Here's the thing: Kimi Antonelli is the champion of the world, and he has done it earlier than anyone else in Formula 1 history. At just 20 years and 68 days old, the Italian driver has completely rewritten the record books during only his second season in the sport, sealing the deal with a third-place finish in Mexico City.
Now confirmed as the sport's 36th World Champion, Antonelli sits at the very top of a very exclusive club. Earlier this year, still a teenager at the time, he charged to P1 on power at the Chinese Grand Prix to grab pole and his maiden win. Stepping up as Mercedes' lead driver in a brand new era of regulations, he pulled away from teammate George Russell in the standings to secure the ultimate prize.
Before this stunning breakthrough, Sebastian Vettel held the benchmark for youth. The German entered the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 15 points shy of Fernando Alonso before dramatically emerging as the youngest F1 World Champion at 23 years and 133 days old, eventually marching to four consecutive titles with Red Bull. Vettel had also previously become the youngest-ever F1 points scorer for BMW Sauber at the 2007 United States Grand Prix, followed by becoming the then-youngest polesitter and race winner at Monza in 2008.
Before Vettel, the record belonged to Lewis Hamilton. After a ferocious rookie campaign alongside Fernando Alonso at McLaren in 2007, Hamilton found himself in title contention once more in 2008, culminating in a nail-biting Brazilian Grand Prix where the British youngster passed Toyota's Timo Glock in the dying laps to take the crown at 23 years and 300 days old. (If he can clinch another title with Ferrari in 2027, he would become the third-oldest F1 champion behind Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio).
Fernando Alonso held the record even earlier, claiming his first championship in 2005 at 24 years and 57 days old. Following an impressive rookie season with Minardi in 2001, the young Spaniard found a home at Renault's works team, taking advantage of new regulations to end Ferrari star Michael Schumacher's five-year sequence of drivers' titles before backing it up in 2006 to become F1's youngest double champion at the time.
Max Verstappen rounds out the historical top five, taking his first crown at 24 years and 73 days old in 2021. Having famously become the youngest driver to ever start a Grand Prix at 17 years and 166 days, and later surpassing Vettel as F1's youngest Grand Prix winner at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen finally put an end to the Silver Arrows' dominant run by defeating Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi finale. Verstappen went on to dominate the 2022, 2023, and 2024 seasons as a four-time champion, before narrowly missing out to McLaren's Lando Norris in 2025.
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