When Kimi Antonelli secured the 2026 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship at 20 years old, he became the sport’s youngest World Champion. The Italian’s achievement raises a question that extends far beyond racing: is experience really the career advantage hiring managers assume it is?
Hogan Assessments, the personality assessment firm, sees Antonelli’s success as evidence that potential and learning ability matter more than seniority in high-pressure, fast-moving environments. “High-performance environments don’t reward time served, but they reward how fast you learn, adapt, and execute,” says Allison Howell, CEO at Hogan Assessments.
Mercedes didn’t pick Antonelli at random. His junior career included wins in Formula Regional and the F2 championship in his rookie season. The decision still required confidence that his abilities would translate to F1, where more experienced drivers competed for the same seat.
Experience alone is misleading
Years in a role are easy to measure, which is why organisations default to them. Yet research suggests experience accounts for only part of actual performance. Learning agility—how quickly someone absorbs feedback and improves—and adaptability predict success more reliably, especially in roles where decisions happen fast and stakes are high.
In F1, drivers make split-second calls at race speed. In the workplace, similar pressures exist. “In industries that move fast, the ability to evolve often matters more than the comfort of experience,” Howell explains.
What actually predicts performance under pressure
Across elite environments, four qualities appear consistently: learning agility, emotional control, decisiveness and resilience. These aren’t soft skills—they shape how someone actually uses their experience. “Personality determines how people actually use their experience,” Howell says. “You can have two people with identical backgrounds and get totally different results.”
Most organisations still weight hiring decisions toward pedigree: years in role, top-tier degrees, linear career paths. The risk is screening out high-potential talent that thrives under pressure. A team built on predictability may not perform when conditions demand speed and adaptation.
Antonelli’s rise suggests the definition of “qualified” is shifting. “The real question for organizations isn’t ‘How much experience does this person have?'” Howell says. “It’s ‘How will they perform when it actually matters?'”
Read the original: Hogan Assessments
Paul Gray is the publisher of Talent Acquisition Professional and its sister titles at Black and White Trading Ltd, including HRreview and Workplace Wellbeing Professional. He oversees the editorial programme for UK in-house talent acquisition teams.
