Kimi Antonelli joins the ranks of F1’s youngest Grand Prix winners: the top 5 ever. Kimi Antonelli makes history as one of the youngest Formula 1 Grand Prix winners at just 19 years and 6 months.

Kimi Antonelli celebrated his historic victory via team radio, exclaiming, “We did it, I can’t believe it.” The young Italian driver ran to embrace his mechanics, with Lewis Hamilton waiting to congratulate him after witnessing Antonelli’s rise at Mercedes. Emotional interviews followed, with Antonelli almost speechless through tears: “Sorry, I can’t talk.” His achievement was total—a flawless race following his pole position on Saturday, catapulting him into the record books as one of the youngest winners in Formula One history. Remarkably, the last Italian to claim pole, race win, and fastest lap in F1 was Alberto Ascari in 1953, the last Italian world champion.

Kimi Antonelli makes history in China

Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s victory at the Chinese Grand Prix drew praise from Toto Wolff, who welcomed him into the elite club of young F1 winners and celebrated his performance, noting the doubts of skeptics. Wolff first backed Antonelli in 2018 after advice from Gian Carlo Minardi, who had spotted the Bologna-born talent at just ten years old. Antonelli’s Formula 1 debut was challenging, including a dramatic crash at Monza during 2024 practice sessions, but Wolff’s confidence in him never wavered: “Everyone said Kimi was too young for my Mercedes,” Wolff recalled. “Look at him now…” With the Shanghai win, Antonelli became the second-youngest winner in F1 history at 19 years and 6 months.

Following the footsteps of Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel

Only Max Verstappen has won a Grand Prix younger than Antonelli, triumphing in Spain in 2016 at 18 years old. Verstappen personally took Antonelli under his wing, defending the young driver even after a crash in Austria last year. Verstappen remarked, “He reminds me of myself—give him time, he has talent.” He was not wrong. Antonelli’s victory also pushed Sebastian Vettel down the list; Vettel had won in Monza in 2008 at 21 years and 73 days, a precursor to his four world titles.

The Ferrari connection: Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso

Charles Leclerc also joined the ranks of young Grand Prix winners, claiming his first victory at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix at 21 years and 10 months, earning the nickname “the predestined” and joining the exclusive “winners in red” club. Fernando Alonso, then driving for Renault, had won in Hungary in 2003 at 22 years and 3 months, and while once the youngest winner ever, he now ranks fifth. Antonelli’s inclusion signals a Formula One era increasingly dominated by young talent, with the Italian emerging as one of the sport’s most exciting prospects.

The youngest Grand Prix winners in Formula 1 history