Miami, Florida
For Kimi Antonelli, time is of the essence.
The Italian driver, who competes in Formula One for Mercedes – replacing no less a legend than Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows – is still just 19 years old, but he isn’t biding his time, fully aware that a title is there to be won in only his second season in the sport.
On the grid, the current leader in the 2026 drivers’ standings hasn’t hung around, with achievements stacking up as effortlessly as he maneuvers his car around the track.
In his debut season in 2025, at just 18 years and 224 days, Antonelli became the youngest driver to lead a race, and on the same day in Japan, the youngest to set the fastest ever lap (1:30.965 seconds).
He’s arguably taken it up a notch this season by becoming the youngest Grand Prix Pole Sitter (19 years, 6 months, and 17 days at the Chinese Grand Prix) and by going on to clinch victory in Shanghai that weekend, the second youngest race winner – that sound you can hear is Max Verstappen breathing easy, safe in the knowledge that he remains the youngest driver to win a race (18 years and 228 days old at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix on his debut for Red Bull Racing).
But Verstappen and the rest of the competition are currently being left behind by Antonelli, who will hope it’s business as usual when the F1 season resumes this weekend in Miami. With a nine-point lead over his Mercedes teammate George Russell, Antonelli is the youngest ever Championship leader.
“I’m a very ambitious person,” Antonelli tells CNN Sports just days ahead of competing in the Miami Grand Prix.
“The goal is to win, not only racing, but try to win the championship… this year is looking good so far, we’ve been very strong, and this weekend is going to be very important in Miami, to be back from where we left [off].”
And off the track, time is at the forefront of the young man’s mind too. Or perhaps that should be, at the forefront of the young man’s wrist. CNN Sports is catching up with the Italian in his guise as an IWC Schaffhausen ambassador, as he partakes in an event in Miami’s fashion district before his next race.
“It’s important to do these kind of activities,” he acknowledges, before impressing upon CNN Sports that “the thing I love the most is driving.”
No kidding. A highly respectable seventh-place finish in Antonelli’s rookie campaign – and, yes, the 150 points he amassed are a record in a driver’s first Championship season – will surely be improved upon in year two, with those early-season victories in Shanghai and Suzuka seeing Antonelli ascend to the top of the standings.
Even if his age precluded him from indulging in the traditional post-race celebrations of enjoying some champagne in Japan. “It was very tricky because, obviously, they had to get it ready, but yeah, it was a non-alcoholic beverage,” he admits.
Navigating champagne and non-alcoholic beverages notwithstanding, the dream of a first-ever title in just year two of his F1 career can get one step closer to fruition with a third visit to the top step of the podium in Miami on Sunday.
And returning to the theme of time, there’s plenty of it left this season, with 18 races still to go in a slightly truncated season, due to the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia being cancelled due to safety concerns and regional instability from the ongoing conflict in Iran.
“The break was not ideal,” Antonelli notes, “because we had really good momentum after Japan. But it’s really good to be back in Miami…I’m really looking forward to it.”
Antonelli appreciates the support shown to him by not only his family, which he calls his “rock,” but also someone who must come close to feeling like a family member, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
“Toto was the one who took me under his wing…I’ve grown up with him,” says Antonelli about the man who replaced the legendary Lewis Hamilton with the young Italian, after the seven-time World Champion departed for Ferrari.
An unflappable Antonelli doesn’t appear intimidated by stepping into Hamilton’s seat, but rather, “doesn’t think too much about that.”
“First of all, I don’t think I’ve replaced him, because he has rewritten the history of the sport,” Antonelli said. “So, I feel like I was just the next Mercedes driver, but I’ve been enjoying massively the journey so far with Mercedes, and last year was a really good year, in terms of learning, despite the highs and lows, but definitely the journey so far has been incredible with them.”
But away from his own sport of F1, and the success which has come quickly, even Antonelli can’t fix the issues plaguing his beloved Italian national soccer team, with the Azzurri failing to qualify for a third straight World Cup this summer in North America.
“Of course, it’s not great, because I was really hoping for Italy to be in the World Cup,” laments Antonelli. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, but I will still watch because I think it’s such a cool event.”
Antonelli’s goals, however, remain on track.
