MEXICO CITY – Kimi Antonelli became the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history on Sunday, sealing the 2026 drivers’ title with third place at the Mexico City Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen took a dramatic, red-flagged victory.
The Mercedes driver, aged 20 years and 68 days, needed only to finish ninth at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez to put the championship beyond the reach of team mate George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, with four rounds still to run.
He did far more than that, climbing from fourth on the grid and passing Charles Leclerc after a late restart to join Verstappen and Hamilton on the podium. The two drivers beside him hold 11 world titles between them.
“We did it. And, you know, without them, I wouldn’t be here. Without Mercedes, without my family,” Antonelli said. He added that he was “very grateful for this moment, and it’s one that will live forever.”
A record broken by more than three years
Antonelli takes the youngest-champion record from Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 when he won the first of his four titles with Red Bull in 2010. The Italian lowers that mark by more than three years, AFP reported.
He is also Italy’s first world champion since Alberto Ascari won his second consecutive title for Ferrari in 1953, ending a 73-year wait for a country that hosts one of the sport’s oldest races at Monza and is home to its most famous team.
He has done it in only his second season. Antonelli arrived in Mexico with nine wins from 18 races, and a run of nine podiums in his previous 11 starts, according to AFP.
Verstappen wins a chaotic race
The race was decided by a series of incidents rather than raw pace. Hamilton started from his first pole position for Ferrari, but his team mate Leclerc pulled alongside him on the long run to Turn 1.
The pair ran wheel to wheel through the opening corners and both went off at Turn 4. Leclerc cut across the grass to take the lead, while Hamilton lost momentum and Verstappen swept past him on the exit of Turn 5, Formula 1 reported.
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Leclerc was given a five-second penalty, which he served at his pit stop, handing the lead to Verstappen. Antonelli briefly led the race during the pit cycle before making his own stop on lap 43.
The race was then red-flagged on lap 46 after Valtteri Bottas crashed heavily at Turn 1 when his Cadillac’s front-left suspension failed under braking. He was taken to the medical centre for precautionary checks, and the barriers needed repairs.
A further Safety Car followed contact between Oscar Piastri and Arvid Lindblad, setting up a final sprint with eight laps to go. Hamilton attacked Verstappen to the flag but fell 0.799 seconds short, while Antonelli took third from Leclerc. Lando Norris was fifth and Russell sixth, after a 10-second penalty for spinning Isack Hadjar on the opening lap.
It was Verstappen’s third win of the season.
From doubts to dominance
Antonelli’s title completes a sharp turnaround from his rookie year. Mercedes promoted him to replace Hamilton in 2025 after just three seasons in junior single-seaters, and he went 10 races without scoring as critics called for him to be dropped.
Team principal Toto Wolff said the decision had been “a calculated risk, not a real risk”, but admitted the team had lost sponsors over it.
“I was thinking before, we had two sponsors leaving us because of that, because who is this kid?” Wolff told Sky Sports F1. “People said he shouldn’t even be in F1, he should be at a smaller team, 10 races and no points, the tears in Spa, and then this.”
Wolff also credited the Italian’s personality with changing the mood inside the team. “So then comes this Italian boy that starts to hug everyone in the garage and you can see how it changed the environment and now all the Brits are hugging each other, which is weird to see,” he said.
Antonelli’s father, Marco, who has backed his son’s career from karting, said the pressure of following a seven-time champion had been heavy. “The position that Kimi had last year was very difficult, because when you jump in the car of a seven-time World Champion, it’s very difficult to keep up the performance and not feel the pressure,” he told F1 TV.
“Step by step he makes himself stronger and stronger and stronger, and this is the result,” he told Sky Sports F1. “I said to him, I don’t know if you know, you are the champion. I cried!”
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Rivals pay tribute
The grid was quick to recognise the scale of the achievement. Verstappen, a four-time champion, praised Antonelli’s consistency. “At his age as well, to be so solid, not make big mistakes, and of course, also beat your experienced team mate, he’s just driven incredible,” he said.
Norris, who hands over the No. 1 after winning the 2025 title, was even more emphatic. “I hope everyone gives him enough credit for what he’s achieved this year, because he’s made everyone else look silly,” the McLaren driver said.
Not every rival framed it purely as a driving feat. Williams driver Carlos Sainz noted the strength of the Mercedes. “A lot of us would have wished to have such a competitive car in our first years in F1, and he did exactly that,” he said, while adding that Antonelli had “maximised everything”.
His team mate Alex Albon said Antonelli’s race pace had separated him from the field, “and of course, most probably partly car as well.”
Ferrari’s costly fight
For Ferrari, the day ended with recriminations. Hamilton said the team “easily had a car to have P1 and P2” and blamed the first-lap battle with Leclerc for losing the win.
“In the drivers’ briefing, we discussed that as soon as you go off at Turn 1, you have to give the position back,” Hamilton said. “Last year I got a 10-second penalty for that same move that he did. Ultimately, it was that that lost us the win today. And I, yeah, I think we have to have some serious talks behind the scenes for sure.”
It is not the first flashpoint between the pair this season. They clashed in China, and Leclerc apologised for pushing Hamilton off at the start of the Italian Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s strong result did slow Mercedes’ bid for a constructors’ title double. Mercedes went into the weekend 133 points clear and needed to outscore Ferrari by 39 points to clinch it in Mexico, GPblog reported. Instead, Ferrari’s second and fourth places outscored Mercedes’ third and sixth, so the team title remains open.
The championship moves to the São Paulo Grand Prix this weekend, the first of four remaining races, with Antonelli racing as champion for the first time.
