“It’s too early to think about the title, but we’re moving in the right direction. I didn’t get the best start—that’s something I need to work on. I was lucky with the Safety Car, but after that my pace was incredible,” said Kimi Antonelli with remarkable calm, almost as if he had just finished a casual kart race rather than a pivotal Grand Prix.

And yet, history says otherwise. Not even twenty years old, Antonelli has become the youngest driver ever to lead the Formula One World Championship. For Italy, this is even more special: no Italian had won back-to-back races since Alberto Ascari in 1953. Antonelli’s rise has united fans across the country—even those loyal to Scuderia Ferrari—on the iconic Suzuka Circuit, where Ferrari once secured its first title of the Michael Schumacher era.

After a shaky start, Antonelli showed exceptional composure under pressure. His victory in Suzuka firmly places him among the sport’s elite. With two consecutive wins, the young driver from Bologna now sits at the top of the standings—and with it, he claims a remarkable record: at just 19 years, 7 months, and 4 days, he is the youngest championship leader in Formula One history. Notably, he shares the upper ranks with three world champions :

  • Kimi Räikkönen,  runner-up behind Schumacher’s Ferrari, in 2003 before eventually claiming the world title in 2007—ironically, driving for Ferrari himself.
  • Sebastian Vettel. Once the youngest race winner in F1 history (Monza 2008), Vettel needed just two years to reach the top of the championship standings. In 2010, at 23 years, 4 months, and 11 days, he seized the lead at the final race of the season with Red Bull Racing, overtaking both his teammate Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso to secure his first world title.
  • Lewis Hamilton,  the benchmark for precocity until yesterday. . Back then a rookie with McLaren, Hamilton was 22 years, 4 months, and 6 days old when a second-place finish in Spain propelled him to the top of the standings for the first time. Just a year later, he clinched his maiden world championship—beginning a legendary career that would see him win seven titles.

Now, that record belongs to Antonelli—a new star rewriting the history books and giving Formula One a thrilling glimpse of its future. To celebrate the victory, Kimi “quoted” Usain Bolt, the fastest Italian.