L'Espresso elects Kimi Antonelli Person of the Year 2026

He is twenty years old, speaks Bolognese and has a smile that has conquered everyone: Andrea Kimi Antonelli is L'Espresso's Person of the Year 2026. On November 1st, in Mexico City, he became the youngest world champion in the history of Formula 1. On the podium Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, eleven World Championships between them, lifted him on their shoulders to pay homage to him. After the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, chosen in 2025, the weekly on newsstands tomorrow dedicates the recognition to a champion who speaks to his generation.

In the editorial 'When talent meets an opportunity', director Emilio Carelli explains the reasons for the choice: a boy on whom Mercedes has bet since he was a child, accompanying him to the roof of the world, and who today can be a stimulus for his generation. 'He is a champion who does not need to pose as a champion - writes the director - and for this reason he can also be a model'.

The victory of an Italian over a German single-seater thus also becomes a lesson for the country, which 'knows how to express extraordinary talents' without always managing to grow them at home.

Carelli compares it with the days of riots of 17 and 18 October, reconstructed in the same issue with the testimonies of the children involved. Two faces of the same generation: those who have had the opportunity to build their own future and those who struggle to even imagine it, in a country called to invest in school, training, work, housing and inclusion.

Kimi's story opens with the signing of Umberto Zapelloni and 'The Antonelli phenomenon', at twenty years old on the podium of the giants, the portrait of a gentle predator who grew up between karting, school and the Mercedes youth programme, up to a season of nine victories. Director Marco Tullio Giordana closes it with a tribute to Alberto Ascari, the champion who Antonelli reaches in the roll of honor after over seventy years of waiting.

L'Espresso, with the cover dedicated to the Person of the Year 2026 Kimi Antonelli, will be on newsstands from tomorrow and available digitally on lespresso.it.