Kimi Antonelli finished third in Mexico City on Sunday and became Formula 1 World Champion. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team posted $1.04 billion in revenue for the twelve-month period ending September 2026, the highest top line in the organization's 15-year history and 17% above the prior season. The constructor owns ten drivers' titles now. This is the first under the current power unit regulations that began in 2025.
Antonelli's coronation arrives after 19 races, with three rounds remaining. He entered Mexico 38 points clear of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and needed only to finish inside the top eight to secure the championship regardless of results behind him. He qualified fourth, managed tire degradation through a two-stop strategy, and crossed the line in third behind teammate George Russell and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. The team's constructors' championship remains undecided; Mercedes leads Ferrari by 22 points with 75 available.
The revenue figure matters because it answers the question team principals and Ineos ownership have fielded since Liberty Media's last comparable-sales benchmark: what multiple does a title-winning operation command when regulatory stability is priced in. The $1.04B includes broadcast rights distribution ($240M), sponsorship ($510M), prize money ($180M), and licensing ($110M). Sponsorship grew 28% year-over-year, driven by renewals with Petronas ($90M annually through 2029) and IWC Schaffhausen ($35M, extended in April), plus two new technical partnerships: a multi-year computing deal with a Palo Alto hyperscaler (undisclosed but estimated north of $40M) and a composites supplier arrangement with Toray Advanced Composites. The Toray relationship began in January and includes co-branding on front-wing endplates, which appeared at Bahrain and have remained through the season.
Ineos, which purchased a 33% minority stake in the team in 2020 and increased to 50% in 2023, now owns a position in an asset generating nine-figure EBITDA in a regulated cost-cap environment. The budget cap is $135M per season excluding driver salaries, marketing, and certain capital expenditures. Mercedes operates at the cap ceiling but derives margin from sponsor revenue and manufacturer support outside the cap's perimeter. The manufacturer's HPP (High Performance Powertrains) division in Brixworth supplies engines to Mercedes, McLaren, Williams, and Aston Martin. That customer-engine revenue sits on Mercedes-Benz Group AG's books, not the racing team's, but creates leverage in technical development that competitors without customer programs do not enjoy.
Antonelli's championship also ratifies Mercedes' driver development pathway. He joined the program in 2019 at age 13, ran Formula Regional Europe in 2022, won the Formula 2 championship in 2024, and debuted in F1 for 2025. The junior program costs Mercedes roughly $18M annually to operate across simulator work, embedded engineers, and scholarship funding for feeder-series seats. Antonelli's salary for 2026 was $4M base plus performance bonuses; his new deal, negotiated after the summer break and finalized in August, runs through 2029 at $12M per season with incentive escalators tied to race wins and title defenses. That structure keeps the team under the driver-salary threshold where tax and cost-allocation conversations with ownership become material.
The timing of the title clinch also sets the stage for off-season technical changes. Mercedes will introduce an updated rear suspension geometry for 2027, which chief technical officer James Allison described in September as "the largest aero-mechanical revision since 2022." Wind tunnel allocation under F1's sliding scale grants championship-winning teams the fewest hours; Mercedes will operate at 70% of the baseline 320 hours annually, or 224 hours, beginning January 1. Ferrari and Red Bull, if they finish second and third in the constructors' standings, will receive 75% and 80%, respectively. The delta matters because the 2027 car's development window compressed after the FIA delayed technical regulation clarity until March 2026, five months later than normal.
What to watch: Mercedes has $340M in sponsorship renewals entering negotiation windows between now and March 2027, including Tommy Hilfiger ($22M), Epson ($15M), and a title partner whose current deal's renewal clause activates if the team wins either championship this season. That clause is now live. Toto Wolff, team principal and 33% stakeholder, will meet with Ineos leadership in December to discuss whether the manufacturer exercises an option to acquire an additional 16.5% from existing shareholders, a provision embedded in the 2023 transaction documents. Separately, two family offices with motor-sport portfolios—one based in Dallas, one in Monaco—have made quiet inquiries about secondary stakes through advisors at Raine Group since October, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations.
Antonelli becomes the youngest drivers' champion since Sebastian Vettel in 2010. He turned 21 in August. The team's previous youngest champion was Lewis Hamilton, who won his first title at 23 in 2008. Antonelli's win rate this season is 26% (five wins from 19 starts), lower than Hamilton's 52% in 2014 or Nico Rosberg's 45% in 2016, but the parity under the current regulations makes direct comparison difficult. The last time a driver won a championship with a win rate below 30% was Kimi Räikkönen in 2007 at 18%. Antonelli's consistency—14 podiums in 19 races—mattered more than outright speed. That profile appeals to sponsors targeting reach over peak moments, which explains why three brands activated champion-themed campaigns within 90 minutes of the Mexico result. Petronas had creative ready to publish across Southeast Asia before the checkered flag.