It was a mesmeric season by Kimi Antonelli as he was crowned the youngest Formula 1 World Champion in history in Mexico. That crowning achievement also made him the second driver to graduate from FIA Formula 2 to achieve a title at the pinnacle of the sport, following on from Lando Norris in 2025. Looking back at his single campaign in the feeder category, the journey offered vital lessons in speed and adaptability.
"F2 was an extremely helpful year because, first of all, it was the last step before F1 and it was really good to be racing on the F1 weekends, getting used to different formats. So, I think, overall, F2 really helped me in terms of preparation and it was a really helpful year," Antonelli said.
The championship presented unique hurdles, primarily the scarcity of practice time. For Antonelli, this constraint became the ultimate teacher in finding the limit immediately without the luxury of endless laps.
"The difficult thing about F2 is that you don't have a lot of track time. So what it really taught me is trying to find the limit very early on because with such a little track time you need to keep pushing, trying to maximise every session. That's the main thing," he explained.
Amidst the challenges, high points emerged on the calendar. The victories at Silverstone and Budapest stand out as the most special moments of the year, particularly because they arrived after a difficult period. Working together, Antonelli and his crew managed to improve from the start of the year to then achieve those wins.
Off the track, consistency defined his journey as he stayed with PREMA from the start to the end. Continuing that path from F4 to F2 created fond memories away from the circuit, spending time with engineers and doing fun activities that made him feel at home.
Seeing the pipeline work so effectively brings satisfaction, with multiple drivers graduating into Formula 1. Antonelli noted that it is good for the sport and great for upcoming drivers, expressing happiness at sharing the track with fellow graduates in F1.
For those currently racing in the category, the advice is simple and hard-earned: it is an extremely competitive championship where the level is very high and difficulties arise, but the only thing to do is always keep pushing and always try to maximise every session.
F2
