Kimi Antonelli clinched his first world title and became the youngest champion in Formula 1 history by finishing third at the Mexico City Grand Prix. At 20 years and 68 days old, the Italian driver crossed the line behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton to capture the championship.
Making Formula 1 History
Antonelli secured the world title with several races remaining in a dominant season. He shattered Sebastian Vettel’s previous record for the youngest champion by three years and 66 days, while also becoming the first Italian to win the F1 drivers’ crown since Alberto Ascari in 1953. Overwhelmed on his slowing down lap, Antonelli was initially unable to speak on the team radio before composing himself to say, “Thank you so much. We did it. We did it.”
Going into the race, Antonelli only needed to stay out of trouble to secure the title, as the only mathematical scenarios for him to lose it involved a win by George Russell or Hamilton. Running a steady fourth during the initial stint, he briefly inherited the lead during pit stops before pitting for fresh tires just prior to a safety car period. Valtteri Bottas subsequently crashed his Cadillac on lap 45 due to a front suspension failure under braking for Turn One, which initially brought out the safety car before turning into a red flag and a 25-lap sprint to the finish.
At the restart, Leclerc locked his left front wheel heavily as Verstappen and Hamilton fought for the lead, allowing Antonelli to pass Leclerc at the start of the next lap. Another safety car deployment occurred with 12 laps remaining after Arvid Lindblad crashed his Racing Bulls following contact with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. When racing resumed with seven laps left, Antonelli ran at the tail end of a three-car train alongside Verstappen and Hamilton, with all three finishing nose to tail separated by less than two seconds.
Ferrari Tension and Race Results
While Antonelli celebrated his championship, tensions flared within the Ferrari garage between Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Hamilton started on pole position, but Leclerc challenged him through the opening turns. At the Turn Four and Five chicane, Leclerc dived around the outside, went onto the grass, cut the corner, and emerged in the lead. Hamilton also went off while defending, which enabled Verstappen to pass Hamilton for second place.
Stewards handed Leclerc a five-second penalty—less than the standard 10-second punishment—taking into consideration that Hamilton had also gone off track. Hamilton expressed frustration after the race, believing that Leclerc’s aggression cost Ferrari a potential one-two finish and a race victory. Leclerc later battled a flat spot on his tire following a lock-up after the red flag, but managed to defend fourth place against McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Mercedes driver George Russell finished sixth after serving a 10-second penalty for spinning Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar on the opening lap. Oscar Piastri took seventh in a McLaren car damaged from his earlier collision with Lindblad. The top ten points-scoring positions in Mexico were completed by Max Verstappen in first, Lewis Hamilton second, Kimi Antonelli third, Charles Leclerc fourth, Lando Norris fifth, George Russell sixth, Oscar Piastri seventh, Franco Colapinto eighth for Alpine, Liam Lawson ninth for Racing Bulls, and Pierre Gasly tenth for Alpine.
The Formula 1 season continues with the third race of its second triple-header, heading to Interlagos for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil from November 6-8.
