The youngest drivers to lead the F1 world championship

Motorsport photo With his victory at the 2026 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix and his team-mate’s fourth-place finish, Mercedes ’ Kimi Antonelli became the new championship leader. In the process, he earned the record as the youngest driver ever to top the F1 championship. Antonelli’s achievement is even more remarkable when you remember he is the first driver to lead the championship at under 20 years old – and in fact the first to do so before turning 22.

Read Also: 2026 F1 Championship: Kimi Antonelli is the youngest leader Usually, drivers reach the top of the standings years later than the young Italian. Among the youngest, five drivers first led the championship at age 23, three at 24, five at 25, and seven at 26. Before Antonelli, the record was held by Lewis Hamilton , who became championship leader at the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix in just his fourth race and debut season in the category – before even winning a grand prix.

Hamilton broke a record that had stood for nearly 50 years, since McLaren founder Bruce McLaren led the 1960 F1 world championship after winning the opening race of the season in Argentina. McLaren would go on to take three more victories, but only managed to finish runner-up in the drivers’ championship. With Antonelli’s achievement, an interesting case drops off the podium of youngest leaders: Sebastian Vettel , who first led a championship on the day he won his first title, at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – the start of his run of four consecutive championships.

The youngest drivers in F1 history to lead the championship Driver Age at the time of achieving the podium Race 1 Kimi Antonelli 19 years, 7 months, and 4 days 2026 Japanese Grand Prix 2 Lewis Hamilton 22 years, 4 months, and 6 days 2007 Spanish Grand Prix 3 Bruce McLaren 22 years, 5 months, and 8 days 1960 Argentine Grand Prix 4 Sebastian Vettel 23 years, 4 months, and 11 days 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 5 Kimi Raikkonen 23 years, 5 months, and 6 days 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix 6 Robert Kubica 23 years, 6 months, and 1 day 2008 Canadian Grand Prix 7 Fernando Alonso 23 years, 7 months, and 20 days 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix 8 Max Verstappen 23 years, 7 months, and 23 days 2021 Monaco Grand Prix 9 Oscar Piastri 24 years and 14 days 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 10 Charles Leclerc 24 years, 5 months, and 4 days 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix 11 Peter Collins 24 years, 7 months, and 25 days 1956 French Grand Prix 12 Michael Schumacher 25 years, 2 months, and 24 days 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix 13 Lando Norris 25 years, 4 months, and 3 days 2025 Australian Grand Prix 14 Niki Lauda 25 years, 4 months, and 15 days 1974 French Grand Prix 15 Emerson Fittipaldi 25 years, 5 months, and 2 days 1972 Monaco Grand Prix 16 David Coulthard 25 years, 11 months, and 10 days 1997 Australian Grand Prix 17 Jacques Villeneuve 26 years and 4 days 1997 Argentine Grand Prix 18 26 years and 23 days 1986 Spanish Grand Prix 19 Stirling Moss 26 years, 8 months, and 17 days 1956 Belgian Grand Prix 20 Alain Prost 26 years, 10 months, and 30 days 1982 South African Grand Prix Interestingly, Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen first led the championship at almost exactly the same age, with just three days’ difference in favour of the Spaniard, who took the lead of the 2025 championship in the second race of that season – the year he would go on to win his first title. As for Verstappen, although he won his first race in 2016, he didn’t lead the championship until mid-2021, when he would later secure his first title. Other great champions like Michael Schumacher did not lead the championship until age 25, while rivals Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost first led it at 26 – the Brazilian two years before his first title, and the Frenchman three years before his.