Kimi Antonelli Becomes Youngest F1 World Champion as Max Verstappen Wins in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY. Kimi Antonelli is the youngest World Champion in Formula 1 history. The Mercedes driver finished third in the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, and that was enough to lock up the 2026 Drivers' Championship at 20 years and 68 days old. Max Verstappen won the race for Red Bull Racing, holding off Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari by 0.799 seconds.

Antonelli came into the 71-lap race needing only to finish ninth to clinch, no matter where Hamilton or teammate George Russell finished. He started fourth, climbed to third with a late pass on Charles Leclerc, and crossed the line 4.006 seconds behind Verstappen. He left Mexico with 380 points after 19 rounds, a total no one behind him can catch over the final four races.

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

Youngest ever, and Italy's first in 73 years

Antonelli broke the record held by Sebastian Vettel, who won his first title at 23 years and 133 days in 2010. Hamilton (23 years, 300 days), Fernando Alonso (24 years, 57 days) and Verstappen (24 years, 73 days) round out the five youngest champions, according to Formula 1. Antonelli is F1's 36th World Champion and the first Italian to win the title in 73 years, and he did it in his second season.

He joins Hamilton, Graham Hill and Denny Hulme as drivers who have clinched a title at this circuit. Verstappen and Hamilton, champions with 11 titles between them, hoisted him onto their shoulders on the podium.

"It's been an incredible season, and to share this podium with Max and Lewis is truly incredible," Antonelli said. "This weekend I did feel a bit more tense, but I'm just so happy, and happy that we got it done, and now we can enjoy the rest of the season."

How the race unfolded

Hamilton started from pole and held the lead into the long run to Turn 1, but Leclerc went around the outside of his teammate. The two Ferraris ran side by side through the opening corners, both left the track at Turn 4, and Leclerc cut across the grass to take the lead. Hamilton's compromised exit let Verstappen jump him for second from fifth on the grid. Russell, who started on the front row, lost ground at the start with what looked like an energy deployment issue and then tapped Isack Hadjar into a spin at Turn 6.

Leclerc got a five-second penalty for the first-lap incident, and Russell got 10 seconds for the contact with Hadjar. Verstappen had started on medium tyres while the rest of the leaders ran softs, and when Leclerc pitted on Lap 27 and served his penalty, Verstappen came out ahead of him.

Antonelli made the last stop of the front-runners on Lap 43, a 4.3-second stop, and rejoined fourth just before Valtteri Bottas crashed heavily at Turn 1 when his front left suspension failed under braking. Barrier repairs brought out the red flag from Lap 46. Bottas got out of the Cadillac on his own and was taken to the medical centre for precautionary checks.

Verstappen led the standing restart from Leclerc and Hamilton. Hamilton beat Leclerc off the line and made minor contact with Verstappen at Turn 1, and Antonelli passed Leclerc into Turn 1 a lap later for third. A late Safety Car came out when Oscar Piastri clipped the right rear of Arvid Lindblad's Racing Bulls car and sent the rookie into the wall. Verstappen nailed the restart with eight laps left and held on for his third win of the season.

The rest of the order

Leclerc finished fourth after holding off Lando Norris of McLaren. Russell was sixth after his penalty, ahead of Liam Lawson, who started from the pit lane after being disqualified from qualifying. Gabriel Bortoleto of Audi, Hadjar and Ryo Hirakawa, who scored a point on his F1 debut after a mid-weekend call-up at Haas, completed the top 10.

Piastri got a 10-second penalty for the collision with Lindblad and dropped to 13th. Nico Hulkenberg also took 10 seconds for contact with Ollie Bearman, Pierre Gasly was hit with a 30-second penalty for failing to slow under double yellows, and home favorite Sergio Perez finished 16th for Cadillac. Bottas, Lindblad, Bearman and both Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso did not finish.

Mercedes went on to clinch the Constructors' Championship a week later at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

For more, see Formula 1's race report (opens in a new tab) and the 2026 drivers' standings (opens in a new tab).

This was Round 19 of the 2026 season. It came after Antonelli's win in Austin and before Norris' win in the wet at Interlagos. For the full title picture, see our 2026 F1 standings breakdown. That weekend also cost Esteban Ocon his seat, as Haas benched him and turned to Rafael Câmara.

Sources: Formula 1. More Formula 1 coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Richard Pardon / Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team