Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli leads F1 title race into Austin
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The gist
Italian Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli leads the F1 championship by 102 points into the United States Grand Prix.
A first title in Austin would make him F1's youngest-ever champion.
Background
Andrea Kimi Antonelli is a 20-year-old Italian Mercedes driver from Bologna, in his second F1 season. Mercedes trained him for years after he karted as a boy and picked him to replace Lewis Hamilton, who moved to Ferrari for 2025. After a difficult rookie year, he won five straight races early in 2026 and has led since; a title would make him F1's youngest champion and the first Italian champion since Ascari in 1953.
How it unfolded
- Aug 30, 2024Just turned 18 and without a driver's license, Antonelli drove the Mercedes W15 in Friday practice at Monza, going through the Ascari chicane 14 km/h faster than then-champion Max Verstappen on his second lap.
- 2025Antonelli had a difficult debut F1 season as George Russell's teammate at Mercedes.
- May 2026Antonelli won the Miami Grand Prix at age 19.
- Earlier this monthMercedes' new aerodynamic package had a problematic debut in Malaysia; only Antonelli ran the upgrades in Singapore while Russell reverted to the older version.
- Singapore 2026Antonelli finished third.
- Oct 19, 2026Reports emerged that Antonelli faces a civil lawsuit from former manager Giovanni Minardi over unpaid compensation from his career.
- Oct 21, 2026Mercedes confirmed both Antonelli and Russell will run the latest-specification car at the United States Grand Prix.
- Oct 22, 2026Going into Austin, Antonelli has won eight of 17 races and leads Russell by 102 points and Hamilton by 111.
- Oct 23, 2026In Friday practice at Circuit of The Americas, Antonelli was 0.042s off Charles Leclerc's benchmark in FP2, improving from P5 to P2 across the two sessions.
Who’s saying what
- Driver
- Antonelli says winning the title is something he has dreamt of since childhood, but he is taking it one race at a time and calls a title 'unlikely to happen' without something catastrophic for others.
- Team
- Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Malaysia and Singapore were difficult weekends and Austin is a chance to respond, but the priority is the weekend in front of them.
- Caution
- Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord says a Kimi win this weekend would mean the team had a really bad race, since the maths requires Russell to finish ninth or below.
- Peers
- Lewis Hamilton says Antonelli needs no advice and has done an amazing job, while Oscar Piastri, Oliver Bearman and Isack Hadjar call his year-on-year step 'quite impressive'.
Still unverified
It has not been confirmed which non-alcoholic beverage Antonelli would receive on an Austin podium, though a substitute potentially including sparkling rose water is expected. There is also doubt over whether the final two grands prix in Qatar and Abu Dhabi can go ahead because of conflicts in the Middle East, though F1 is pressing ahead with plans to stage them.