How Antonelli could win F1 world title as soon as the next race
Kimi Antonelli could become Formula 1's youngest world champion as early as the next race - the United States Grand Prix - on October 25.
He only has an outside chance, but Kimi Antonelli will have a first opportunity to make F1 history and become 2026's world champion as soon as the next race; watch the United States Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 on October 23-25
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Kimi Antonelli could become Formula 1's youngest world champion as early as the next race - the United States Grand Prix - on October 25.
Mercedes' Antonelli increased his lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship to a season-high 102 points with a third-place finish in the Singapore Grand Prix.
George Russell remains second in the standings but a ninth-place finish after engine penalties had left him starting at the back of the grid dropped him beyond a century of points behind his team-mate for the first time, while Lewis Hamilton's late slide off the podium leaves the Ferrari driver 111 points off the pace in third place.
With such a large lead and with a scheduled six races left in the 2026 season, the world title now looks a formality for the 20-year-old Italian in just his second year of F1 to usurp Sebastian Vettel as the sport's youngest title winner.
A first chance - albeit an outside one - to clinch the crown will arrive as soon as the next race at Austin's Circuit of the Americas, live on Sky Sports F1 …
There will be five scheduled races left - Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi - after the United States Grand Prix takes place on Sunday October 25 and a maximum of 125 points left to play for.
To win the title in Austin, Antonelli needs to increase his championship lead by 23 points. For that to happen he must win the grand prix AND then hope both Russell and Hamilton do not score sufficient points to stay within 124 points of him going to Mexico.
The permutations for Antonelli to become champion in Austin are:
Were Antonelli to win the race and Russell finish ninth, Antonelli would hold a 125-point lead over his team-mate with exactly 125 points left to play for. But that would still be enough for Antonelli to become champion, provided Hamilton was also still outside the top four in the race.
That is because victory in Austin would be the the Italian's ninth of the year and with Russell on three wins the Briton would only be able to get to a maximum of eight in the five races left. Antonelli would therefore be guaranteed the title on results countback, with race wins the first tiebreaker in event of an end-of-season points tie.
Max Verstappen (119 points back), Charles Leclerc (125 points back) and Lando Norris (139 points back) all remain in mathematical title contention too after Singapore but would all be automatically knocked out by an Antonelli win in Austin wherever they finished that race.
Antonelli is now within touching distance of an incredible historic achievement but stressed after Singapore that he cannot afford to let that fact distract him from his performance in Austin.
"I know it's very close, I know it's there, but I just need to make sure that I keep doing the best I can," he said.
"You know, the mindset is always the same, to go out there and win and perform the best way I can. I think this weekend [in Singapore] I haven't particularly driven that well. I felt like I could have done a better job, but I feel confident that, you know, a week to reset and I'm really looking forward to being back in Austin.
"But, at the end of the day, if I don't do my job well, then the result won't come. So in order to achieve what I want, I need to perform, as simple as that."
Formula 1 next heads to The Americas for another triple header with the United States Grand Prix in Austin up first on October 23-25, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
