Max Verstappen wins the Mexico City Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton as third-placed Kimi Antonelli clinches his first drivers’ title. At 20 years and 68 days, Antonelli becomes Formula 1’s youngest champion and its first Italian champion since 1953, giving Mercedes its 10th drivers’ title and first since 2020.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix, finishing 0.799 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli finished third to secure his first drivers’ championship with 4 races remaining and an unassailable 119-point lead.
Antonelli qualified fifth but started fourth after Verstappen received a one-place grid penalty for a practice clash with Liam Lawson.
Leclerc took the lead after leaving the track while battling Hamilton and received a five-second penalty. He served it at his pit stop, allowing Verstappen to emerge ahead. Bottas later crashed after a front-left suspension failure, bringing out a red flag; he was released from the medical centre without injury. At the standing restart, Hamilton passed Leclerc for second and Antonelli overtook him for third.
Hamilton took his first Ferrari pole with a lap of 1:16.514, 0.009 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.
In qualifying, seven-time world champion Hamilton took his 105th career pole and his first since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. According to the BBC, he was the oldest pole-sitter since Mario Andretti for Ferrari at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix. Hamilton said a Friday engine issue had prevented a long run, praised the setup work and said taking pole for Ferrari felt special. Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc qualified third, 0.119 seconds off pole.
In Q3, McLaren’s Lando Norris was sixth, 0.310 seconds off pole, followed by Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar (+0.386), Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson (+0.515) and Arvid Lindblad (+0.603), and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly (+0.639). Norris failed to improve on his final lap.
The Q2 eliminations were Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg in 11th with 1:17.306, 0.036 seconds short of tenth; Alpine’s Franco Colapinto in 12th, 0.334 seconds behind Hulkenberg; McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in 13th (+0.340); Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto in 14th (+0.374); Haas’s Ollie Bearman in 15th (+0.777); and Williams’s Carlos Sainz in 16th (+1.579). The Guardian reported that McLaren saved a set of soft tyres but an aborted fast lap left Piastri eliminated.
The practice collision damaged both cars and stopped the session. The stewards' sanctions will move each driver back on the race grid.
The Q1 eliminations were Williams’s Alex Albon in 17th with 1:18.630, 0.109 seconds short of 16th; Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in 18th, 0.278 seconds behind Albon; Haas’s Ryo Hirakawa in 19th (+0.328); Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in 20th (+0.442); Cadillac’s Sergio Perez in 21st (+0.475); and Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas in 22nd (+1.222).
Leclerc led both Friday practice sessions in Mexico, while Norris led Saturday’s final practice by 0.001 seconds over Antonelli. Antonelli had won the preceding United States Grand Prix from pole, with Leclerc second and Verstappen third.
Antonelli surpassed Sebastian Vettel’s youngest-champion record, set with Red Bull at 23 years and 134 days in 2010. Alberto Ascari had been the last Italian to win the title.
Antonelli’s teammate George Russell needed to win to keep his championship hopes alive but finished sixth. Antonelli instead sealed the title with a podium finish, giving Mercedes its 10th drivers’ championship and its first since Lewis Hamilton won in 2020.
The constructors’ championship, the separate title for teams, remains undecided. Mercedes leads Ferrari 630 points to 504 and could clinch that championship in Brazil the following weekend.
2 min
Cadillac sits last without a win or point in its debut season, and retaining Pérez gives the team a confirmed driver for 2027 and beyond as it seeks better results.
2 min
Mercedes’ one-stop strategy kept Antonelli ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, but the championship remains undecided heading to the Mexican Grand Prix.
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