Kimi Antonelli is already looking ahead. The new world champion says he’s treating the last races of this season as the start of his campaign to defend the title next year.
The Mercedes driver became the youngest champion in Formula 1 history, in only his second season, when he clinched the title in Mexico City last weekend.
The 20-year-old now has his first race since wrapping it up at this weekend’s São Paulo Grand Prix, per BBC Sport.
“I’m actually very excited to be here,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity for me to, first of all, you know, try to finish the season on a top, but I also feel like that my 2027 preparation starts now.
“It’s going to be important to finish the season well, strong, in order to have the confidence and also to be able to get the confidence ahead of 2027.”
🗒 | Kimi sobre como ele planeja abordar o restante da temporada e diz que sua preparação para 2027 começa agora :
🐭: “Eu não estou… se eu fui o azarão antes, com certeza não sou mais. Mas, sabe, estou feliz por estar nessa posição. Agora posso aproveitar o resto da temporada sem me preocupar com o campeonato.
Claro, eu realmente gostaria de terminar a temporada em alta. E espero um nível diferente de agressividade em relação a mim agora porque, no final das contas, ninguém tem nada a perder. Todos vão estar pressionando ao limite.
Mas vai ser divertido. Acho que vai ser muito intenso, e vamos apenas tentar aproveitar, dar o nosso melhor e terminar a temporada em alta, porque minha preparação para 2027 começa agora.”
[Sky Sports F1]
#F1 #brazilgp #KA12
— Kimi Antonelli Brasil (@kiminhobrasil) November 5, 2026
On Tuesday, Antonelli visited the property of the family of the late Ayrton Senna and sat in one of the three-time champion’s Lotus cars from the 1980s. He’ll honour Senna this weekend at Interlagos with a new helmet design that pays tribute to him.
On Thursday’s media day at the track, Antonelli looked back on his achievement.
“I would have liked a bit more time to just even digest what happened,” he said. “I had such a crazy sequence of events in these days. I won the championship, then spent time with the Senna family, which was already an incredible event. So definitely, I would have liked a bit more time to just sit down and like reflect and realise what happened.”
Antonelli Claims United States GP Pole to Set Up Historic Title Match Point
Kimi Antonelli took pole for the United States Grand Prix on a weekend when he could clinch his first world title.
The Mercedes driver beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.179 seconds. Verstappen’s team-mate Isack Hadjar was third, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
