At daybreak on the Sunday of the United States Grand Prix, a lone sportswriter walked along pit lane at Circuit of the Americas. Above the track, the giant screen near the climb into Turn 1 lit up with a message: “Kimi Antonelli, 2026 FIA Formula 1 World Champion.”
It was only a test. The people running the screens have to prepare for every possible outcome, however unlikely. Before the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, for instance, a message had appeared congratulating Logan Sargeant on a first F1 win.
Antonelli did win in Austin, but that result wasn’t enough to secure the championship, and the screen’s prediction stayed just that. A week later in Mexico City, though, his performance made it real.
Antonelli arrived at the Mexico City Grand Prix close to clinching the title. A viral illness had kept him away from Thursday’s media day, but he qualified fourth for the race, behind Charles Leclerc in third and Mercedes teammate George Russell in second.
He took a cautious line into Turn 1, running wide before settling into fourth behind Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Up ahead, the opening lap turned messy: Ferrari’s teammates made contact, Leclerc surged into the lead, Verstappen moved into second and Hamilton was third.
Leclerc and Russell were both penalized for first-lap incidents, while Antonelli kept turning in steady laps from fourth. After the leaders made their first pit stops, he inherited the lead on Lap 28.
He stayed out on the soft tires, hoping a safety car might give him a cheaper pit stop. But he didn’t need to win to take the title; finishing in the points would be enough to put the championship beyond his rivals.
Even so, Antonelli kept pushing, showing the composure that had brought him so close to becoming the sport’s youngest champion. On Lap 42, race engineer Peter “Bono” Bonnington told him he was doing well and urged him to keep going.
Antonelli pitted on Lap 43. The stop took 4.3 seconds, a little longer than ideal, and he rejoined in fourth, about 12 seconds behind Hamilton. That position would still have been enough to clinch the championship if the race had ended there.
Then Valtteri Bottas went off the racing line and hit the barrier, bringing out the safety car. Several frontrunners, Hamilton among them, came in. A slow stop for Hamilton dropped him behind Antonelli, who moved up to third.
A red flag followed while officials attended to Bottas, who remained in his car at Turn 1. During the stoppage, race control adjusted the order, putting Hamilton back in third and Antonelli in fourth.
At the restart, Verstappen kept the lead and Hamilton charged into second. Antonelli made an impressive pass on Leclerc to take third. Now he had a chance to secure the championship and celebrate it on the podium.
There was still more drama. On Lap 59, Arvid Lindblad and Oscar Piastri collided while fighting for seventh. Lindblad’s VCARB ended up in the barrier, bringing out another safety car and bunching the field together once more.
The safety car came in on Lap 62, leaving a nine-lap sprint to the finish. Verstappen got away well, while Hamilton stayed close behind. Antonelli was tucked in behind them, with the title within reach.
Verstappen held the lead as the laps wound down, Hamilton remained second and Antonelli stayed safely in third. Behind him, Leclerc was trying to fend off Lando Norris, who was closing in on the Ferrari.
The fight between Leclerc and Norris, along with Hamilton’s pursuit of Verstappen, drew much of the attention. Antonelli was caught between those battles, quietly moving closer to the championship with every corner. When the flag fell, Verstappen won, followed by Hamilton and Antonelli.
At 19, Antonelli became one of Formula 1’s world champions, joining the small group that includes the two drivers ahead of him on the day. He was also the first Italian to win the title in 73 years. Giuseppe “Nino” Farina claimed the championship in 1950, and Alberto Ascari followed in 1953. Now Antonelli joins them.
“Thank you so much. We did it. We did it. Thank you so much,” he said over the radio, his voice breaking as he tried to hold back tears.
Before the United States Grand Prix, Antonelli had described winning the championship as a dream he’d carried since childhood. “I mean, it would be a dream. You know, it’s something I’ve dreamt of since I was little,” he said.
Now it’s happened.
