Verstappen Wins Mexico City Grand Prix as Antonelli Becomes Youngest F1 Champion in History

Max Verstappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday, but the day belonged to the man who finished third. Kimi Antonelli brought his Mercedes home on the podium at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and clinched the 2026 Formula 1 world championship, becoming the youngest champion in the history of the sport at 20 years old.

Antonelli needed to finish ninth or better to settle the title outright with four races to spare, and he never looked in real danger of missing that mark. The title had been coming since his win in Austin on October 25 put the championship within reach in Mexico City. He started fourth, ran fourth for much of the 71 laps, and passed Charles Leclerc after the late restart to take third, 3.3 seconds behind second placed Lewis Hamilton. The 15 points for third place gave him an unassailable lead of 121 points over Hamilton in the standings.

A race split in two

Verstappen started fifth and was second by the end of the first lap, behind Leclerc. He took the lead from the Ferrari driver when the pair pitted together on lap 28 and controlled the race from there, through two safety cars and a virtual safety car.

The race was stopped on lap 45 when Valtteri Bottas suffered a suspension failure on his front left wheel and crashed into the wall. Officials halted the race while the barrier was repaired, and the field formed up on the grid for a second standing start, with Verstappen leading the two Ferraris and Antonelli.

Hamilton, who had started from his 105th career pole position, chased Verstappen hard after the restart and closed to within 0.7 seconds at the flag, but he could not pass. The win was Verstappen's third of the season, the 74th of his career and his record sixth at this race in Mexico. Leclerc finished fourth ahead of Lando Norris, and George Russell took sixth after serving a 10 second penalty for knocking Isack Hadjar into a spin on the first lap.

The youngest champion

Antonelli is the 36th driver to win the world championship, the fourth to do it with Mercedes and the third Italian champion, ending a wait that stretched back to Alberto Ascari in 1953. He takes the youngest champion record from Sebastian Vettel, who won his first title in 2010 at the age of 23.

He did it while unwell. Antonelli missed the Mexico media day with a viral illness, and USA Today reported he had been battling illness and exhaustion in the build up to the race. After he crossed the line, his first words were for the people around him. "We did it. We did it, and we wouldn't have done it without Mercedes, without my family," he said, in comments carried by Autosport's live coverage.

What comes next

Verstappen's win moved him up to second place in the drivers' standings, behind the new champion. The constructors' championship was not settled in Mexico and will be decided later, with Brazil next on the calendar, according to the RacingNews365 standings report. Four races remain in the season, and Antonelli will drive them as champion.