Italy revels in 20-year-old Kimi Antonelli's Formula 1 supremacy

Key points

• Kimi Antonelli became Formula One's youngest world champion after finishing third in Mexico City.
• He is the first Italian to win the F1 title since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
• Celebrations were held in his hometown of Casalecchio, where more than 500 people gathered.

Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest world champion in Formula One history and the first Italian to take the title since Alberto Ascari in 1953. The 20-year-old secured the championship on Sunday with a third-place finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen won the race.

In Casalecchio, the Italian town near Bologna where Antonelli grew up, more than 500 people gathered at a theater on Sunday to watch him clinch the title, the town's mayor told Italian news agency ANSA. A proper welcome is planned once his racing schedule allows him to return home.

Tributes from across Italy

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called Antonelli a source of national pride, and Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner joined other sports figures in congratulating him on social media. Bologna Mayor Matteo Lepore said the city was preparing a tribute and that Antonelli would receive its Nettuno d'Oro civic honor, praising his talent and determination for bringing the world title home after 73 years.

Antonelli drives for Mercedes, not Ferrari, the brand most associated with Italian F1 racing. He shared Sunday's podium with Verstappen and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time champion he replaced at Mercedes.

Kimi is one of us

— Casalecchio Mayor Matteo Ruggeri

A personal connection at home

Casalecchio Mayor Matteo Ruggeri told ANSA that locals remember the Antonelli family's auto garage and recall seeing a younger Kimi on his way to school and playing cards with his grandfather. "Kimi is one of us," Ruggeri said.