Twenty years old, four races to spare: Kimi Antonelli becomes Formula 1's youngest champion

Mexico City had seen title celebrations before, but never one quite this young. Max Verstappen won the Mexican Grand Prix and Lewis Hamilton finished second — yet the podium's third step decided the championship: Andrea Kimi Antonelli, 20 years old, brought his Mercedes home third and sealed his first Formula 1 World Championship with four races still to run. At 20, he takes the youngest-champion record from Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 when he first won. He is also only the third Italian ever to win the title — and the first since Alberto Ascari in 1953, ending a 73-year wait for his country.