Kimi Antonelli is currently leading the Formula 1 drivers championship!
The 20-year-old Italian Mercedes driver has won eight races in 2026 and has appeared on the podium in second or third on six other occasions.
Leading up to the 2026 MSC Cruises United States Grand Prix, the young driver leads the drivers’ standings by 102 points with 340. His teammate, George Russell is in second with 238, while Lewis Hamilton narrowly trails with 229.
Before the US GP, there are six drivers who are mathematically still in contention to win the title – Kimi, George, Lewis, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris – with six races remaining on the calendar.
However, Kimi could win it in Austin this weekend.
How Kimi Antonelli could win F1 championship in Austin
In order for Kimi Antonelli to win the driver’s title in Austin at the United States Grand Prix, there would have to be a very specific finish order between the top three drivers in the championship.
Kimi, who is starting from pole position, would have to finish the race in first place. Then, Lewis Hamilton would have to end the race in fifth place or lower, and George Russell in ninth place or lower.
The Italian only needs to score 23 more points than George, 14 more than Lewis, and six more than Max in order to claim the title THIS weekend.
However, if the drivers don’t finish in that specific order, the championship race will continue through to the next round(s) until Kimi‘s gap is too big to catch up. Mexico is coming up next weekend, followed by Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
After clinching pole position, Kimi says he is “very happy” with his position.
“It was a good Qualifying. Having a clean run helped to build momentum. We didn’t do mistakes and I’m very happy with that,” he said, via Formula1.com.
“I felt good in the car, especially in Q3. It was tricky with the wind because the balance was changing quite a lot from corner to corner, but that last lap was looking good,” Kimi continued. “I pushed a little bit more and just lost it which was a shame, but still very happy with the result and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Starting closely behind Kimi will be Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in P2 and Isack Hadjar in P3, but the young driver is hopeful for a good start.
“We’ll try to win,” he said after qualifying. “Hopefully we’ll get off the line well and then hopefully we can set the pace and win the race, but it’s not going to be easy.
“Red Bull and Max have been very strong, and also Isack has been up there in Qualifying. It’s not going to be easy out there but we’re ready to do our best.”
Some of Kimi‘s race win highlights this year include Miami, Monaco, and his home race, the Pirelli Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
If/when he wins the championship, he will become the youngest person ever to win the Formula 1 drivers’ championship! Sebastian Vettel is currently the youngest F1 championship winner when he secured the title at 23 years and 134 days old in 2010, just beating Lewis Hamilton‘s record at 23 years and 300 days old two years earlier.
Kimi has already made history this year by being the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history at the Chinese Grand Prix, and the first Italian to win at Monza since 1966.
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