Kimi Antonelli on the verge of the World Championship title: Vettel’s record missed – when will he drive for Ferrari?

25 October 2026 at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) outside Austin, Texas: Kimi Antonelli could today become the youngest world champion in 77 years of Formula 1, aged 20 years and 61 days (the record is still held by Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 years, 4 months and 11 days old when he won in Abu Dhabi in 2010).

Kimi on Vettel’s first title: “I can’t remember it. I mean, I was four years old – I was more interested in my Hot Wheels toy cars back then!”

“As I got older, I naturally watched the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was a mad title battle involving Hamilton, Webber, Alonso and, of course, Vettel. Unbelievable – four drivers with a chance of winning the title!”

Things are simpler for Antonelli. To put it in tennis terms: the Bolognese driver has a few match points from today onwards.

Match point number 1: the US Grand Prix. For this to happen, Kimi must win today’s race, George Russell must not finish higher than ninth, and Lewis Hamilton must not finish higher than fifth.

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Austin: Das Rennen

FIA Formula One World Championship

25.10.2026 - 19:30

Antonelli’s preparations for what may be the most important race of his career: “I’ve got friends here; we played cards. Then I went to bed early.”

Kimi would be the first Formula 1 champion born after 2000.

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

Racing legend Mario Andretti, born in Montona (then in Italy, now in Croatia), says of the upcoming champion Antonelli: “I’m a huge fan. I’m really thrilled by what Kimi is showing; it’s a spectacle for anyone who loves Formula 1. Soon he’ll be the fourth Italian to win a world championship, after me, Ascari and Farina.”

Mario starts to laugh: “Well, I know, of course, that I’m not on the list of Italian world champions because I’m officially considered American, but I also feel deeply Italian, and that’s why I’m delighted that Antonelli is joining the ranks of the world champions. He’s proved that he’s got everything it takes to be great, even though he’s so young.”

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’d 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).

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.

Kimi Antonelli is already being celebrated in Italy like a rock star. There’s really only one way this could get any better: if this exceptional talent were to drive for Ferrari one day. That would be the heartfelt wish of many Tifosi.