Kimi
Antonelli

Kimi Antonelli was born in Bologna on 25 August 2006. His father, Marco, is a sportscar driver who runs his own racing team. Antonelli came into motorsport through karting and won the OK class European Championship in 2020 and 2021, becoming the youngest senior European champion in 2020. In 2022 he won both the Italian and ADAC Formula 4 titles with Prema and took gold for Italy at the FIA Motorsport Games. In 2023 he won the Formula Regional Middle East and Formula Regional European championships. He stepped straight up to Formula 2 in 2024 and finished sixth with two wins.

In 2024 he took part in his first Formula One free practice session at the Italian Grand Prix. For 2025 he replaced Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes alongside George Russell. On his debut in Australia he was 18, the third-youngest driver in Formula One history, and finished fourth. In Japan he became the youngest driver to lead a race and to set a fastest lap. He took his first podium with third place in Canada. Second place in the São Paulo Grand Prix followed, and another podium in Las Vegas after Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were disqualified. He started 24 races and ended the year seventh in the standings.

In 2026 Antonelli continues to drive for Mercedes alongside Russell. In China he became the youngest polesitter in Formula One history and won the race by five seconds from Russell, the first Italian winner in two decades. In Japan he became the youngest driver to lead the world championship. Wins in Miami and Canada followed. In Monaco he won from pole and became the youngest driver to score a grand chelem and the youngest winner there. At his home race, the Italian Grand Prix, he started 19th because of a grid penalty and still won. He was the first Italian to win that Grand Prix in 60 years.

Source: Wikipedia, “Kimi Antonelli”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.