Daniel Ricciardo believes Kimi Antonelli’s age and innocence is what has made him so successful in the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Nine victories so far in his sophomore F1 campaign have taken Antonelli to the brink of his maiden world title. All the Mercedes driver needs to be crowned in Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix is ninth place, or for neither George Russell nor Lewis Hamilton to win.

This would make the 20-year-old F1’s youngest-ever champion, beating Sebastian Vettel’s current record by more than three years.

Ricciardo, who made his F1 debut at 22 years old and retired from the world championship at 35, believes he knows exactly how Antonelli feels – and how that makes him so strong.

“I got asked by a friend about Kimi Antonelli the other day, and I said ‘ignorance is a superpower’ – you know, ‘being young’ is what I’m really trying to say, I’m not trying to be mean to him at all,” the Australian told the Beyond The Grid podcast. “Being young is a superpower, being ignorant and not having been so exposed to the world and things like that.

“I remember my first year at Red Bull Racing; you’re naive, you’re young, you’re ignorant. I don’t know, everything’s easy and it comes easy, and it’s just, ‘Oh wow, I’m winning, cool, I’ll just keep winning, cause I’m the best’.”

Ricciardo joined Red Bull’s main squad for the 2014 season following compatriot Mark Webber’s retirement, teaming up with Sebastian Vettel; he unexpectedly took all three of the outfit’s victories that year, noticeably outperforming the reigning four-time world champion.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB10, leads Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing RB10

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

There is an obvious parallel with the way Antonelli has surpassed Russell this year despite the Briton being Mercedes’ established star.

“I don’t mean to compare myself to him or anything, but the power of being young in some situations where this sport and the world can be very intense, and over the years you’re just going to accumulate baggage…” Ricciardo continued.

“Right now I think he’s at that sweet spot where he’s obviously very talented, very fast, but he hasn’t yet really acquired any baggage, so it’s like, let’s just go and race. There’s nothing really going on out there, which is a superpower.

“That became a lot harder for me as the years went on. Even obviously the decision in 2018 to move on from Red Bull… These things, you obviously question them, and as years go on, it’s like ‘I haven’t really found success or maybe how I’d pictured it to go’. These things keep popping up. ‘Was that decision right? Now I’ve done this, is that right?’

“Again, an accumulation of many things, and I think by the end I had to dig very deep to find something where before it was just easy – I didn’t really have to think, it was just there.”

After winning the United States GP, Antonelli pledged to maintain his philosophy for the remainder of the season, regardless of his impending coronation.

“I'm going to approach it with the same mindset, just trying to have as much fun as possible, trying to hopefully fight for another win,” he said. “But it would be best to finish on a high, and that's the goal. I'm just going to try to enjoy the rest of the season from now on.”