Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest world champion in the history of Formula 1. He secured the title by finishing third in the Mexico City Grand Prix, aged 20 years and 68 days.
Antonelli thereby broke the record of Sebastian Vettel, who won his first title in 2010 at the age of 23 years and 134 days. The new champion is three years and 67 days younger than the German. He also became the first Italian to win a Formula 1 title since Alberto Ascari in 1953. He secured the title in his second season in the sport, having only stopped being a teenager on 25 August.
The race in Mexico City was stopped by a red flag, followed by a 25-lap sprint to the finish. On the restart, Hamilton and Leclerc made contact in the first chicane. Valtteri Bottas suffered a collision in his Cadillac in lap 45 when his front suspension failed while braking for the first corner. Another safety car was deployed 12 laps from the end after Arvid Lindblad crashed his Racing Bulls following a collision with Oscar Piastri's McLaren.
When the race resumed seven laps from the end, Antonelli was running at the back of a three-car pack with Verstappen and Hamilton. They crossed the finish line one after another, with all three cars within two seconds. Max Verstappen won in Mexico City, while Lewis Hamilton finished second and Antonelli third. It was Verstappen's third win in four races.
Hamilton started from pole position, with Leclerc third behind Russell. Leclerc attacked Hamilton through corners one, two and three in the first lap. In the four-five chicane, Leclerc dived from the outside, went onto the grass, cut the corner and emerged in the lead. Hamilton also went off the track while defending. Verstappen overtook Hamilton in corner six and took second place. Leclerc received a five-second penalty, although the standard penalty is 10 seconds, as the stewards considered it a mitigating circumstance that Hamilton also went off the track.
Russell finished sixth, including a 10-second penalty for knocking Red Bull's Isack Hadjar into a spin in the first lap. Piastri's car was damaged in the incident with Lindblad. Antonelli knew he was entering the race aware that he essentially only needed to avoid trouble to secure the title. The only way he would not win it was if Russell or Hamilton won. He needed to finish ninth if it was his team-mate or tenth if it was Hamilton.
Antonelli completed the first stint calmly in fourth place, behind Leclerc, Verstappen and Hamilton. He moved into the lead as those ahead of him made their pit stops. He pitted for fresh tyres just one lap before the safety car, and Mercedes extended his final stint. Leclerc locked his front left wheel heavily as Verstappen and Hamilton battled for the lead ahead of him on the restart. Antonelli overtook Leclerc at the start of the next lap. Leclerc's locking after the red flag left him fighting with a flat spot on his tyre, and he was under heavy pressure from McLaren's Lando Norris. Leclerc managed to hold off the 2025 world champion.
Antonelli mixed tears and laughter over the radio on the cooling lap. He said: 'Thank you very much. We did it. We did it.'
