Boy wonder

How far up your particular career ladder had you got by the age of 20? Still at uni? The office junior? Still wondering which direction to take? That’s most people. But then most people aren’t Kimi Antonelli who, by keeping a very old head on his very young shoulders and finishing third in a chaotic Mexican Grand Prix yesterday, reached the top rung of his particular ladder by becoming the Formula 1 World Drivers Champion at the age of 20 years and 68 days.

To put this in perspective, that is over three years younger than was the next youngest champion, Sebastian Vettel when he won his first title aged 23 years and 134 days in 2010. It took Seb 62 races across four seasons to get there. Kimi? Just 43 and two. By any measure it is one of the most extraordinary achievements in the history of racing at the top level.

When the 2026 season was getting going back in March, most of us in the paddock tipped George Russell to be the title favourite. Mercedes looked strong in pre-season testing, George was probably the second best driver of 2025 and seemed to be in top form. The season started off well enough with victory in Melbourne but as soon as the very next race in China, Antonelli started to show that he’d made a big step forward over the winter.