Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) on the verge of the World Championship title: “That’s completely mad”

Kimi Antonelli could become the youngest world champion in 77 years of Formula 1 racing at the 2026 US Grand Prix weekend. To do so, he must win at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), whilst George Russell must finish no higher than ninth and Lewis Hamilton no higher than fifth.

Either way, Kimi will become the first Formula 1 champion born after 2000.

Antonelli will be the third Italian F1 world champion after Giuseppe Farina (1950) and Alberto Ascari (1952/1953). This would also make him the first Italian ‘campione’ in 73 years!

Verstappen in 2024, Norris in 2025, Antonelli in 2026: for the first time since Hamilton in 2008, Button in 2009 and Vettel in 2010, we would have three different champions.

Antonelli would be the fourth Mercedes champion, following Juan Manuel Fangio (1954/1955), Lewis Hamilton (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) and Nico Rosberg (2016).

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Becoming world champion in one’s second year of F1 – before Kimi, only Fangio, Jacques Villeneuve and Lewis Hamilton had managed that. The first-year champion was Giuseppe Farina, when the Formula 1 World Championship made its debut in 1950.

These are all rather impressive statistics, and sometimes it seems to me that the only person who isn’t particularly impressed is the man himself.

Kimi Antonelli tries not to let all the fuss surrounding him rattle him. His mantra has also stood the test of time for Max Verstappen over the years: try to make the best of every race, and everything else will fall into place.

In the COTA paddock, the Bolognese driver says: “When I think about what could happen here, it’s completely mad. And that’s exactly why I try not to think about it.”

“Of course, I hear all the stories about what needs to go right for me and what needs to go wrong for my rivals if I’m to become world champion here. But I’m not assuming that’s how it’s all going to turn out. I’m open to anything.”

“We had a meeting with my engineers earlier, and my race engineer Bono said – ignore all the fuss, just go out there and enjoy the race, don’t do anything differently from usual, and everything will be fine.”

“The chance to follow in Lewis Hamilton’s footsteps as world champion with Mercedes is a dream that’s now slowly becoming a reality. But I don’t want to let all that go to my head.”

“It helps in this situation that this isn’t the first time I’ve been in a title fight. However, the pressure in the decisive phase is, of course, completely different to that in other racing categories. I mean, I’m up against some of the best drivers in the world here.”