Where every Formula 1 driver was when Andrea Kimi Antonelli was born with Fernando Alonso on the verge of a second title

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli will become the first full-time Formula 1 driver to be born in the year 2006 when he makes his debut with Mercedes next year.

The Italian joins Oliver Bearman (born 2005) and Jack Doohan (born 2003) in embarking on his rookie season in the sport.

Antonelli was born on August 25, 2006, specifically, so let’s take a look at where each of the current Formula 1 drivers was at that time.

Taking a team-by-team approach, we will go through which championships certain drivers were in, and whether they had even started racing yet…

Lewis Hamilton was hunting down the GP2 title when Andrea Kimi Antonelli was born

Starting with Red Bull – Max Verstappen, aged eight, was racing in the VAS Karting Championship (when he won) in his second year of racing. His teammate Sergio Perez, aged 16, raced in the Formula BMW ADAC series and came sixth.

Moving on to Mercedes, future seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton was in the middle of his GP2 Series championship-winning year, while an eight-year-old George Russell had just started karting in the Kartmasters British Grand Prix and came sixth.

At McLaren, Lando Norris hadn’t even started his racing career yet and didn’t until two years later in 2008, and it was a similar case for a five-year-old Oscar Piastri, who began racing in 2014.

READ MORE: Who is 2025 Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli? Everything to know

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was in his second season of karting, winning his second consecutive Championnat de France Regional PACA title and Carlos Sainz was in his first year, picking up top-three finishes in two categories.

Down at Aston Martin, an experienced Fernando Alonso was a few months from winning his second Formula 1 title with Renault, while Lance Stroll hadn’t quite figured out what he wanted to do yet and was another two years from his karting debut.

Alex Albon won the 2006 Kartmasters championship as George Russell came sixth

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly competed in the same karting championship as his teammate Esteban Ocon – the Championnat de France Minime, with the former finishing 15th and the latter eighth, partially explaining their long rivalry.

Although the Haas team didn’t exist back then, their drivers did, with a 19-year-old Nico Hulkenberg finishing fifth in the German Formula 3 championship. Kevin Magnussen may have been in karting, but records of his junior career appear to be non-existent until his single-seater career began in 2008.

It was technically Visa Cash App RB’s first year as the Red Bull sister team Toro Rosso in 2006, and Yuki Tsunoda was fresh on the blocks, too – winning the Nakai Inter Circuit Kids Class in his rookie year. Liam Lawson wouldn’t begin his racing exploits for another five years.

Williams were very well established by 2006, and Alex Albon exploded onto the scene by winning the same Kartmasters championship that Russell finished sixth in during his first year. Franco Colapinto, aged just three, began his pathway to success a whole seven years later.

And finally, Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas was in his final year of karting, winning the WSK International Series, with his teammate Zhou Guanyu not even in karts yet.