> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.the-race.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # New F1 champion Antonelli 'made everyone look silly' - URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/new-f1-champion-antonelli-made-everyone-look-silly/ - Published: 2026-11-02T14:45:17.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-02T14:45:17.000Z - Description: Formula 1’s new world champion Kimi Antonelli has “made everyone look silly” in 2026, according to outgoing champion Lando Norris - Author: Josh Suttill - Tags: Formula 1, #kimi-antonelli, #mercedes, #mexican-grand-prix, #secondary_feature_2 Formula 1’s new world champion Kimi Antonelli has “made everyone look silly” in 2026, according to outgoing champion Lando Norris. Antonelli became the 2026 champion by finishing third in the Mexican Grand Prix and his title celebrations were playing out on screens next to where drivers were conducting their post-race media debriefs. There was plenty of praise from his F1 rivals and genuine appreciation for what he’s been able to achieve this year. “Unbelievable, what he’s done; he’s blown everyone away. I hope everyone gives him enough credit for what he’s achieved this year,” Norris said. “He’s made everyone else look silly. He’s driven that well, and he’s been able to click with his car. He’s worked hard to understand how to drive this car, and he’s exploited it better than anyone else. He deserves every single bit of success. He deserves these moments he’s doing now and celebrating. “It’s even more impressive that it’s only his second season in Formula 1\. He’s 20 years old. It’s incredible. I’m very happy for him. I’m very happy to see my number one go over to him, because he deserves it. I’m, in a way, happy to see it go.” Norris added: “He has a very strong team-mate \[George Russell\], but he’s beaten him the whole time, the whole season. “\[You can\] count how many mistakes he’s made this season - I don’t even think you could put it on \[all five fingers of\] one hand, honestly. He’s come from the back of the grid. He’s won from the front. He’s done everything he needs to do. He’s been there every single race. That’s something that no other driver can say they’ve done this season. “His consistency, his performance. He’s smashed everyone. Smashed the guy in the same car as him. That’s difficult to do. That’s been very impressive.” ## The perfect podium? ![Mexican GP F1 2026 podium](https://storage.ghost.io/c/dd/af/ddafbd99-2ccd-468c-b622-4b3cccf80b49/content/images/2026/11/XPB_1450533_HiRes.jpg) Franco Colapinto was debriefing his race when Antonelli was standing on the podium alongside the driver he replaced at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, and the driver he’s long been compared to, Max Verstappen. “There he is, between Lewis and Max,” Colapinto said. “It can’t get any better than that - the world champion between the two best champions in the last years of F1\. “He deserves it; he’s extremely young, so he needs to enjoy it. It’s the dream of all of us, what he had this year. “The speed, we all knew that he had it, but I think the consistency he showed this year, winning the races, being on the podium and scoring the points and not making mistakes, has been extremely impressive. “To have that weight on your shoulders of being P1 in the championship for so long, from almost the start to the end - it’s wow, \[he dealt with it\] so very well. “Very happy for him and he’s a world champion, so he’s a deserved champion.” Hamilton and Verstappen were both quick to pay tribute to Antonelli, embracing him in parc ferme, with Verstappen saying he was “very proud of him” while Hamilton said he was “so grateful to be in the race to witness” the “pretty phenomenal” crowning of F1’s youngest-ever champion. Antonelli has won nine races and has only been off the podium in one grand prix he’s finished this year. “His consistency,” Gabriel Bortoleto said when The Race asked what’s been the most impressive part of Antonelli’s season. “I fought for championships in F2 and F3, and I know how nervous you are when you are fighting, but imagine fighting for a Formula 1 championship against Russell, Max, Lewis, all these world champions. So much experience, and the guy didn’t break. “He was always there, consistent, boom, on top. I mean, he \[only\] had one or two bad races where you can say he was out of pace or he crashed. “So, impressive job from him and I hope to be fighting for titles with him in the future because that would be a beautiful story, a guy I’ve known since I was, like, 10 years old, 11 years old, to F1 and now he’s champion. I’m trying to reach that \[goal\] so hopefully one day.” Antonelli’s been in an enviable position of having a title-challenging car in his second season - his rivals would relish that - but there’s zero doubt among them that Antonelli has maximised the opportunity. “Completely deserved,” Carlos Sainz said. “Honestly, he's done a really, really good year. He's known how to maximise his chance of becoming world champion in his second year in Formula 1\. “A lot of us would have wished to have such a competitive car in our first years in Formula 1, and he had exactly that. He was given the opportunity to win a championship, and the year that it was given it to him, he maximised everything. “He did a perfect first half of the year, dominated and then controlled the second part of the year, which is what a world champion has to do, and I think he did it really, really well.” Sainz's Williams team-mate Alex Albon joked that “coming into the year, I'm not sure what his betting odds were”, adding: “It's really impressive. “Also his mentality. It seemed, at least from the outside, that he looked very relaxed. “I heard some comments in qualifying that he was a bit tense. Apart from \[Mexico\] qualifying, he's been good. “If anything, his race pace has been really impressive. That's what's separated him from the rest of the grid this year. “Of course, it's probably partly car as well, but he's been really impressive to see.”