🇮🇹 Italian · Mercedes
Kimi Antonelli
Italian talent who became the highest-scoring rookie in F1 history in 2025. Now in his second season at Mercedes, he has led the 2026 championship with a run of wins that made him one of the sport's youngest title contenders.
12The story
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, born in Bologna in 2006, is the brightest graduate of the Mercedes junior programme in years. He swept through the karting ranks and junior formulae at pace, and was fast-tracked into Formula 1 with Mercedes for 2025 as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement — one of the youngest drivers ever to start a Grand Prix.
After a learning rookie campaign, Antonelli has exploded into 2026, leading the world championship in the early rounds with a run of wins and pole positions that has made the young Italian the sensation of the season.
He partners the experienced George Russell at Mercedes, the cornerstone of the team’s plans for the new regulation era.
- 2025 – presentMercedesPromoted straight into the works team as a teenager; an early championship leader in 2026.