Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest world champion in Formula One history, securing the title at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday at the age of 20.
Antonelli did not win the race. He crossed the line third, behind race winner Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, but the result gave him an unassailable lead in the standings over his Mercedes teammate George Russell and Hamilton — with four races still left in the season.
“We did it, we did it,” he said over team radio, his voice breaking, according to CNN’s report, which carried Associated Press copy from Mexico City.
Two records in one afternoon
The title breaks a mark that had stood for 16 years. Sebastian Vettel was previously the sport’s youngest champion, winning in 2010 at the age of 23.
Antonelli is also the first Italian to win the Formula One world championship since Alberto Ascari in 1953 — a gap of 73 years, and only the third Italian to do it.
The championship comes in just his second season in the sport. Verstappen, meanwhile, won the Mexico City Grand Prix for the sixth time.
“I would not be here, without Mercedes and my family. I am speechless just trying to process this,” Antonelli said after the race. “It has been an incredible season.”
Also reported in Sri Lanka
Hiru News carried the result on Monday morning, noting the same two records — the Vettel mark and the Ascari gap.
Not reported
Neither filing gives the final points margin, the number of wins Antonelli took across the season, or which four races remain on the calendar. The identity of the runner-up in the drivers’ standings is not stated beyond the note that Russell and Hamilton were the only drivers still mathematically in contention.