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The 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix will go down in history, because it's where 20-year-old Kimi Antonelli became the youngest Formula 1 world champion ever.
He did so with a third-place finish, which was enough to finish a title fight that was never really a title fight, such was his dominance over the course of the 2026 season, just his second on the grid.
Does that mean that he's the best driver in Formula 1? Is he the best that an F1 driver has ever been at such an early stage of their career? Let's take a look...
Has the beating of Russell
The fairest and most accurate point of comparison for a driver is the only competitor driving the same car as them, their teammate, and Antonelli has gotten the better of his. Granted, George Russell has had far more bad luck than Antonelli, suffering numerous mechanical problems, but that doesn't change the fact that the Italian has been the stronger driver.
Neither driver encountered much misfortune in qualifying, and Antonelli leads that head-to-head 13-12 if you include sprint qualifying and 11-8 if you just factor in the Saturday sessions. While those are tight margins, it's still an incredibly impressive record for the new world champion, because Russell has been one of the best qualifiers in F1 for years now, someone who got the better of all-time great Lewis Hamilton in that department more often than not when they were teammates.
Even more impressive on Antonelli's part is how the two have compared on Sundays. Of the 17 full races that they've both finished, the 20-year-old has beaten the Brit in 12 of them, and while that H2H record is slightly skewed by bad luck for Russell, the Italian has made considerably fewer errors than the other Mercedes driver and has had stronger race pace at the majority of rounds, sometimes by a pretty big margin.
He's simply been the much better driver over the course of the year, against someone who many - myself included - considered the second-best on the grid after Verstappen heading into 2026.
Which begs the question: Has Antonelli now taken that position in F1's hierarchy? Or, better yet, has he joined the Dutchman at the very top?
Ready to beat the very best?
The short answer: No. The slightly longer answer: Not yet, but that could change next season.
Right now, I'd put Antonelli behind Verstappen, alongside Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, and above the rest of the grid. However, I think there's a chance that, if I put together a pecking order again a few months into 2027, I'll have the Italian alongside the Dutchman at the top of the pile.
My reasoning for that is that he's operating at a completely different level now than he was in 2025, and a similarly large jump in 2027 would see him leave everyone bar Verstappen in his wake among the elite, given they've all been in F1 for a long time now and are probably at the peak of their powers, or slightly past that peak in the case of Hamilton. And considering he's only 20 years old and two seasons into his career, there's no reason to rule out such a jump.
While I feel fairly confident that he'll evolve into a superior driver to those he's currently performing at a similar level to though, whether he can evolve enough to reach Verstappen's level is another matter.
The 29-year-old looked slightly less formidable earlier this season, when he was unhappy with the new regulations and unsure about his future, but he's since banished those doubts by signing a new Red Bull contract, has been given improved machinery, and has been back to his frightening best, winning three of the last four races in a fairly even car to Antonelli.
That being said, the Italian pushed the four-time world champion all the way to the finish line in Malaysia, and out-drove him throughout the weekend in Austin.
I don't think he'll be ready to get the better of Verstappen over the course of the season if they have evenly-matched cars next year, but for the first time since it featured prime Hamilton, I think the grid does now have someone good enough to really cause the Dutchman problems without needing superior machinery, and that's a thrilling thought.
On track for greatness
And beyond next year? Will he go on to become one of the best ever? To answer that, the most useful exercise is to compare him with F1's modern greats - those who came through and competed in a relatively similar environment - at similar stages of their careers.
Over the past 20 years of F1, it's fair to say there have been four drivers who have stood above the rest and distinguished themselves as all-time greats: Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. And comparing his performances to theirs during their first years in top F1 cars, Antonelli more than holds his own.
Winning the first title fight they contested, as Antonelli has, is something that only Alonso (2005) and Verstappen (2021) managed, with Hamilton and Vettel falling just short in 2007 and 2009 respectively.
You could also make quite a strong case for Antonelli's first title-winning season being stronger than Verstappen's in 2021, consisting of far fewer errors.
That being said, it should be noted that the other four were all up against genuinely elite teammates, rivals from other teams who had equally matched cars, or both, while Antonelli has had neither.
In the cases of Alonso, Vettel and Verstappen, their maiden title triumphs also immediately proved their greatness as they got the better of F1 legends, with Alonso beating Schumacher, Vettel beating Hamilton and Alonso, and Verstappen beating Hamilton.
Considering the above, it's too soon to confidently say that Antonelli will join them in climbing the record books with numerous wins and titles.
You can only beat what's in front of you, though, and he couldn't have done so more impressively this year. Looking back on his maiden title triumph, there's reason to believe that he can't become one of the best ever.
Finley Crebolder has been a news editor for Flashscore since 2023. His specialist areas are Dutch football, Formula 1 and tennis, and being based in London, he can often be found covering sporting events in and around the English capital. You can follow him on X here and read his latest features here.
