Young star takes the lead in the World Cup
The record man gives hope to an entire country
Updated March 29, 2026 – 11:01 amReading time: 4 minutes
After two race wins in a row, Kimi Antonelli takes the championship lead. A few months ago he was at a crossroads.
Now the record has fallen: For almost 20 years, Lewis Hamilton was the youngest driver in Formula 1 history to ever lead the championship standings. With his victory at the Grand Prix in Japan, Kimi Antonelli took the lead in the overall standings and replaced today’s record world champion as the record man.
At the age of 22 years and 126 days, Hamilton secured the World Championship lead in 2007, Antonelli significantly beat that at the age of 19 years and 216 days. The triumph in Japan was the Mercedes driver’s second in a row after the triumph in China two weeks ago. Antonelli is also the first Italian since Alberto Ascari in 1953 to win two Grand Prix in a row.
He makes his home country dream with his achievements. The Italian newspaper “Tuttosport” enthusiastically headlined after the China triumph: “Now the goal is: Attack on the title!”. The success in Japan is only likely to fuel the euphoria further. Suddenly Antonelli is a candidate for the title. Just a few months ago there were still big question marks surrounding his future in Formula 1.
After the victory in China, Mercedes painted a picture of a whole family. Antonelli has been in the German racing team’s junior team since 2018. Sky expert Ralf Schumacher even describes team boss Toto Wolff as Antonelli’s “foster father”. It was also Wolff who made the then 18-year-old the successor to record world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes last year – despite numerous critics who considered the step to be premature.
“I found a family there that supported me early on and gave me the best conditions to develop,” emphasized Antonelli after his debut success. But the Mercedes world wasn’t always so healthy, as “foster father” Wolff almost gave the young Antonelli up for adoption last season.
Last summer, his debut season, Antonelli’s inexperience was clearly noticeable. In the ten races between his two home races in Imola and Monza he had a pretty disastrous result. Although he achieved the first podium of his career in Canada, Antonelli failed to finish in four of these races, finishing 16th twice, 18th once and barely making it into the top ten two more times with a tenth and a ninth place. Not enough for a top team like Mercedes.
