Kimi Antonelli on the verge of the F1 World Championship title: a tequila party after nine years of hardship?

At the Mexican Grand Prix, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli is on the verge of his first world championship title. The young Italian is all but certain to win the 2026 world championship. A finish of 9th place or higher in the Mexican Grand Prix will be enough to officially crown him Formula 1 world champion.

Wolff: So much work has gone into Antonelli’s success

It’s all coming together in just his second Formula 1 season. It sounds straightforward and simple. But his team principal, Toto Wolff, emphasises: “It was a team effort. It was our junior team, led by Gwen (Lagrue, ed.), that discovered him when he was eleven years old. And the credit goes to this group, who have nurtured him over the many years. I read an interview with Piero Ferrari last week in which he said: ‘What a talent – he reminds me of Niki Lauda.’ And I think to myself: people don’t realise that this is the result of nine years’ work. Nine years of development, nine years full of sacrifices. Integrating into the team, working with the engineers, the ten million or more that were invested in developing his career, his skills and his character, together with his parents. It’s simply not the case that all this just happened by itself.’

Now Kimi Antonelli is on the verge of his historic title at just 20 years of age and in his second Formula 1 season. But along the way, there were many doubters, according to Wolff. The Austrian said: “There were plenty of people who, after nine races without any points last year, said he didn’t belong at Mercedes. People from other teams who said he didn’t even belong in Formula 1. The tears at Spa in the Parc Fermé. All of that makes it extremely satisfying now to see what he’s capable of, how he works with the team and with Bono (race engineer Peter Bonnington, ed.) and delivers results. But it wasn’t an easy journey.”

Tequila party – or a caipirinha party if need be

Antonelli has already secured the title 99.9 per cent, as Wolff says when asked. The Mercedes team principal: “He still has to finish the race in Mexico. So either it’ll be a big tequila party, or if it isn’t a tequila party, then there’ll be caipirinhas the following weekend.” Wolff is alluding to the traditional drinks of the next race venues in Mexico and Brazil.

Speaking of alcohol: had Antonelli clinched the World Championship as early as Sunday in Austin, strictly speaking he wouldn’t have been allowed to toast with an alcoholic drink in the US at all, because he is only 20 years old and the legal drinking age in the US is 21. (Antonelli did, however, treat himself to a sip from the champagne bottle on the winners’ podium.)

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The 20-year-old Italian Kimi Antonelli had the chance to secure the 2026 World Championship title at the US Grand Prix. He did everything right: victory in Texas. The title celebrations have nevertheless been postponed. Until Mexico.

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Mercedes F1 rookie in action in Mexico

Incidentally, Kimi Antonelli will be taking part in all three practice sessions in Mexico. His team-mate George Russell, on the other hand, will miss FP1, making way for reserve driver Fred Vesti, who is completing one of his rookie sessions. (Four of these are mandatory per team.)