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Max Verstappen wins the race but Kimi Antonelli steals history

Kimi Antonelli is the new king of Formula 1. And at 20 years old, he’s still five years away from renting a car without being treated like a public liability.

The Mercedes driver became the youngest World Champion in Formula 1 history Sunday, finishing third in the Mexico City Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. It was more than enough to secure his maiden championship, putting him comfortably beyond the reach of his closest rivals and into the record books.

Antonelli arrived in Mexico City with a relatively straightforward assignment. Finish ninth or better, and the championship was his. It didn’t matter where Lewis Hamilton or Mercedes teammate George Russell finished. All the Italian had to do was keep his car pointing in the right direction and avoid doing anything spectacularly stupid.

He managed considerably better than that.

Starting fourth, Antonelli navigated a race that included a lengthy red-flag stoppage, a pair of Safety Car interruptions and enough drama to make a Mexican Telenovela look understated. When the checkered flag finally fell, he was standing on the podium and holding a Formula 1 World Championship trophy.

“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. And I just, I’m speechless. I’m trying to process what has just happened.”

At 20, Antonelli has rewritten the record books, becoming the youngest driver ever to win the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship. It’s an extraordinary achievement in a sport where the competition is fierce, the margins are microscopic and the consequences of getting things wrong generally arrive at somewhere north of 180 mph.

But while Antonelli was busy making history, Max Verstappen was busy reminding everyone that he hasn’t suddenly become a supporting character.

The Red Bull driver started fifth but made a terrific getaway, moving into second during an opening-lap battle between Ferrari teammates Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Leclerc had run off the circuit while trying to get past Hamilton, and the resulting loss of momentum allowed Verstappen to muscle his way into the fight.

The stewards subsequently handed Leclerc a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Verstappen, meanwhile, had no intention of waiting around for Ferrari to sort out its internal politics.

Leclerc initially built a lead of more than five seconds, but the penalty became particularly expensive when the first round of pit stops arrived on lap 28. Verstappen emerged ahead of the Ferrari after serving the time penalty, taking control of the race.

Hamilton eventually moved into second, setting up a fascinating late battle with the Dutchman.

The race, however, was far from finished with its collection of interruptions.

Valtteri Bottas suffered a left-front suspension failure approaching Turn 1, sending his Cadillac into the barriers. The Safety Car was deployed before officials red-flagged the race to allow repairs to the barriers. Bottas was taken to the medical center for precautionary checks but was released without injury.

After an interruption of nearly 40 minutes, the field returned for a standing restart on lap 47.

Verstappen led Leclerc, Hamilton and Antonelli away. Hamilton immediately got past his Ferrari teammate, while Antonelli took advantage of a lockup from Leclerc to move into third.

That was precisely where Mercedes needed him to be.

Hamilton continued to hound Verstappen through the closing stages, but the Red Bull driver refused to surrender. A late Safety Car, triggered when Oscar Piastri and Arvid Lindblad made contact and sent the Racing Bulls driver into the barriers, brought the field together with eight laps remaining.

It gave Hamilton one last opportunity to spoil Verstappen’s afternoon.

He couldn’t.

Verstappen made a clean getaway at the restart and held off the Ferrari through the final laps, crossing the finish line just 0.799 seconds ahead of Hamilton to claim his third victory of the season and sixth career win in Mexico City.

Antonelli followed them home in third, securing the championship in the process.

Behind the leading trio, Leclerc managed to hold off a late charge from Lando Norris to finish fourth. Norris took fifth, ahead of Russell, who had an afternoon he’d probably prefer to forget.

Russell dropped from second to sixth at the start before making contact with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, sending the Frenchman into a spin. The Mercedes driver received a 10-second penalty for the incident.

Oscar Piastri finished seventh, followed by Franco Colapinto, Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly, who completed the top 10. Lawson deserves particular credit for recovering from a pit-lane start to collect a point for Racing Bulls.

Hadjar recovered to 12th, while Ryo Hirakawa finished 13th on his Formula 1 debut for Haas after a mid-weekend call-up. Sergio Perez brought his Cadillac home in 17th in front of his home crowd.

It was a miserable afternoon for Aston Martin, with both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll retiring after just five laps following power unit problems. Oliver Bearman also retired following contact with Nico Hülkenberg, while Lindblad and Bottas joined the list of non-finishers.

But none of that will matter much to Antonelli.

Formula 1 has a new World Champion, and he’s a 20-year-old Italian who has managed something drivers spend entire careers chasing. The championship is his, the record books have a new name at the top, and Mercedes has its next superstar.

Meanwhile, Verstappen has another trophy, Hamilton has another podium and Ferrari has another afternoon to discuss in a meeting room.

Welcome to Formula 1’s new era.

FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO 2026 RACE RESULT

Pos. No. Driver Team Laps Time / Retired Pts.
1 3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 71 2:20:28.772 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 71 +0.799s 18
3 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 71 +4.006s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 +10.707s 12
5 1 Lando Norris McLaren 71 +11.778s 10
6 63 George Russell Mercedes 71 +12.263s 8
7 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren 71 +19.475s 6
8 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine 71 +20.204s 4
9 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 71 +20.899s 2
10 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 71 +21.483s 1
11 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 71 +22.041s 0
12 6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing 71 +22.503s 0
13 50 Ryo Hirakawa Haas F1 Team 71 +25.373s 0
14 23 Alexander Albon Williams 71 +27.562s 0
15 55 Carlos Sainz Williams 71 +28.638s 0
16 27 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 71 +29.977s 0
17 11 Sergio Perez Cadillac 71 +30.695s 0
NC 41 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 58 DNF 0
NC 87 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team 47 DNF 0
NC 77 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 42 DNF 0
NC 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 5 DNF 0
NC 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 5 DNF 0

* Provisional results.

Greg Engle
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Greg Engle

Editor at Caraganza.com
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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