AUSTIN — Kimi Antonelli can become the youngest Formula 1 world champion in history at the United States Grand Prix later this month, breaking Sebastian Vettel's long-standing record and ending Italy's 73-year wait for a champion. The Mercedes driver, at just 20 years old and in only his second season in the championship, currently leads the standings with 340 points ahead of team-mate George Russell on 238 and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton on 229.
With 150 points still available, the battle remains technically alive, but Antonelli can secure an unassailable lead at Circuit of the Americas if results go his way. He will need to win the race, with Russell finishing ninth or lower and Hamilton finishing fifth or lower. Russell are due an engine penalty, though that is expected to fall not in Austin but likely in Las Vegas instead, making such a low finish for the Briton unlikely.
At 20 years and 61 days old on race day in Austin, Antonelli would beat Vettel's mark by more than three years. Vettel secured his first title in Abu Dhabi in 2010 at 23 years and 134 days old. Antonelli would also become the first driver born in the 2000s to win the championship, with the most recent champion Lando Norris born in 1999. A victory would take him to nine career wins, four short of Alberto Ascari's Italian record of 13.
He would also become Italy's first world champion since Ascari 73 years ago and only the third Italian to win the title, following Nino Farina in 1950 and Ascari in 1952 and 1953. He would be the first Italian champion not driving for an Italian team. He would not be the first to win the title in his second season, a feat previously achieved by Hamilton in 2008 and Jacques Villeneuve in 1997, while Farina did so in his first season in 1950. Antonelli has already rewritten the record books this year, becoming the youngest polesitter in China to take Vettel's former record, the youngest championship leader at the Japanese Grand Prix at 19 years and 216 days old, and the first Italian to win at Monza in six decades.
Vettel said he would welcome seeing his record fall: “I’d be very happy for him. He’s had an incredible year, and there’s the old phrase that records are there to be broken. He still has a lot of years ahead of him to do so.” He added: “I love the sport, so as a spectator, it’s very exciting. I’d wish for the others to come back and be more in the mix, but I’m sort of independent and happy for them because I know how much work there is behind it to achieve it. And whoever will win will deserve it.”