18-year-old who had skipped a junior series was one of the riskiest driver calls in recent F1 history. Toto Wolff, the only team principal with a significant ownership stake in his team, backed him through a rough rookie run. In 2026, it paid off.
Salary: Forbes estimated his 2025 on-track earnings at $12.5 million. Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport reported his 2026 Mercedes base salary at about €3 million, a fraction of what top rivals earn, because Mercedes extended his existing deal rather than signing a new one. If he wins the title, a big raise is widely expected.
Netflix and WhatsApp: He’s the subject of The Seat (2025), a Netflix documentary presented by WhatsApp and Mercedes that follows his promotion to F1, told partly through the team’s private messages.
Family company: In 2023 he co-founded the karting team AKM Motorsport with his father, where he works as a driver coach and chassis tester.
Brand power in Italy: Italy hasn’t had a Formula 1 world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953. His father told GQ that photos of Kimi now hang between Ferrari’s drivers in bars in Maranello, Ferrari’s hometown. “A lot of people who, before, were for Ferrari, are now for Kimi.”
Want the full story? Read our Dossier on the man who bet on him — Toto Wolff, the Most Powerful Man in Motorsport — then subscribe free.
What he’s known for
Breaking youth records: youngest pole sitter, youngest championship leader, and youngest grand chelem (pole, win, fastest lap and every lap led) in F1 history
Taking Lewis Hamilton’s seat at Mercedes at 18
A naturally aggressive, instinctive driving style that he and his coaches trace back to karting
An unusually low-key life off the track. After winning Monaco, he went to the gala dinner, then went back to his hotel to sleep, without drinking.
In the news
Oct. 23–25, 2026: Antonelli arrives at the United States Grand Prix in Austin leading the championship by 102 points. To clinch the title on Sunday, he must win the race while Russell finishes ninth or lower and Lewis Hamilton finishes fifth or lower. He told reporters it “would be a dream” but would take a “perfect weekend.” Even if he falls short in Austin, he remains the heavy favorite. At 20, he would break Sebastian Vettel’s 2010 record as F1’s youngest champion. In Friday’s second practice he was second fastest, 0.042 seconds behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Quotes
“It definitely is crazy if you think about it. But that’s why I won’t think about it.” — Kimi Antonelli, on becoming the youngest champion, in Austin (October 2026)
“Hunting, at times, feels very nice and exciting. But if you’re always chasing, it can be more stressful, especially if the chase is tough.” — Antonelli to GQ (August 2026)
“He goes into race mode, and he goes into a zone. Sometimes you talk to him on the radio, and he doesn’t even hear you.” — Toto Wolff to GQ
Controversies / criticism
Teammate tension: His wheel-to-wheel fight with Russell in the 2026 Canadian sprint, followed by angry team-radio messages, earned a public rebuke from Wolff (”We talk about this internally and not on the radio”) and a team talk on racing without colliding.
Online abuse: In late 2025 he received death threats on social media after Red Bull figures wrongly suggested he had let Lando Norris pass in Qatar. Red Bull later apologized.
Net worth & money
There is no reliably audited public net-worth figure. Forbes estimated his 2025 earnings at $12.5 million. Reported 2026 base pay of about €3 million, plus bonuses, makes him one of the lowest-paid drivers at the front of the grid. Treat celebrity net-worth sites as unverified.
FAQ
Who is Kimi Antonelli?
Kimi Antonelli is a 20-year-old Italian Formula 1 driver for Mercedes. He replaced Lewis Hamilton in 2025 and leads the 2026 championship.
How old is Kimi Antonelli?
He was born on August 25, 2006, so he is 20.
Can Kimi Antonelli win the championship in Austin?
Yes, but it’s a long shot this weekend. He has to win the United States Grand Prix on October 25, with George Russell ninth or lower and Lewis Hamilton fifth or lower. If he falls short, the fight moves on to the remaining races, where he still leads by 102 points. Whenever he clinches, he would become F1’s youngest-ever champion, breaking the record Sebastian Vettel set in 2010 at 23.
Is Kimi Antonelli named after Kimi Räikkönen?
No. Antonelli has said the name was suggested to his father by Italian racing driver Enrico Bertaggia, because his father wanted a foreign name to follow “Andrea.” It is not a tribute to the 2007 champion.
How many races has Kimi Antonelli won?
Eight Formula 1 Grands Prix, all in 2026: China, Japan, Miami, Canada, Monaco, Belgium, Italy and Spain.
Further reading
The Profile Dossier: Toto Wolff, the Most Powerful Man in Motorsport — The Profile
The Profile Dossier: Lewis Hamilton, the Driver Revolutionizing Formula 1 — The Profile
Drive to Survive director Martin Webb on his creative process — The Profile interview
Kimi Antonelli — overview biography
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