AUSTIN — Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli can become the youngest Formula 1 world champion in history at the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas later this month, breaking Sebastian Vettel's long-standing record and ending Italy's 73-year wait for a champion. The 20-year-old Italian leads the standings with 340 points in just his second season in the championship.
Antonelli holds a commanding advantage over teammate George Russell with 238 points and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton with 229 points, with 150 points still available. To clinch the title at COTA, Antonelli will need to win while Russell finishes ninth or lower and Hamilton finishes fifth or lower to secure an unassailable lead. Russell is facing an engine penalty, but it is expected in Las Vegas rather than at the United States Grand Prix, making that scenario unlikely.
At 20 years and 61 days old on race day in Austin, Antonelli would beat Vettel's record by more than three years. Vettel won his first title in Abu Dhabi in 2010 at 23 years and 134 days old. Antonelli would also become the first driver born in the 2000s to win the championship; Lando Norris, the most recent champion, was born in 1999. He would become Italy's first champion since Alberto Ascari 73 years ago and only the third Italian champion after Nino Farina in 1950 and Ascari in 1952 and 1953, and the first Italian champion not driving for an Italian team.
A victory in Austin would give Antonelli nine career wins, four short of Ascari's Italian record of 13. He would not be the first to win the title in his second season, after Hamilton in 2008 and Jacques Villeneuve in 1997, while Farina did it in his first season in 1950. Antonelli has already set several marks this year, becoming the youngest polesitter in China to take Vettel's former record, the youngest championship leader at the Japanese Grand Prix at 19 years and 216 days old, and the first Italian to win at Monza in six decades.
Vettel said he would welcome seeing his record fall. “I’d be very happy for him. He’s had an incredible year, and there’s the old phrase that records are there to be broken. He still has a lot of years ahead of him to do so,” Vettel said. “I love the sport, so as a spectator, it’s very exciting. I’d wish for the others to come back and be more in the mix, but I’m sort of independent and happy for them because I know how much work there is behind it to achieve it. And whoever will win will deserve it."