Kimi Antonelli Is Taking F1 by Storm and His Card Market Is Accelerating
For motorsports fans, Memorial Day delivered an epic weekend, from the closest finish at the Indianapolis 500 to an emotional tribute to NASCAR driver Kyle Busch.
Not to be outdone, the F1 Canadian Grand Prix featured an intense battle between Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. When the dust settled, Russell was forced to retire, giving Antonelli the win and making him the first F1 driver to win his first four career Grand Prix races consecutively.
Kimi Antonelli's first @F1 victory is now a trading card 🔥 pic.twitter.com/q6INLQ1EBe
— Topps (@Topps) March 17, 2026
Antonelli is a Young Driver Taking F1 By Storm
While fellow driver Max Verstappen has dominated F1 over the last several years, winning four of the last five World Championships, he and the rest of the grid now face serious competition from Antonelli.
The 19-year-old Italian prodigy was scouted by Mercedes at age 12 and was fast-tracked through its Junior Team racing development program, eventually earning a full-time seat with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team following the departure of the legendary Lewis Hamilton.
JUST SOLD: This Kimi Antonelli 1-of-1 race-worn patch autograph fetched $201,910 at auction last night, making it the most expensive Antonelli card ever.
— Topps (@Topps) April 12, 2026
It's also the 7th-most expensive F1 card of all time 🤯
(via @GoldinCo) pic.twitter.com/EN7dbEbrdu
Few drivers can catch Antonelli this year. He currently holds a 43-point lead over teammate Russell in the World Drivers’ Championship standings, nabbing three poles, winning four out of the first five races, and finishing on the podium at every race.
A Growing Sport in the U.S. and Around the World
While the sport has experienced massive global growth, U.S. F1 fandom has seen double-digit gains, with more than 52 million fans, over 1.3 million TV viewers per race, and crowds of up to 300,000 attendees at the F1 races in Miami, Austin, and Las Vegas.
With F1 as one of Topps’ key licenses, collectors have a wide range of choices at every price point, including Topps F1 Match Attax, Topps Chrome F1 and Sapphire Edition, Topps F1 Eccellenza, and the high-end Topps Dynasty F1.
Still an Opportunity for Collectors?
While Antonelli’s success at the sport’s highest level has been rapid, his career is just getting started. That’s not to say that collectors haven’t already driven his cards to elite prices, with his Topps Dynasty 1/1 Rookie Patch Auto selling for $111,000 earlier this year.
But like any young prospect, it’s still early in Antonelli’s career, and there are likely opportunities for collectors to add his cards to their personal collection or investment portfolio. His 2025 Topps Chrome F1 Helmet Collection in PSA 10 recently sold for $525, while raw copies go for around $60. You can also pick up his 2025 Topps Chrome Diamond 75th portrait for around $50 ungraded.
Once you move into patches and autos, prices climb quickly. His 2024 Topps Chrome F1 base auto recently sold for $1,104, while his 2025 Topps Dynasty 2/5 Patch Auto sold for an impressive $28,060!
The market for Antonelli is strong, but not as strong as his start to the season.
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Lucas Mast is a writer based in California’s Bay Area, where he’s a season ticket holder for St. Mary’s basketball and a die-hard Stanford athletics fan. A lifelong collector of sneakers, sports cards, and pop culture, he also advises companies shaping the future of the hobby and sports. He’s driven by a curiosity about why people collect—and what those items reveal about the moments and memories that matter most.
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