Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is one of those drivers whose rise to the pinnacle of motorsport has been exceptionally rapid. The Italian grew up around motor racing, made his mark in karting as a child and became a Formula 1 Grand Prix winner before his 20th birthday. His career has been closely linked to Mercedes, which recognised his talent during his karting years and guided him through the junior categories to its works F1 team.

Motorsport in the family

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was born on 25 August 2006 in Bologna. Although he is known in motorsport simply as Kimi Antonelli, Kimi is actually his middle name and was not chosen as a tribute to Formula 1 world champion Kimi Räikkönen.

Racing was part of his life almost from the outset. His father, Marco Antonelli, raced himself before turning his attention to running his own racing team. Kimi therefore grew up around circuits, racing cars and paddocks. He later recalled that it was his father who instilled his passion for motorsport. He accompanied him to races as a small child and was regularly watching Formula 1 by the age of around five or six.

He first sat in a kart before he was even big enough to reach the pedals himself. He began driving on his own at around five, and by the age of seven karting was already an important part of his life.

His first significant successes came very early. In 2015, he won titles in the Easykart series and gradually began to make his mark internationally too.

One of European karting's brightest talents

Antonelli's results did not escape Mercedes' attention. In April 2019, aged just 12, he joined the German manufacturer's junior programme. Mercedes therefore began monitoring and supporting his development long before he moved into single-seaters.

The 2019 season alone showed why he had attracted such interest. Antonelli won the WSK Euro Series and WSK Super Master Series titles in the OK Junior category, while also finishing runner-up in the FIA Karting European Championship.

He continued winning after stepping up to the senior OK category. In 2020, he won the FIA Karting European Championship and successfully defended the title in 2021. Back-to-back European crowns in one of karting's most prestigious categories firmly established him as one of the outstanding talents of his generation.

By then, it was clear that a move into single-seaters would be the next step.

First steps in Formula 4

Antonelli moved into car racing in 2021. He contested nine races in the Italian Formula 4 Championship with PREMA Racing and, despite his limited experience, claimed three podium finishes.

His first single-seater victory came at a Formula 4 event in Abu Dhabi in early 2022. The season that followed marked one of the first truly dominant spells of his career.

With PREMA Racing, he contested the Italian F4 and German ADAC Formula 4 titles in parallel. He became champion in both, recording 22 victories, 21 pole positions and 27 podium finishes across the two championships.

The results confirmed that his karting success had been no fluke. Antonelli quickly mastered driving a single-seater, working with aerodynamics and the more demanding task of tyre management, establishing himself as one of European Formula 4's standout drivers in just one full season.

Two Formula Regional titles

Another step up the ladder followed in 2023. Antonelli moved into Formula Regional and once again began winning almost immediately.

He started the season in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship, winning the title at his first attempt. He then contested the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, one of the main European categories bridging the gap between Formula 4 and Formula 3.

There, too, he became champion at the first attempt. He won five races during the season and secured the title before the final round.

In the space of two years, Antonelli had therefore won four major single-seater titles: Italian F4, ADAC F4, Formula Regional Middle East and the Formula Regional European Championship.

Mercedes consequently made an unusual decision ahead of the 2024 season.

Skipping Formula 3 and going straight to F2

The traditional route after Formula Regional is Formula 3. Antonelli, however, bypassed it entirely. Mercedes and those around him decided that the right next challenge would be a direct move to Formula 2, the final rung on the junior ladder before Formula 1.

He therefore joined PREMA Racing in F2 for 2024. It was a particularly big leap. Antonelli had to adapt to a considerably more powerful car, more demanding tyre management and a field featuring rivals with significantly more experience.

He did not dominate the start of the season as he had in previous categories. Matters were further complicated by the new Formula 2 car, which all the teams were learning to work with. Gradually, however, Antonelli began to show the speed that had prompted Mercedes to fast-track him through the junior ranks.

His first F2 victory came in a wet sprint race at Silverstone. Two weeks later, he added a feature race win at the Hungaroring, becoming the youngest multiple race winner of the modern Formula 2 era.

He ended his only season in the championship sixth in the standings.

By then, however, his future was already pointing towards an even bigger stage.

Mercedes prepared him for Formula 1

Alongside his Formula 2 campaign, Antonelli began a more intensive testing programme in older Mercedes F1 cars. His first major private test took place in spring 2024, and he gradually built up the mileage needed to adapt to the performance and complexity of a Formula 1 car.

The chance of a race seat opened up unexpectedly early. Lewis Hamilton announced that he would leave Mercedes for Ferrari after the 2024 season, creating a vacancy in one of Formula 1's most coveted seats.

Mercedes ultimately decided against recruiting an experienced driver from elsewhere. Instead, it put its faith in its own protégé.

Before his contract was officially confirmed, Antonelli took part in first practice for the 2024 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. His debut ended early with a crash at Parabolica. The incident, however, did not alter the team's long-term plans.

That same weekend, Mercedes announced that Antonelli would become George Russell's team-mate from the 2025 season. He was therefore making the step up to Formula 1 shortly after his 18th birthday, going straight into one of the most successful teams in the championship's modern history.

Formula 1 debut

He contested his first Grand Prix in Australia in 2025. He finished fourth, becoming one of the youngest points scorers in Formula 1 history on his debut.

The opening months demonstrated his speed, but also the difficulty of moving straight from the junior categories into a leading F1 team.

In Japan, he became the youngest driver to lead a lap in a Formula 1 race and the youngest to set a fastest lap. He then topped sprint qualifying in Miami, becoming the youngest driver in history to take pole position in any competitive F1 qualifying session.

Another milestone came in Canada. Third place brought his first podium, making him the third-youngest driver in history to finish in the top three in a Grand Prix. He was also the first Italian on an F1 podium since Jarno Trulli in 2009.

His rookie season was not simply a succession of records, however. The European leg brought several difficult weekends, crashes and retirements. Antonelli later openly acknowledged how keenly he had felt the pressure and expectations during this period. The experience also forced him to change the way he dealt with pressure.

The end of the season showed his steady progress. He finished second in Brazil and added another podium in Las Vegas. He ended his first Formula 1 season seventh in the championship with 150 points and three podium finishes.

From a first podium to a first victory

After his rookie year, Antonelli headed into the following season as more than just a promising youngster. He had a full F1 campaign behind him and experience of life within the Mercedes works team.

Another major milestone came in 2026. At the Chinese Grand Prix, he claimed his first pole position for a full-length F1 race, becoming the youngest driver in history to start a Grand Prix from pole. A day later, he converted that pole position into his first Formula 1 victory. At 19, he became the second-youngest Grand Prix winner in the championship's history.

His Chinese victory was no one-off. Antonelli established himself as a regular contender for the leading positions in the new season.

A particularly symbolic moment came at Monza. At the circuit where his first official F1 practice session had ended in a crash two years earlier, he won the 2026 Italian Grand Prix despite starting 19th. He became the first Italian driver in 60 years to win his home Grand Prix at Monza.

That victory brought together two very different chapters of his career: a young driver's nervous debut in a Formula 1 car and his return to the same circuit as a Grand Prix winner.

Kimi away from the racing car

Antonelli's teenage years were heavily shaped by the speed of his rise through the motorsport ranks. Alongside his professional racing career, he continued his studies and was still trying to complete his school commitments during his first Formula 1 season.

He named English and physical education as his favourite subjects, while openly identifying mathematics as one of those he found more difficult.

Away from the circuits, he spends most of his time with family and friends. He describes himself as a calm person who enjoys time alone but also likes shared activities. Even outside motorsport, however, he remains fiercely competitive, citing bowling and paintball as examples of activities in which he takes the result just as seriously as in other competitions.

He is interested in car design and architecture. When asked which other job he would like to try for a day, he mentioned designing a car or his own house. His other interests include music and NBA basketball.

Despite his rapid rise, he repeatedly returns in public appearances to the principles he considers important: staying humble, being able to assess his own mistakes critically, believing in himself and surrounding himself with people he trusts.

An exceptionally rapid rise to the top

Kimi Antonelli's career path differs in many ways from the conventional progression of young drivers.

In just a few years, he went from European karting champion to Formula 2 via double title successes in both Formula 4 and Formula Regional. He skipped Formula 3 entirely, spent just one season in F2 and then secured a seat directly with the Mercedes works Formula 1 team.

That progress was underpinned by results, but also by the long-term faith of Mercedes, which brought him into its junior programme at the age of just 12.

From his first solo laps in a small kart in Forlì to victories in Formula 1, Antonelli has followed one of the fastest paths to the top among the current generation of drivers.

His career is still in its early stages. Yet his karting titles, success in Formula 4 and Formula Regional, unusual leap straight into F2, promotion to Mercedes and first Grand Prix victories have already built a record of achievement far beyond his years.