Kimi Antonelli is 20 years old and already a world champion, and he didn’t even win the race. Max Verstappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday, holding off a charging Lewis Hamilton, while Antonelli finished third and clinched the 2026 drivers’ title. That makes him the youngest champion in Formula 1 history.
Two headlines in one afternoon. The race still found room for plenty of chaos on top of both.
How Verstappen Won the Mexico City Grand Prix
Verstappen started fifth on the grid at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and finished first, according to ABC News’ live coverage. The final margin over Hamilton’s Ferrari was 0.799 seconds, per the official results listed by PlanetF1. That’s less than a second after 71 laps (nobody was reaching for a snack).
The race had safety cars and a red flag. After the stoppage, the FIA went back a lap to set the order for a standing restart. As a result, Hamilton lined up third on the grid, behind Verstappen and Leclerc.
The final restart came after the Safety Car ended following lap 62 of 71. Verstappen got a strong getaway. Hamilton could not get close enough to attack into Turn 1, PlanetF1’s race report says.
Nine laps of Hamilton in his mirrors, and Verstappen never cracked. It was the same kind of control he showed in the Las Vegas Grand Prix 2025 recap.
Antonelli Clinches the Title in Mexico at 20
Antonelli took third, 4.006 seconds behind the winner, and that was enough. The Mercedes driver locked up the championship at the Mexican Grand Prix because neither Hamilton nor his own teammate George Russell won the race, RacingNews365 reports. Russell finished sixth.
Here’s the thing: at 20, Antonelli already owns a title that many drivers chase for an entire career and never catch. He did it by finishing on the podium on the day it mattered.
Sometimes that’s exactly how titles are won.
This didn’t come out of nowhere. His run this season has been a strong one.
Ferrari’s Rough Afternoon at the F1 Mexico Race
It wasn’t a clean day for Ferrari at the F1 Mexico race. Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc clashed during the race. Hamilton then accused the stewards of “handing” a win to Leclerc, according to PlanetF1.
Only that one word is available from the radio message, so the full picture is still murky. Leclerc ended up fourth, 10.707 seconds behind Verstappen, with Hamilton second.
I couldn’t confirm the details of the incident or whether any stewards’ decisions are still pending. Expect that argument to keep going in the Ferrari garage this week.
The Rest of the Order at the Mexico GP
Lando Norris took fifth for McLaren, 11.778 seconds back. Russell was sixth and Oscar Piastri seventh, per the PlanetF1 results. Five drivers did not finish at the Mexico GP: Lindblad, Bearman, Bottas (Cadillac), Stroll and Alonso.
So who really won Mexico City? Verstappen took the trophy, and Antonelli took the crown.
The only person left stewing is Hamilton. He stayed within a second of the win and still walked away with nothing but a complaint.
