Miami, Florida
For Kimi Antonelli, time is of the essence.
The Italian driver, who competes in Formula One for Mercedes – changing no much less a legend than Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows – is nonetheless simply 19 years outdated, but he isn’t biding his time, absolutely conscious that a title is there to be received in solely his second season in the sport.
On the grid, the present chief in the 2026 drivers’ standings hasn’t hung round, with achievements stacking up as effortlessly as he maneuvers his automotive round the monitor.
In his debut season in 2025, at simply 18 years and 224 days, Antonelli grew to become the youngest driver to lead a race, and on the identical day in Japan, the youngest to set the quickest ever lap (1:30.965 seconds).
He’s arguably taken it up a notch this season by changing into 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 possibly can hear is Max Verstappen respiratory simple, protected in the data that he stays the youngest driver to win a race (18 years and 228 days outdated at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix on his debut for Red Bull Racing).
But Verstappen and the remainder of the competitors are presently being left behind by Antonelli, who will hope it’s enterprise as ordinary 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 chief.
“I’m a very ambitious person,” Antonelli tells NCS Sports simply days forward 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 monitor, time is at the forefront of the younger man’s thoughts too. Or maybe that ought to be, at the forefront of the younger man’s wrist. NCS Sports is catching up with the Italian in his guise as an IWC Schaffhausen ambassador, as he partakes in an occasion in Miami’s vogue district earlier than his subsequent race.
“It’s important to do these kind of activities,” he acknowledges, earlier than impressing upon NCS Sports that “the thing I love the most is driving.”
No kidding. A extremely respectable seventh-place end in Antonelli’s rookie marketing campaign – and, sure, the 150 factors he amassed are a file in a driver’s first Championship season – will certainly be improved upon in 12 months two, with these early-season victories in Shanghai and Suzuka seeing Antonelli ascend to the high of the standings.
Even if his age precluded him from indulging in the conventional post-race celebrations of having fun with 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 drinks however, the dream of a first-ever title in simply 12 months two of his F1 profession can get one step nearer to fruition with a third go to to the high step of the podium in Miami on Sunday.
And returning to the theme of time, there’s loads of it left this season, with 18 races nonetheless to go in a barely truncated season, due to the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia being cancelled due to security issues and regional instability from the ongoing battle 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 help proven to him by not solely his household, which he calls his “rock,” but additionally somebody who should come shut to feeling like a member of the family, Mercedes group 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 changed the legendary Lewis Hamilton with the younger Italian, after the seven-time World Champion departed for Ferrari.
An unflappable Antonelli doesn’t seem intimidated by entering into Hamilton’s seat, but fairly, “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 mentioned. “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 personal sport of F1, and the success which has come rapidly, even Antonelli can’t repair the points plaguing his beloved Italian nationwide soccer group, with the Azzurri failing to qualify for a third straight World Cup this summer season 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 objectives, nonetheless, stay on monitor.