At 20, F1’s youngest-ever world champion ... Mercedes-Benz claims its ‘10th crown’

[Financial News] Andrea Kimi Antonelli of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team became the youngest world champion in Formula One (F1) history at the age of 20. He reached the top just two years after his debut, breaking a record for the youngest champion that had stood for 16 years. With a driver it developed itself, Mercedes-Benz secured its 10th championship title overall, once again demonstrating its competitiveness in motorsports.
Mercedes-Benz Korea announced on the 3rd that Antonelli, a member of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, clinched the season’s world championship by finishing third in the 19th round, the Mexico Grand Prix of the ‘2026 F1 World Championship,’ held in Mexico City on the 1st (local time).
Antonelli claimed the title at the age of 20 years and 68 days, lowering by about three years the previous youngest-champion record set by Sebastian Vettel in 2010, at 23 years and 134 days. It has been 73 years since an Italian driver last won the F1 world championship, when Alberto Ascari did so in 1953.
In his second year in F1, Antonelli recorded 17 podium finishes this season, including 9 wins. He has secured 380 points in the drivers’ championship, pulling 119 points clear of runner-up Max Verstappen, who has 261. He clinched the first world championship title of his career regardless of the results in the remaining four races.
Mercedes-Benz’s long-term talent development strategy has also paid off. Antonelli became the first graduate of the Mercedes Junior Driver Development Program to win the world championship. With this victory, Mercedes-Benz will have produced a drivers’ champion for the first time in six years, since Lewis Hamilton in 2020.
Toto Wolff, team principal of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, said, “Winning the world championship at 20 in only his second season since making his debut is an incredible achievement. We believed in Antonelli’s talent from when he was young, and were confident that difficult experiences would make him even stronger.”
Antonelli said, “We had a competitive car from the start of the season, which allowed us to put together consistent results and compete for the championship. I’m happy to repay the team, which believed in me for a long time and gave me an opportunity, with the world championship title.”
This achievement is also tied to Mercedes-Benz’s next-generation hybrid powertrain technology. The ‘Mercedes-AMG F1 W17 E PERFORMANCE,’ introduced this season, is equipped with a newly developed hybrid power unit designed to meet the 2026 F1 technical regulations. Its distinguishing feature is an integrated cooling architecture and aerodynamic design, developed to ensure thermal stability and energy efficiency even under the demanding conditions of high-intensity racing.
The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team is also leading the constructors’ championship with 630 points. It is set to challenge for the team championship title at the Brazilian Grand Prix, which begins on the 7th.
[email protected] Kim Dong-ho Reporter