Solera celebrates a historic Drivers’ Championship and a remarkable 2026 season for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team.
On Sunday in Mexico City, Kimi Antonelli crossed the line in third place and became the youngest World Champion in Formula 1 history, at 20 years old.
He needed only to finish ninth. Instead, he started fourth, stayed composed through a red flag and a standing restart, made a confident move into Turn 1 to take third, and brought the car home on the podium. It was a calm, complete drive from a driver who has made calm, complete drives his signature this year.
To Kimi, and to every member of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team: congratulations from all of us at Solera. We are proud to be your partner, and today we are prouder than ever.
A season for the record books
Kimi’s title is history on several fronts. He broke a record for the youngest champion that had stood since 2010, and he broke it by more than three years. He is the first Italian World Champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953. He also joins Juan Manuel Fangio, Jacques Villeneuve and Lewis Hamilton as the only drivers to win the title in their second Formula 1 season.
What makes it even more remarkable is how far he has come in twelve months. Kimi finished his 2025 rookie campaign seventh in the standings, with three podiums and no wins. This year he opened with a podium in Australia, took his first Grand Prix victory in China, and followed it with four more wins in a row. He now has nine wins and 16 podiums from 19 races, and he sealed the championship with four races still to run.
After the race, he pointed straight to the people around him. “We did it. And, you know, without them, I wouldn’t be here. Without Mercedes, without my family,” he said.
A championship built by the whole team
That answer says a lot about this team. A Drivers’ Championship carries one name, but it is earned by hundreds of people: the engineers and designers in Brackley and Brixworth, the strategists on the pit wall, the mechanics who rebuild and prepare the car between sessions, and the crew who deliver under pressure on every stop.
It has been an extraordinary year for all of them. In the first season of a sweeping new set of technical regulations, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team has won 12 Grands Prix. George Russell added three victories of his own, including the season opener in Australia, and his points have been central to the team’s lead. With four rounds remaining, the team leads the Constructors’ Championship by 126 points and has a championship double within reach.
Why this partnership matters to us
Solera has been an Official Team Partner since the 2023 season. In that time, our name has traveled the world on the car, on the drivers’ and pit crew’s race suits, and on team clothing. We have watched this team up close through every stage of its return to the front, and the lesson has been the same every time.
Elite performance is never accidental. It is engineered through connected systems, real-time data and relentless refinement. When Toto Wolff welcomed Solera to the team, he put it this way: “Data innovation, combined with the drive for ultimate performance through people, processes, and technology, are hallmarks of a successful business and team.”
That idea sits at the center of what Solera does. Our work spans the full life of a vehicle, from the dealerships that sell and service it to the repairers, insurers and fleets that keep it on the road. In every one of those businesses, the strongest performers are the ones whose people, data and decisions work as one. Seeing the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team turn that principle into a world championship shows just how high the standard can be set.
“Congratulations, Kimi and the entire team, on this extraordinary achievement. Watching Kimi and this team this season has been a privilege. They prepare relentlessly, they trust their data, and they back each other when it matters most. That is the kind of performance we admire, and it is why we are so proud to stand alongside them,” said Alberto Cairo, Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director at Solera.
The season is not over. Four races remain, there are more records within reach, and there is a second championship to chase. Wherever the team races next, Solera will be cheering them on.
Congratulations, Kimi. Congratulations, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team.