Antonelli crowned youngest ever F1 champion as Verstappen wins eventful Mexico City Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli became the youngest ever Formula 1 World Champion as third place in the Mexico City Grand Prix was enough for the Mercedes driver to claim the 2026 crown, with Max Verstappen taking race victory from Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli entered Sunday's 71-lap race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez needing only to finish ninth to claim a maiden F1 title, regardless of where rivals Hamilton and Mercedes team mate George Russell finished.

The 20-year-old started fourth and eventually finished third in a race where the Italian had to deal with a mid-race red flag after a heavy accident for Valtteri Bottas and a late Safety Car following a crash for Arvid Lindblad.

Out in front, Verstappen claimed his third win of the season, the Red Bull driver withstanding late pressure from Hamilton to claim an unlikely win from fifth on the grid after being helped by an intense Ferrari intra-team battle.

Having jumped up to second on the opening lap, Verstappen took the lead after Charles Leclerc was handed a time penalty for cutting the track on the first lap when battling polesitter Hamilton.

The Dutchman then held the lead at the standing restart and maintained the lead again after the Safety Car was recalled with eight laps remaining, with Hamilton a constant threat.

Leclerc finished fourth after withstanding immense late pressure from Lando Norris' McLaren, with George Russell (Mercedes), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Franco Colapinto (Alpine), Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls from the pit lane and the second Alpine of Pierre Gasly completing the top 10.

Gabriel Bortoleto was P11 for Audi, ahead of Red Bull's Isack Hadjar who was tipped into a spin by Russell on the opening lap, with Ryo Hirakawa finishing P13 for Haas on his F1 debut after a mid-weekend call-up.

Alex Albon headed Williams team mate Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg was P16 after a 10-second penalty for a collision with Ollie Bearman ahead of home hero Sergio Perez, the Cadillac driver the last of the classified runners.

Lindblad crashed out at Turn 2 after a late collision with Piastri, Bearman retired after contact from Hulkenberg, while Bottas and the two Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso retired.

AS IT HAPPENED

Drivers faced the longest run of the season down to the first corner at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez once the red lights went out, with Hamilton holding his pole position advantage and leading a line of cars into the braking zone.

The seven-time World Champion immediately faced pressure from his Ferrari team mate, though, Leclerc diving to the outside as the pair ran side-by-side through the opening turns with Hamilton just holding the advantage.

The Briton went defensive again into Turn 4, with Leclerc sweeping to the outside as the pair went side-by-side into the braking zone once more.

Both went off track and just avoided contact, with Leclerc deciding to head across the grass to take the lead, while Hamilton rejoined the track but with a compromised exit through the right of Turn 5.

This allowed Verstappen to jump Hamilton on the exit and into the next corner, preventing any chance for Leclerc to give Hamilton the position back, while behind, Russell tapped Hadjar into a spin at Turn 6.

The Mercedes driver had started on the front row and initially challenged Hamilton on the run down to the first corner, but he was swamped before even reaching the braking zone due to apparent energy deployment issues and had dropped to P6 before the contact.

The incident between the Ferrari drivers was immediately placed under investigation, with Leclerc leading Verstappen, Hamilton, Antonelli and Russell, as Norris worked his way up to P6 after losing positions on the opening lap to Colapinto and Lindblad.

A brief Virtual Safety Car appeared on Lap 7, Stroll having pulled his Aston Martin off at Turn 6 as team mate Alonso retired in the pits to complete a miserable race for the team.

By Lap 12, Leclerc had pulled out a 3.2-second gap to Verstappen as the Monegasque driver was handed a 5s penalty for his opening lap incident with Hamilton, a 10s penalty not applied by the stewards as both drivers had gone off track. Russell, meanwhile, was handed 10s for his collision with Hadjar.

Unlike the rest of the leading runners on the soft Pirelli tyre, Verstappen had opted for the medium rubber and in theory a longer opening stint, the Dutchman maintaining a consistent two-second gap to Hamilton, with Antonelli a similar margin behind.

Russell, meanwhile, was dropping away and falling into the clutches of Norris, with Piastri, Lindblad, Colapinto and Hulkenberg on the medium tyre completing the top 10, followed by Audi team mate Bortoleto, Bearman and Gasly.

Home hero Perez found himself up in P14, heading both Williams, rookie Hirakawa, the recovering Hadjar who pitted under the VSC, Cadillac team mate Bottas and Lawson, the Racing Bulls driver having started from the pit lane after being disqualified from Qualifying.

Gasly stopped on Lap 17 for medium tyres, as Bearman jumped Bortoleto at Turn 1 for P11, the Haas driver having taken his best F1 result 12 months ago in Mexico with P4.

By the start of Lap 22, Leclerc held a 5s margin over Verstappen as clean air for the race leader was proving crucial, with Hamilton and Antonelli continuing to follow in the dirty air of Verstappen.

Hamilton made his feelings clear about Leclerc's penalty over the radio, stating "the stewards are basically handing Charles this win", having dropped 7.5s adrift by Lap 24.

Piastri became the first of the leading runners to pit at the end of Lap 26 from P7, switching from the soft to the medium tyre as the Australian struggled to match the pace of team mate Norris ahead having started P12.

It prompted a flurry of pit lane action, Leclerc and Verstappen both pitting the next lap and the Red Bull driver rejoining ahead as Leclerc served his penalty.

Leclerc was now on a medium and Verstappen on the soft, with the four-time World Champion told he would run to the end with more than 40 laps remaining.

Hamilton pitted the next lap for mediums, handing the lead to Antonelli, and he rejoined behind Verstappen and Leclerc, with Russell and Norris now P2 and P3 but also yet to stop.

Norris continued to challenge Russell, who was 5.6s behind Antonelli, but was unable to find a way through, having been told his best option was to stay out and hope for a Safety Car.

Norris was finally released as Russell pitted at the end of Lap 33, the Briton serving his 10s penalty and rejoining back in P8 and just ahead of Piastri, who had struggled to clear Bearman for several laps.

Lindblad made his sole stop from P6 two laps later, rejoining back in P10 and ahead of Hadjar with Bearman and Bortoleto up ahead also yet to pit.

By Lap 38, Antonelli held a 9s lead from Norris, who in turn was 3s clear of Verstappen, with Leclerc only 1.6s behind and Hamilton 2s back – the top five covered by nearly 15s.

But just a lap later Norris blinked, bringing his McLaren into the pits for a set of medium tyres, the reigning World Champion who was on the brink of relinquishing his crown rejoining in a lonely P5 after a slow stop.

With 30 laps remaining, Verstappen had closed to within 9.4s of Antonelli, with Leclerc in third and complaining his car was difficult to drive.

Bearman pitted from P8 and rejoined P14 on the medium tyre, with Hadjar making his second stop a lap later and finding himself in P15.

Antonelli also headed for the pits on Lap 43, the final driver to make a tyre change and rejoining comfortably in P4 despite a 4.3-second stop just moments before a Safety Car was deployed.

Bottas suffered a heavy crash at Turn 1, the Finn finding the barrier after his front left suspension failed under braking, prompting Hamilton to pit, and dropping behind Antonelli, as did Russell and Piastri.

The Safety Car was upgraded to a red flag starting from Lap 46 due to barrier damage, while Bottas briefly received medical attention. Eventually extracting himself from the car unaided having been responsive on the radio, he was taken to the medical centre for precautionary checks.

Gasly was initially placed under investigation after the Alpine driver headed out of the pit lane just as the red light had appeared to neutralise the race, but the stewards took no further action due to the limited time to react.

Verstappen lined up for the standing restart at the head of the field from Leclerc, with Hamilton reinstated in P3 ahead of Antonelli, as Norris, Russell, Piastri, Lindblad, Colapinto and Gasly completed the top 10, all fitted with soft tyres.

As the red lights went out for the second time, Hamilton immediately jumped ahead of Leclerc off the line and challenged Verstappen into Turn 1, moving to the outside but running out of room and having to slot back into second after the pair made minor contact.

Leclerc lost another position the following lap into Turn 1, Antonelli diving to the inside before the Ferrari driver had to continually defend from Norris over the closing stages and complaining about vibrations after a huge lock-up into the opening corner at the restart.

As Bearman retired in the pits after a collision with Hulkenberg at Turn 4, which earned the Audi driver a 10s penalty, Hamilton continued to hustle Verstappen as Antonelli closed on the pair.

Verstappen was placed under investigation for a potential out of position start, which was eventually dismissed, as was any action after his Turn 1 moment with Hamilton.

A late Safety Car was deployed after Piastri and Lindblad came together through the opening sequence of corners, the McLaren driver on the outside of Turn 1 and clipping the right-rear of the Racing Bulls machine, with the contact sending the rookie into the wall.

Verstappen nailed the restart with eight laps remaining, and despite Hamilton looming large, held on to win by 0.7s, as Antonelli completed the podium just 4s adrift on a weekend to remember for the young Italian.

Key quote

"We did it. And, you know, without them, I wouldn’t be here. Without Mercedes, without my family," said new World Champion Kimi Antonelli. "So I’m very grateful for this moment, and it’s one that will live forever. And I just, I’m speechless. I’m trying to process what has just happened."

What's next

The F1 paddock will move straight on to the Sao Paulo Grand Prix across the weekend of 6-8 November. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action from the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.