Kimi Antonelli made history as the youngest Formula 1 world champion, clinching the title at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen won the race after a hard-fought battle with Lewis Hamilton, and Antonelli finished on the podium.
Lewis Hamilton was lined up on pole for the Mexico City Grand Prix, with George Russell alongside him in second.
However, as the lights went out, Russell was slow off the line, letting Hamilton hold onto the lead. Charles Leclerc quickly got on Hamilton’s gearbox, moving around the outside of both Russell and Hamilton in the early corners.
He went wheel-to-wheel with the Brit, but Hamilton managed to remain out front for the opening turns. Yet, it wasn’t long before Leclerc was trying again, with the duo running side by side until Turn 4, where both drivers ran off the track fighting for position. The Monegasque was forced to cut the corner, gaining an advantage.
However, he couldn’t give a place back as Max Verstappen took advantage of the Ferrari’s slower pace out of the corner and moved into second. While Leclerc continued to post the fastest laps out front and build the gap, Hamilton was frustrated on the radio as the incident was investigated.
As the fight unfolded in the opening laps, Russell made contact with Isack Hadjar, sending the Frenchman to the back of the grid.
Bad day for Aston Martin
It was a disastrous weekend for Aston Martin, with Fernando Alonso coming into the pit lane to retire the car on Lap 7, and later in the lap, Lance Stroll pulling up on the side of the track, also out of the race.
A short Virtual Safety Car was deployed, temporarily closing the gaps.
With no decision on his potential penalty, Leclerc continued to put in fastest laps. On lap 11, his gap to Verstappen in second sat at 2.9 seconds. On Lap 13, they gave the Monegasque driver a five-second penalty, with his gap to Verstappen steadily growing to mitigate the punishment.
Russell also received a 10-second penalty for the contact with Hadjar at the beginning of the race.
On lap 18, the first driver came into the pits, with Pierre Gasly changing to medium tyres from 13th on the grid; the Frenchman left the pits in 18th.
As the laps ticked down, the Monegasque out front built the gap further, reaching 4.8 seconds on Lap 21, with 6.8 seconds to Hamilton in third.
On lap 24, Hamilton came onto the radio to say that the Stewards had handed Leclerc a race win in his irritation. In reality, Verstappen was in a strong position, in second on the medium tyres, still waiting to switch to the faster soft tyres.
Leclerc came into the pits on Lap 28 to serve his five-second penalty. However, Verstappen took the lead as he jumped the Monegasque in the pits. Just as Hamilton got into free air, they also brought him into the pits on Lap 29.
The seven-time world champion left the pits three seconds behind Leclerc.
Struggles for Norris
Lando Norris was in third, closing on Antonelli’s gearbox. However, dirty air left the Brit struggling to get past the Mercedes. Just a few laps later, on Lap 36, he was on the radio complaining about the state of his tyres.
In fifth, Hamilton put in the fastest lap, cutting the gap to his teammate to 2.1 seconds. Meanwhile, he remained vocal on the radio with his frustration.
Antonelli was out front on Lap 38, with a 9.1-second gap. The Italian was on track to claim the Formula 1 World Championship, even if he lost the lead.
Norris finally received relief from his tyre issues on Lap 39, with the McLaren driver coming into the pits. However, it was a slow stop as Norris went long into his pit box, with six seconds spent in the pits.
Despite initially finding pace on the medium tyres, Hamilton was complaining about them, calling the change a ‘mistake’.
Ollie Bearman had a near miss as he went into the pits, with a last-minute move across the white line and a snap kept the Brit on his toes.
On Lap 43, Antonelli became the last driver to pit. It was a slow stop for the Italian, but he rejoined in fourth and remained in title-claiming position.
Valtteri Bottas had a suspension failure at Turn 1, hit the barriers, and brought out a Safety Car.
Hamilton dove into the pits desperate to get rid of the medium tyres. Verstappen and Leclerc stayed out.
Red Flag
A Red Flag was waved because Bottas was still in the car and the barriers were heavily damaged. However, a few moments later he gave a thumbs-up, then got out of the car and into the Medical Car.
As everyone came into the pits and went into their garages, Hamilton stormed into Ferrari. Before he climbed out of the car, he said, ‘We have big problems’, on the radio to the team.
When the race restarted, it was a standing start, with Hamilton starting in third behind his teammate and on the clear side of the track despite pitting and coming out behind Antonelli. This was because the race was suspended in the earlier sector before Hamilton and Gasly pitted.
Antonelli would subsequently start fourth on the grid, with the teams having to switch the cars in the pit lane. Confusion followed, with Toto Wolff taking a trip down the pit lane to talk to Fred Vasseur about the decision.
Ahead of the restart, Sergio Perez received a penalty for speeding in the pit lane while coming in for the Red Flag.
Verstappen holds his lead
Verstappen lined up in first for the restart with Leclerc on the dirty side of the track alongside him. Hamilton was on the clean side in third, and all three were desperate to hold the lead into the opening turns.
The Dutchman managed another strong start, holding onto first as the lights went out. Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen, hoping to take the lead.
However, Leclerc was behind, with a massive lock-up into the opening corners and struggling for pace, as Antonelli then made a brave lunge on the Ferrari for third.
Out front, Hamilton was closing in on Verstappen with just 0.5 seconds between the two. The two were noted for contact made on the opening lap, but luckily for both, there was no further action.
Just two laps later, Verstappen was noted for being out of position at the start.
Leclerc was in fourth, struggling with a flat spot caused by his lock-up, which put him under threat from Norris in fifth. The McLaren driver was looking for an opportunity to make a move.
Ollie Bearman was out of the race after Nico Hulkenberg hit the back of the Haas into the opening corners. Swiftly after, Hulkenberg received a penalty for the incident.
On Lap 52, Verstappen was cleared of his investigation for being out of position.
Norris was on Leclerc’s gearbox again when he ran off track, losing time in his battle for fourth.
Arvid Lindblad and Oscar Piastri were fighting for sixth. Lindblad was ahead as Piastri made contact with the Racing Bulls driver. He told the team he was okay over the radio, but his race was over when a Safety Car was brought out.
Leclerc didn’t pit under the Safety Car, and Ferrari decided the time loss wasn’t worth the tyre change.
As the Safety Car came in, Verstappen led the field when the race went green, after a strong start. He held first place into the first green-flag lap. Leclerc was under pressure with his flat spot in fourth, with Norris closing on the Monegasque.
Each lap, Norris seemed to get closer and closer, yet still couldn’t get past the Ferrari. With just four laps left, the chances were fading as Leclerc struggled in his SF-26.
However, as the final laps approached, the focus shifted to third place, where Antonelli was on the podium and in a position to claim his maiden World Championship title.
As the chequered flag was waved, Antonelli made F1 history, breaking Sebastian Vettel’s record to become the youngest F1 champion the sport has ever seen. He did so in just his second season in Formula 1.
Verstappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix, with Hamilton and Antonelli completing the podium.
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