Kimi Antonelli rookie card sells for staggering $878,400 ahead of F1 title opportunity

Motorsport photoA one-of-a-kind Kimi Antonelli rookie card has sold for $878,400 at auction, making it the second most expensive Formula 1 card ever sold, just days before the Mercedes driver could become world champion.The card, a 2025 Topps Chrome F1 Chrome Autographs SuperFractor numbered 1/1 and graded GEM MINT 10 by PSA, sold through Goldin after 34 bids, with the auction closing on 17 October.Only one copy of the card exists. It boasts Antonelli’s autograph in blue ink and Topps’ gold SuperFractor finish, and Goldin described it as the “Holy Grail” of his Formula 1 career.According to Card Ladder data reported by Sports Illustrated, only one F1 card has ever sold for more: a 2020 Topps Chrome F1 SuperFractor 1/1 of Lewis Hamilton, graded PSA 7, which fetched $900,000 through Goldin in May 2022. Antonelli’s card fell just $21,600 short of that record.Andrea Kimi Antonelli, MercedesAndrea Kimi Antonelli, MercedesThe sale was the biggest of any sports card that week, and more than four times the previous high for an Antonelli card, a Topps Dynasty patch rookie card that sold for $201,910, also through Goldin.The same Goldin auction also featured a 2025 Topps Chrome F1 Red Refractor of Antonelli, numbered 5/5 and graded PSA 9. Card-collecting account Strictly Turn One reports that it sold for $128,100, having changed hands for $5,000 on eBay in February.The surge in demand comes as Antonelli closes in on the championship in only his second season. The Italian arrives in Austin with a 102-point lead over Mercedes team-mate George Russell, and can clinch the title on Sunday if he wins and Russell finishes outside the top eight, with Lewis Hamilton outside the top four.At 20, he would become the youngest world champion in F1 history, beating the record Sebastian Vettel set in 2010.To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.