Antonelli started kart racing at age seven. In 2014, he attended a summer camp with the Automobile Club d'Italia and was scouted by Giovanni Minardi, who signed him to Minardi Management. He won the 2015 Trofeo Easykart Italia in the 60 cc class and the Easykart International Grand Final from twenty-second on the grid.
Signing to the Mercedes Junior Team in 2018, Antonelli won the WSK Champions Cup, South Garda Winter Cup, and ROK Cup International Final in the Mini class. In 2019, racing with Rosberg Racing Academy, he won the South Garda Winter Cup, WSK Super Master Series, WSK Euro Series, WSK Open Cup, and WSK Final Cup in the OK-Junior category. He finished runner-up to Marcus Amand at the European Championship and fifth at the World Championship.
In 2020, Antonelli progressed to the senior OK class aged 13, racing with Kart Republic. He won the European Championship on his senior class debut aged 14, as well as the WSK Euro Series and Italian Championship. He retired from the World Championship final at Portimão after colliding with the stationary kart of Maya Weug in wet conditions, suffering a broken left tibia and metatarsus. He was named the FIA Karting Rookie of the Year by the CIK-FIA. In 2021, he moved to the KZ gearbox class, bidding to become the youngest-ever KZ World Champion — a record held by Max Verstappen since 2013 — but finished fifteenth after taking pole for the heats. He successfully defended his European Championship in the OK class with five wins from eight rounds.
Three weeks after turning 15, Antonelli made his junior formulae debut in the fifth round of the 2021 Italian F4 Championship, driving for Prema at the Red Bull Ring. He finished second in race one at Monza after a race-long battle with champion-elect Oliver Bearman, and added further podiums in races two and three.
In 2022, Antonelli remained with Prema in Italian F4. He won twice at Misano, then took six consecutive victories at Spa-Francorchamps and Vallelunga to lead the standings ahead of Rafael Câmara. Further wins at the Red Bull Ring and Monza consolidated his advantage; he clinched the title by winning the first race at Mugello, finishing with a then-record thirteen victories. In parallel, Antonelli competed in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship with Prema, sweeping wins, pole positions, and fastest laps at Hockenheimring and clinching the ADAC title with one race to spare at the Nürburgring.
Representing Team Italy in the Formula 4 Cup at the FIA Motorsport Games at Paul Ricard, Antonelli won both the qualifying and main races while driving with a broken left wrist — the result of a qualifying collision — to take the gold medal. He graduated from F4 with 26 wins, 24 pole positions, and 37 podiums in 57 appearances.
Antonelli competed in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Mumbai Falcons. He won three races at rounds in Kuwait and Dubai, secured the title with one race to go, and took his seventh podium in the final race.
In the Formula Regional European Championship, Antonelli remained with Prema alongside Lorenzo Fluxá and Câmara. He won at Spa-Francorchamps — a race marred by the fatal accident of Dilano van 't Hoff — then at Mugello and Paul Ricard, leading the championship ahead of Martinius Stenshorne. He clinched the title with a dominant victory at Zandvoort, winning by over 12 seconds from eighth on the grid in mixed-weather conditions. He dedicated the title to Van 't Hoff and was voted driver of the season by the team principals. He finished 39 points ahead of Stenshorne and 61 ahead of Tim Tramnitz. Formula Scout ranked Antonelli as the best driver in junior formulae throughout 2023.
Antonelli bypassed FIA Formula 3 and progressed directly to FIA Formula 2 with Prema alongside Bearman. Prema struggled to adapt to new ground-effect regulations, and Antonelli sat ninth in the standings at the season midpoint. He secured his maiden F2 win in a rain-affected sprint at Silverstone after qualifying tenth placed him on pole. A feature race win at Budapest from seventh on the grid elevated him to sixth in the standings. He finished the season sixth on 113 points with two victories from three podiums, missing the Yas Marina finale with illness.
In April 2019, Mercedes announced Antonelli had joined their Junior Team. He conducted his first two-day test in the W12 at the Red Bull Ring in April 2024, with further private tests in the W13 at Imola, Silverstone, Barcelona-Catalunya, and Spa-Francorchamps. At the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, he made his free practice debut in George Russell's W15, setting the fastest lap before spinning at Curva Alboreto and hitting the tyre barrier at 52 g. He contested another free practice session at the Mexico City Grand Prix, finishing twelfth.
Antonelli signed for Mercedes in 2025, replacing Lewis Hamilton to partner Russell on a one-year contract. At the Australian Grand Prix, he became the first Italian driver in Formula One since Antonio Giovinazzi in 2021, the first Mercedes rookie since 1954, and the third-youngest driver in Formula One history at 18 years and 203 days old. He qualified sixteenth with floor damage but climbed to fourth in the rain-affected race, becoming the second-youngest points-scorer in Formula One history. At the Japanese Grand Prix, he qualified and finished sixth, becoming the youngest driver to lead a race and to set a fastest lap in Formula One history. He also became the third driver to achieve three consecutive top-six finishes from debut, after Jackie Stewart (1965) and Lewis Hamilton (2007).
At the Canadian Grand Prix, Antonelli finished third holding off championship-leader Oscar Piastri, becoming the third-youngest podium finisher in Formula One history as teammate Russell won. He crashed into Verstappen in Austria and received a three-place grid penalty for the British Grand Prix, where he retired with diffuser damage after being rear-ended by Isack Hadjar. At São Paulo, he finished second in both the sprint — after a race-long battle with Lando Norris — and the Grand Prix, holding off Verstappen in the closing laps. Luke Slater of The Daily Telegraph described it as "the first weekend where he thoroughly out-performed Russell". In Las Vegas, heavy rain saw him climb from seventeenth; he initially earned a podium but received a false start penalty, then reclaimed the podium after Piastri and Norris were disqualified.
Antonelli was confirmed to remain at Mercedes alongside Russell for 2026. Mercedes emerged as the leading constructor over Ferrari with a superior energy recovery system on the W17. At the Australian Grand Prix, he capitalised on a Ferrari strategy error to complete a 1–2 finish for Mercedes. In China, he became the youngest polesitter in Formula One history, eclipsing Sebastian Vettel by nearly two years, and won the race by five seconds over Russell, becoming the second-youngest Grand Prix winner and the first Italian victor in two decades. At the Japanese Grand Prix, a well-timed safety car allowed him to lead and build a 13-second margin over Piastri, making him the youngest World Drivers' Championship leader.
In May 2023, Antonelli debuted in sportscar racing for AKM Motorsport in the Italian GT3 Championship at Misano, driving the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. He won the first race from pole and finished third in race two. He co-founded AKM Motorsport by Kart Republic alongside his father in 2023, serving as driver coach and chassis tester. He is the subject of the documentary film The Seat (2025), directed by Kyle Thrash and distributed by Netflix.
Antonelli selected racing number 12 in Formula One, citing inspiration from his idol, Ayrton Senna. He was appointed ambassador of Italian sport for San Marino by the Congress of State and served as a torchbearer ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
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