Kimi Antonelli says no to number 1 after becoming F1’s youngest world champion

Updated 4 Nov 2026, 13:09 · First published 4 Nov 2026

Kimi Antonelli, F1’s new world champion, will not use the number 1 next season. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver says he will keep the number 12 he has raced with all his career.

Antonelli became Formula 1’s youngest ever world champion at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday, with four rounds still to go. He only needed a top-nine finish but came home third, behind race winner Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

Read more: Alexander Zverev becomes world number one for the first time

Why Antonelli is keeping number 12

The champion has the right to run the number 1 the following year. Antonelli told reporters he will not take it: “I’ll stay with number 12 because, obviously, it’s a very special number for me.” He said the number helps him “stay grounded, to stay humble”.

He also admitted to a superstition. “I’m very superstitious, and number one has never been a good number for me,” he said, adding that whenever he used it, it went badly.

Antonelli used 12 to win the Italian Formula 4 title and the 2023 European and Middle East Formula Regional titles. He is also the first driver to win the F1 world title with 12 since Ayrton Senna in 1988. Both scored their first grand prix win carrying the number.

Toto Wolff: Antonelli is a role model

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told Sky Sports that Antonelli should set the example for the rest of the grid. “We have a new champion that represents values – humility, integrity, loyalty, respect,” he said.

Wolff said Antonelli “should be a role model for the few entitled ones in Formula 1”, adding that the “win at all costs” kind of racing driver “has died”.

What’s next: the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

F1 heads to Interlagos in Brazil this weekend, where Antonelli plans a special helmet honouring Senna. Mercedes could also clinch the Constructors’ Championship.

Sources: RaceFans, Sky Sports, PlanetF1, Mercedes-AMG F1 on X.