Kimi Antonelli scripted history at the Mexico GP, becoming the youngest-ever champion in F1 history. The 20-year-old crossed the chequered flag in third place, enough for him to seal the title with four races to spare. This also makes him the first Italian F1 World Champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
Max Verstappen, meanwhile, has climbed to second in the drivers’ championship after winning the race ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
- Antonelli becomes the youngest-ever F1 champion
- Verstappen wins Mexico GP; moves up to P2 in drivers’ championship
Antonelli seals 2026 F1 title
Antonelli needed to score just two more points in Mexico to wrap up the drivers’ championship. Starting from fourth on the grid, the Mercedes driver played it safe in the opening phase, while the two Ferrari drivers battled it out in front.
A red flag interruption due to Valtteri Bottas’ crash wiped out the tyre offset Antonelli had built. He lined up P4 on the grid for the re-start and quickly gained a position after overtaking Charles Leclerc. Third place was more than enough for him seal the title, beating Sebastian Vettel’s record for the youngest F1 World Champion by over three years.
“This is a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life. We’ve had an amazing season and I’m so proud of what we have achieved together. From very early on, we had a strong car and were able to be consistent, and that gave us the belief that we could fight for the championship,” Antonelli said.
Verstappen wins Mexico GP
Red Bull Racing driver moves up to second in drivers’ championship
Polesitter Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel with his Ferrari teammate Leclerc at the start. As both drivers went deep into Turn 4, Leclerc went across the grass to take the lead, while Hamilton dropped to third behind Verstappen.
While the baseline penalty guideline for this is a 10 seconds, the stewards handed Leclerc a five-second penalty, noting that Hamilton was also “off track on the inside of car 16 and this occurred early in the first lap”.
Leclerc lost the lead to Verstappen as he served his penalty during his pit stop. He lost another place at the re-start, allowing Hamilton to move up to P2. Speaking after the race, Ferrari team principal admitted that missing out on victory “in this way is difficult to accept”. He added, “We were running one-two on track here in Mexico and, when you are in that position, you have to make the most of the opportunity. We will discuss what happened within the team and make sure everything is clear going forward.”
Verstappen benefitted from the scrap between the two Ferraris to take the lead after starting from P5 on the grid. He held off Hamilton at the late Safety Car restart to cross the line with an advantage of 0.799 sec. The Red Bull driver has now won three of the last four races, propelling him to second overall in the drivers’ championship – two points ahead of Hamilton.
Leclerc finished fourth in the race after fending off Lando Norris. George Russel’s P6 result drops him to fourth overall in the standings, where he’s nine points behind Hamilton and 11 points behind Verstappen. Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Isack Hadjar ended up P7, P8 and P9 respectively. Ryo Hirawaka, who stepped in as a last-minute replacement for Esteban Ocon, finished P10 for Haas on his F1 debut.
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly initially finished P8 and P10 on track, but lost their top-10 positions after receiving post-race penalties for separate yellow flag infringements.
Stephen Raj Antony
Saptarshi Mondal
