
Kimi Antonelli: The Journey to the Formula 1 World Championship
From his early days in karting to his Formula 4 and Formula Regional titles, Kimi Antonelli's journey also highlights the contribution of Tatuus, ATM and all the Korus companies that have supported his sporting development.
In motorsport, great careers begin long before reaching the Formula 1 spotlight and the fireworks of World Championship celebrations. Kimi Antonelli's story, as is so often the case, starts in karting, with titles and victories that continue into single-seater racing, always alongside the brands that are now part of Korus Group. BirelART, Kart Republic, IAME, LeCont, Tatuus, Autotecnica Motori and Breda Racing: each has played a role in this remarkable story of Italian motorsport, culminating in a World Championship title and ready to unfold through many more exciting chapters in the years ahead.
THE KARTING ERA
Kimi Antonelli's karting story began in 2015, when, at just eight years old, he made his debut in the Easykart 60 category and immediately claimed the Trofeo Easykart Italia and the Easykart International Grand Final. It was through the championship organised by Birel that his journey began, eventually leading him, following his first contact with Mercedes, to join the Kart Republic family and quickly establish himself among the most promising young talents in international karting. After his first successes, he dominated the OK-Junior category in 2019, claiming four WSK titles, the Italian Championship and second place in the FIA Karting European Championship.
Moving up to the OK category in 2020 marked another important milestone. Driving a KR kart powered by an IAME engine, Antonelli won the FIA European Championship, the WSK Euro Series and his second Italian title. He confirmed that success in 2021, winning the OK European Championship once again to become back-to-back champion, with three victories in the four rounds on the calendar. An impressive karting chapter, filled with success, came to a close.
THE MOVE ON TO TATUUS SINGLE-SEATERS
2021 marked Kimi Antonelli's transition from karting to single-seater racing. Just a few days after turning 15, he made his debut in the Italian Formula 4 Championship with PREMA Racing, competing in the final three rounds of the season at the wheel of the Tatuus T-014, powered by the ATM-Abarth 1.4-litre turbo engine producing 174 hp. It took just a handful of races for him to show his potential: at Monza, he finished on the podium in all three races of the weekend and ended his first single-seater campaign with four Rookie class victories. A debut already full of promising signs ahead of the following season, just like his performance at the Federal Supercourse, where he was named Best Driver on 10 November of the same year. In December, he also secured a podium finish at the Formula 4 Middle East Trophy Round in Abu Dhabi, the very first race for the new T-421.
In 2022, he took on his first full Formula 4 season, once again at the wheel of the T-421. It was a year packed with success from the very beginning in the United Arab Emirates, where Antonelli won the first two races at Yas Marina and secured three more podium finishes across the two rounds he contested in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. However, it was in the Italian and ADAC championships that he put together a truly outstanding season. In Italy, he dominated with 13 wins from 20 races, claiming the overall title. His achievement was backed by impressive statistics: 14 pole positions and 14 fastest laps, along with two second-place finishes, bringing his total podium count to 15. The title was secured at Mugello, where Antonelli completed a clean sweep of all three races in the final weekend, having already taken both pole positions in qualifying. The story was much the same in Germany: nine victories and seven pole positions, with the ADAC title clinched at the Nürburgring with one race to spare, despite having competed in one fewer round than his main rivals. With 22 victories across the two championships, Antonelli wrapped up his first full year in single-seaters with two titles and one of the most dominant seasons in Formula 4 history.
His 2022 campaign also brought another major international achievement at the FIA Motorsport Games, where he represented Italy in the Formula 4 competition and won the gold medal at the Le Castellet circuit.
THE FORMULA REGIONAL SEASON
In 2023, Kimi Antonelli took another step forward by moving up to Formula Regional. His first challenge of the season once again came in the Middle East Championship, where he competed with Mumbai Falcons Racing at the wheel of the Tatuus T-318, powered by the ATM-Alfa Romeo 1750 engine. He immediately showed that he could fight at the front in this new category, securing three victories, three pole positions and five podiums to build a decisive lead over his rivals. He clinched the title at Yas Marina with one race to spare, in a championship contested as a rookie and marking his third consecutive single-seater title.
The challenge continued in Europe, where Antonelli returned to the track with PREMA to compete in the Formula Regional European Championship. Driving the Tatuus T-318 powered by Alpine, he faced an international field and rivals with considerably more experience in the category. After a promising start to the season, with strong results but no victory just yet, his breakthrough came at Spa-Francorchamps. From that point onwards, he stepped up another gear: he secured four more victories over the following five rounds, building the kind of consistency that would become one of his greatest strengths. Across 20 races, he recorded five wins, four pole positions, five fastest laps and 11 podiums, scoring 300 points and finishing outside the top six on just two occasions.
The decisive moment came at Zandvoort on 15 October 2023. In Race 2, on a wet track and starting from eighth on the grid, Antonelli produced an outstanding comeback to take victory and mathematically secure the European title with two races still to go. By the end of the season, he had claimed two Formula Regional titles in a single year, one in the Middle East and one in Europe. An achievement that confirmed the progress he had made since his karting days and continued through Formula 4 with Tatuus and ATM, once again bringing their cars and engines to the top of the competition.
That season marked the end of his journey through the Tatuus single-seater categories. In 2024, Antonelli made the direct move to Formula 2, skipping Formula 3, before stepping up to Formula 1 with Mercedes in 2025. A journey that began in Birel and KR karts and developed through Tatuus single-seaters and ATM engines, ultimately reaching the most coveted milestone of all: becoming a Formula 1 World Champion in 2026.





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