Kimi Antonelli, 20, Becomes F1's Youngest World Champion as Verstappen Wins Mexico City Grand Prix

As of 8:57 a.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026

Kimi Antonelli became Formula One's youngest world champion on Sunday, Nov. 1, finishing third for Mercedes at the Mexico City Grand Prix, which Red Bull's Max Verstappen won.

Antonelli clinched the 2026 title at 20 years and 68 days old, Formula 1 said. The FIA, the sport's governing body, confirmed him as the 2026 FIA Formula One World Champion.

The previous youngest champion was Germany's Sebastian Vettel, who won the 2010 title, the earliest of his four, with Red Bull at 23 years and 134 days old, Reuters reported. AFP said Antonelli is more than three years younger than Vettel was then.

No Italian driver had won the title since Alberto Ascari in 1953, according to Reuters and AFP. He secured the title with four races still left in the season, the Associated Press reported.

Needed only ninth

Antonelli went into the 71-lap race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez needing to finish only ninth to take the title, whatever Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate George Russell did, according to F1's race report. He started fourth and finished 4.006 seconds behind the winner.

His overall lead is now an unassailable 119 points, Reuters reported. Verstappen moved up to second in the drivers' standings, Hamilton is third and Russell fell to fourth, 130 points behind Antonelli, according to Reuters. F1's standings page shows Antonelli on 380 points, Verstappen on 261, Hamilton on 259 and Russell on 250.

"We did it. And, you know, without them, I wouldn't be here. Without Mercedes, without my family," Antonelli said, according to F1. "I'm speechless. I'm trying to process what has just happened."

"On the last lap, I just backed off because I just couldn't see the track. I was getting emotional," he told a later news conference, Reuters reported. Mercedes posted: "ANDREA. KIMI. ANTONELLI. CHAMPION OF THE WORLD."

AFP said Antonelli has won nine races so far this season.

Verstappen holds off Hamilton

Verstappen won from fifth on the grid, his third win of the season, finishing in 2 hours, 20 minutes, 28.772 seconds, 0.799 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who started from pole position, according to F1's official race result. It was Verstappen's 74th career win and his sixth in Mexico, Reuters reported.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was fourth, ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris and Russell. Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls, who started from the pit lane, was seventh, followed by Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto, Red Bull's Isack Hadjar and Ryo Hirakawa, who scored a point for Haas on his F1 debut after a mid-weekend call-up, F1 said.

Leclerc took the lead on the opening lap after cutting across the track while battling Hamilton, and was given a five-second penalty, F1 reported. Russell received a 10-second penalty for a first-lap collision with Hadjar.

Bottas crash brings out red flag

The race was stopped from Lap 46 after Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas crashed heavily at Turn 1 when his front-left suspension failed under braking, F1 said. The red flag was needed because of damage to the barrier.

Bottas got out of the car unaided and was taken to the medical center for precautionary checks, according to F1. Reuters reported that he walked to an ambulance giving a thumbs-up, went to the medical center and was released. The race was halted for 33 minutes with 25 of the 71 laps left, Reuters said.

A late Safety Car followed when McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad collided, putting Lindblad into the wall, F1 said. Verstappen held the lead at the restart with eight laps left.

The race stewards gave Piastri a 10-second time penalty after the race for causing a collision with Lindblad at Turn 2, the FIA said, according to the stewards' decisions posted on its documents page. The penalty dropped him to 13th in F1's official classification. Alpine's Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly were also penalized after the race for failing to slow under yellow flags, F1's results page shows.

Constructors' title next

Mercedes leads the constructors' standings with 630 points to Ferrari's 504 and could clinch that title in Brazil next weekend, Reuters reported. F1's teams' standings show the same totals. The São Paulo Grand Prix runs Nov. 6-8, according to F1.