Kimi Antonelli officially guarantees himself the Formula 1 world title for 2026! The Italian Mercedes driver finished third in the Mexican Grand Prix and achieved historic success, becoming the youngest champion in the history of motorsport. The victory in the race at the “Hermanos Rodriguez“ was for Max Verstappen, and second place went to Lewis Hamilton.
In front of a record crowd of over 405,000 spectators, the Dutchman made an excellent start and took advantage of the battle between the Ferrari drivers to take the lead. Thus, Verstappen achieved his third success of the season.
Hamilton, who started from pole position, had to be content with second position. The Briton put serious pressure on the leader in the final part, but was unable to overtake him. The greatest joy on the podium, however, was for Antonelli, who ended the battle for the title with his third place.
Charles Leclerc remained fourth after starting the race strongly, but was unable to maintain the necessary pace until the end. Lando Norris finished fifth and lost his world crown, and Antonelli's teammate in Mercedes – George Russell finished sixth.
Oscar Piastre finished seventh, having moved up five places from his starting position. The top 10 was completed by Franco Colapinto, Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly.
Leclerc overtook Hamilton early on, and Verstappen took advantage of the situation and climbed to second place. The Briton remained third, while Russell lost three places and dropped to fifth.
Leclerc's maneuver against Hamilton came under investigation, as both drivers left the track. The stewards imposed a five-second penalty on the Monegasque.
On the fifth lap, Russell came into contact with Isaac Hajar's car. The Racing Bulls driver spun and lost a significant number of positions, and the Briton received a 10-second penalty.
Two laps later, a virtual safety car was deployed after both Aston Martin cars pitted. This ended the race prematurely for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
Leclerc subsequently managed to build a 4.8-second lead over Verstappen. On lap 27, the Ferrari driver pitted to serve his penalty, and the Dutchman took advantage of the situation and overtook him during the pit stops for tire changes. Hamilton made his pit stop on the next lap, and Russell – on lap 32.
Meanwhile, Antonelli took the lead, following his strategy to finish in the top 9, which was enough for him to win the title. The Italian changed his tires on lap 43 and returned to the track in fourth position.
Shortly afterwards, Valtteri Bottas suffered a serious crash due to a suspension problem in the area of the front left tire. A safety car was deployed, and on lap 46 the race was temporarily stopped to remove the car and restore the protective barriers.
After the interruption, the drivers lined up for the restart. On lap 48, Antonelli managed to overtake Leclerc and climb to third place - the position that guaranteed him the world title.
A new crash followed on lap 57. While attempting to overtake, Oscar Piastre came into contact with Arvid Lindblad, whose car left the track and hit the protective barriers. This again necessitated the appearance of the safety car.
The race was resumed on lap 64. Hamilton tried to pressure Verstappen in the fight for victory, while Antonelli calmly maintained his third position. Until the end of the race, the top three did not change.
Thus Kimi Antonelli achieved the greatest success of his career and was officially crowned the Formula 1 world champion for 2026.