A Teenager Replaced Lewis Hamilton, Won Eight Races This Year, And Now He Is In KL
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell drew thousands to KLCC days ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix — with Antonelli arriving as the 2026 championship leader, eight wins deep, at age 19.
The PETRONAS Twin Towers turned teal on Tuesday night (30 Sep)
Fireworks went up over the Kuala Lumpur skyline.
And at the centre of it all stood a 19-year-old Italian who, less than two years ago, was still in high school.
Kimi Antonelli, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula 1 driver currently leading the 2026 World Drivers’ Championship by 66 points, appeared alongside teammate George Russell at Plaza PETRONAS, KLCC, for a fan event ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang International Circuit this weekend.
Fans who redeemed exclusive passes through the Setel app’s Mesra Rewards portal gained access to the appearance.
The crowd, by multiple accounts, was significant.
He currently leads the 2026 World Drivers’ Championship standings with 302 points, holding an exact 66-point lead over his teammate, George Russell (who has 236 points)
The City That Came To Him
Antonelli did not need to seek out Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur, it appeared, had already found him.
With PETRONAS serving as title partner of the Mercedes-AMG F1 team, the Malaysian capital deployed its full commercial infrastructure for the occasion. Massive digital displays at Pavilion KL and promotional installations around the Twin Towers area carried Antonelli’s face across the Golden Triangle in the days leading up to the race weekend.
The 19-year-old noted the experience online, describing the sight of towering versions of himself across a foreign city’s skyline as surreal.
On the evening of September 30, Antonelli and Russell moved from KLCC to Raintree Plaza at The Exchange TRX, where Mercedes-AMG hosted a fan party. High-performance Mercedes-AMG vehicles were on display.
The crowd, by accounts from the venue, was substantial.
A formal photoshoot inside Menara Kuala Lumpur and the Twin Towers complex followed, with the team subsequently inviting local fans to visit the city centre and recreate the drivers’ poses at the same locations.
It was, in effect, a city-wide activation.
Antonelli was the product, Kuala Lumpur was the showroom.
The Seat He Inherited
Antonelli did not arrive at Mercedes through a conventional path.
When seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton announced his departure to Ferrari ahead of the 2025 season, Mercedes did not turn to an experienced replacement.
The team, under principal Toto Wolff, handed the seat to Antonelli — then 18, still completing secondary school — making him the youngest driver on the grid and the most scrutinised rookie in recent memory.
He had skipped Formula 3 entirely; Mercedes determined the intermediate category was unnecessary.
The learning curve of 2025 gave way to something else in 2026.
Antonelli opened the current season by winning his first three consecutive Grands Prix — a feat achieved by only two other drivers in Formula 1 history.
He has since added five more victories, bringing his season total to eight.
He holds the record as the youngest pole-sitter in Formula 1 history, set at 19 years and eight months.
His championship lead over his British teammate stands at 66 points with the Bahrain Grand Prix still to run.
The Sepang race weekend runs from Friday to Sunday (2 to 4 October).
