Sebastian Vettel was 23 years, four months and 11 days old when he clinched the 2010 world title in Abu Dhabi. That mark has stood for 16 years. Kimi Antonelli, still 19, will not turn 20 until 25 August. If the Mercedes driver holds his lead through the second half of 2026, he will beat Vettel’s record by close to three years.
Antonelli has 219 points from the first 11 rounds, 50 clear of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and 59 clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell, with Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris the other names still mathematically in the fight, according to Sky Sports F1. Six wins, six poles and nine podiums have taken him there. Twelve rounds remain, two of them sprint weekends, and 316 points are still in play.
Vettel’s mark within reach
The final race of 2026 is Abu Dhabi in early December. If Antonelli lifts the trophy at the end of the year, he will do so at around 20 years and three months. That is roughly three years younger than Vettel was at the same track in November 2010, and it would end a run in which no teenager has ever taken the title in F1’s 76-year history.
Vettel’s record is not the only one within reach. Motorsport.com’s audit lists two “youngest ever” marks Antonelli can still take before the season ends: Vettel’s championship record, and Max Verstappen’s youngest Grand Chelem (pole, win, fastest lap and leading every lap of a race), set at 23 years, nine months and four days at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix.
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The records already broken
Antonelli has been dismantling the sport’s teenage record book since 2025. As motorsport.com set out in its audit, five “youngest ever” marks have already fallen to him:
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Youngest polesitter: 19 years, 6 months, 18 days at the 2026 Chinese GP. Previous: Vettel, 21 years, 2 months, 11 days.
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Youngest championship leader: 19 years, 7 months, 4 days at the 2026 Japanese GP. Previous: Hamilton, 22 years, 4 months, 6 days.
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Youngest hat-trick scorer (pole, win, fastest lap): 19 years, 6 months, 18 days at the 2026 Chinese GP. Previous: Vettel, 21 years, 11 months, 18 days.
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Youngest race leader: 18 years, 7 months, 12 days at the 2025 Japanese GP. Previous: Verstappen, 18 years, 7 months, 15 days.
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Youngest fastest-lap scorer: 18 years, 7 months, 12 days at the 2025 Japanese GP. Previous: Verstappen, 19 years, 1 month, 14 days.
After his first pole in Shanghai, Antonelli told reporters it was “just the beginning.”
“I’m very happy because at the end, you know, it’s just the beginning.”
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A 73-year Italian drought
The last Italian to win the drivers’ title was Alberto Ascari, in 1952 and 1953. Giuseppe Farina had won the inaugural championship for Italy in 1950. Since Ascari’s second crown, as RacingNews365 sets out, no Italian driver has taken the drivers’ championship; Michele Alboreto’s runner-up finish in 1985 has been the closest anyone has come.
Zandvoort restarts the fight
Racing returns this weekend at Zandvoort, and it is a sprint round, the fifth of six in 2026 and the first sprint the Dutch circuit has ever hosted. It is also billed as the venue’s final F1 date under its current contract, with the race dropping off the 2027 calendar.
Sprint qualifying is on Friday at 4:30pm local time, the sprint on Saturday at 12 noon local time, grand prix qualifying at 4pm local time and the race on Sunday at 3pm local time.
Antonelli turns 20 two days after the chequered flag. He still has to seal a title no teenager has ever won, but the arithmetic and the record book are both pointing his way.
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