Kimi Antonelli is on the way to a possible historic milestone in Formula 1. At 19 years old, the Italian leads the 2026 championship and could surpass Sebastian Vettel’s record as the youngest world champion in history, as well as end a 73-year drought without an Italian driver winning the title.
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After 11 rounds, Antonelli has 219 points, the result of six wins, one second place, two thirds, and a win in the Silverstone Sprint. The Mercedes driver has a 50-point lead over Lewis Hamilton and 59 over his teammate, George Russell.
If he wins the championship, Antonelli could surpass the mark set by Vettel in 2010. The German was 23 years, four months, and 11 days old when he won his first world title, and the Italian will still have the 2026 to 2029 seasons to set the new record.
Antonelli already holds some precocity records in F1, such as the youngest driver to set the fastest lap, lead a lap, and take the championship lead. A world title would expand this list and put his name back in the history books of the category.
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The achievement would also have a special meaning for Italian motorsport. The country’s drivers won three of the first four F1 championships, between 1950 and 1953. Giuseppe Farina was the first champion in history, in 1950, while Alberto Ascari won the titles in 1952 and 1953 and became the category’s first two-time champion.
Since Ascari, no Italian has won the Drivers’ World Championship again. The closest result happened in 1985, when Michele Alboreto finished as runner-up, behind Alain Prost. Drivers like Jean Alesi, Jarno Trulli, and Giancarlo Fisichella also won GPs but could not turn the results into a title fight.
Thus, besides the possibility of becoming the youngest champion in F1 history, Antonelli could end the Italian wait for a new world champion, which began after Ascari’s win in 1953.
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