Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is an Italian racing driver born on 25 August 2006. A long-time Mercedes junior, he tore through the single-seater ladder, winning both the Italian and ADAC Formula 4 titles in 2022 and the Formula Regional European and Middle East championships in 2023, before being fast-tracked to Formula 1. In just 37 starts he has already taken seven wins, fourteen podiums and five pole positions, scoring 417 career points.

Antonelli stepped up to Mercedes in 2025 to replace the departed Lewis Hamilton, an enormous responsibility for a teenager. He handled it with maturity, taking podiums and a pole in his rookie year and finishing seventh in the championship on 150 points. In 2026 he has exploded into a title contender, reeling off victories at the front of the field.

Current season standings and results are shown in the table below.

Antonelli combines exceptional natural speed with a calm, analytical approach that belies his youth. Groomed by Mercedes from an early age, he carries the weight of being Italy's brightest F1 hope in a generation, and his rapid evolution from rookie to championship leader has marked him as a potential future world champion.