If you’ve been following the 2026 Formula 1 season at all, you know that Andrea “Kimi” Antonelli is the driver to watch. The 19-year-old Italian driver for Mercedes is having his best career season yet as he’s leading the World Drivers’ Championship—even more impressive when you remember this is his second season in F1 as a whole. We’re entering the second leg of the 2026 season with the European circuits (Monaco, Barcelona, Austria) and Antonelli is currently the youngest championship leader in F1 history.
Lee Mackenzie, a notable F1 analyst and presenter told Complex, “Many drivers arrive in F1 surrounded by hype, but few live up to it.”
If you haven’t been paying attention to Mercedes’ rising star, now is the time to start. Here’s what you should know about him:
The Anontelli Racing Gene
Like many Formula 1 drivers before him (and certainly after him), Kimi’s start in motorsport wasn’t by coincidence. His father, Marco Antonelli, is a racer himself and the owner of the San Marino-based AKM Motorsport Racing Team. The senior Antonelli also founded Antonelli Motorsport in 1992, while Kimi’s mother, Veronica Antonelli, is also an active part of AKM.
Kimi was born on August 25, 2006 in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Though his first name is legally Andrea, he goes by Kimi (no relation to Kimi Räikkönen, another famed F1 driver). He has one sibling, Maggie.
“To be honest, to be fair, initially [my father] didn't want me to race, because he knows how motorsport can be amazing, but at the same time can be brutal. He faced it himself as well, the brutal side of motorsport, and he didn't want me to get affected by it. He didn't want me to get too disappointed about difficult moments and so on, so he wanted to kind of protect me,” Antonelli told the press this year. “He saw that I really cared about it. He didn't have to push for it. It was me pushing for it."
His Promising Karting Career
Antonelli first started his driving career at the age of 7 through karting—a common, if not essential, pipeline for motorsport professionals. He was scouted by Minardi Management in 2014 and won a slew of karting championships, including 2015 Trofeo Easykart Italia, Easykart International Grand Final, and finishing in the top three for the Italian Cup and Trofeo delle Industrie.
Giovanni Minardi, who signed him, told Ravenna d Dintorni, “I immediately had the impression he had something more than anyone else: in the space of two laps, without ever having seen the track, he set a track record. He was only eight years old at the time, but he looked like he'd been racing for ages. It was a kind of love at first sight, in the sense that I immediately knew he had considerable talent."
Mercedes’ Junior Team
Antonelli was signed to the Mercedes Junior Team in 2018 at the age of 11; other notable graduates from the program include George Russell and Esteban Ocon.
While driving under the Mercedes training program, he dominated multiple categories, winning the WSK Champions Cup, South Garda Winter Cup, and ROK Cup International Final. He won the European Championship in his senior year of the program at the age of 14 years old and was named FIA Karting Rookie of the Year. Unsurprisingly, Antonelli quickly rose through the ranks of karting before graduating to the Formula Feeder Series.
There's a Formula 4?
And Formula 2 and 3, also known as the feeder series (development programs in the ladder to reach Formula 1). Antonelli debuted in Formula 4 at the age of 15, driving for Prema, with the support of the Mercedes machine behind him. In 2022, he took the Italian F4 title with 13 wins out of 20 races and the German ADAC F4 title with 9 wins out of 15 races (and becoming the first Italian to win it at Nürburgring, all at the age of 16).
After his sweep in the Formula Regional Middle East series and Formula Regional European Championship, Mercedes made the executive decision to promote him directly to Formula 2. Notably, it is not unheard of for drivers of extraordinary talent to skip a feeder series (Max Verstappen famously went straight from F3 into Formula 1).
Admittedly, Antonelli did struggle in his F2 season. The young Italian had highs (he won in Silverstone and Hungary, where he was briefly the youngest multiple race winner in F2) and lows (his performance in Sakhir and Imola were called “underwhelming” and caused skeptics to question his talent). But nonetheless, it was enough for Mercedes’ Team Principal Toto Wolfe to officially sign him as a driver for the 2025 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team, who told Formula 1.com, “Kimi will be the real deal.”
Rookie Season in F1
Antonelli had big shoes to fill as he replaced Sir Lewis Hamilton (who had made the switch to Ferrari that year) on a one-year contract in 2025. His signing was somewhat historic as he became the first Italian driver to compete in F1 since 2021 and the third youngest driver in Formula 1 at 18 years old. His debut race at the Australian Grand Prix made him the second youngest points scorer in Formula 1 history.
Mercedes’ bet on Antonelli paid off when he took pole position in qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix, making him the youngest driver in F1 to start any race from first place. He got his first podium in Canada (third place) and finished second in Brazil.
He also had some not so amazing moments as a rookie, including attempting and failing to overtake Charles Leclerc at the Dutch Grand Prix, causing them both to DNF. A similar incident happened in Austria, where he collided with Verstappen and caused both of them to retire early. This would come back to haunt him at the end of the season when the Red Bull driver fell short of winning the championship by just 2 points, though the Dutch supporter has been one of Antonelli’s most ardent defenders.
His worst moment was inarguably at the Qatar Grand Prix, at the height of the Verstappen comeback, when he made a move that was interpreted as letting Lando Norris through. Given how close the championship was, Antonelli was subjected to massive hate online, which prompted him to black out his social media for a week.
“Kimi had a really tough spell last year, but he picked himself up, focused on what he needed to do, and delivered,” Mackenzie said about his debut season. “And we shouldn’t underestimate the guidance and support provided by Toto Wolff. Antonelli has two father figures: his own father and his team boss, both hugely experienced in motorsport.”
All in all, Antonelli had an above average rookie season, earning him another year at Mercedes. The Austrian Team Principal is famously tight-lipped about contracts, but Antonelli confirmed that he’ll be with Mercedes for the long-haul… if he keeps it up.
"I race year by year, and the goal is always to deliver the best result possible,” he told GPblog. The team obviously wants to work with me also in the future, not only next year, but I need to perform as well.”
The Youngest Championship Leader
The 2026 Formula 1 season will almost definitely conclude with a Mercedes driver as the World Driver’s Champion—though before the season started, that was largely expected to be the senior driver on the team, George Russell.
With the exception of the first race of the season (the Australian Grand Prix), the young Italian has won four straight races: China, Japan, Miami, and Canada. He is currently leading the drivers’ championship with 131 points, which is 40 points ahead of Russell in second place.
Kimi has surpassed expectations this year. “While I expected him to come of age, I didn’t think he would be beating his far more experienced team-mate, George Russell,” Mackenzie said. “It’s one thing to inherit a race win, as he did in Canada when Russell’s engine failed, but that hasn’t been the norm. He has been blisteringly quick over a single lap, taking pole positions and controlling races on his way to victory. He’s not Russell’s wingman; he’s his nemesis.”
His pole and victory at the Chinese Grand Prix made him the youngest pole sitter in the sports’ history and the second youngest race winner after Verstappen in his Red Bull debut. After he clinched the Japanese Grand Prix, he became the youngest championship leader in F1. Afterwards, Wolfe told Sky Sports, “Many said the kid was too young, that he was too young to be in a Mercedes, that we should have prepared him otherwise. And the kid did well today—the youngest pole-sitter in history."
There's still a long way to go—and both Mercedes drivers have the same rocketship—but Antonelli’s definitely having a remarkable start to the season.
“He will be a world champion,” added Mackenzie. “If it’s not this year, it will be another.”
