Max Verstappen wins Mexico City GP as Kimi Antonelli clinches 2026 F1 title
Antonelli finished third at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez to secure the championship with four rounds remaining.
Max Verstappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix while Kimi Antonelli secured the 2026 Formula One Drivers' Championship by finishing third. Antonelli became the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
Key takeaways
- Verstappen won the Mexico City GP for Red Bull
- Antonelli finished third to clinch the 2026 F1 Drivers' Championship
- Antonelli is the first Italian world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953
- The title was secured with four rounds to spare
- Antonelli is the fourth driver to win the championship in their second F1 season
Max Verstappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, ESPN reported. Kimi Antonelli finished third to secure the 2026 Formula One Drivers' Championship, Sky Sports said. The 20-year-old Italian driver races for Mercedes.
Verstappen took advantage of a big fight between the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on the opening lap to claim his third win in four races.
Pole-sitter Hamilton went side by side with Leclerc through the tight Turns 1 and 2 before Leclerc attacked again into Turn 4 around the outside.
Both drivers went off the track but Leclerc went across the grass to take the lead, allowing Verstappen to capitalise by overtaking Hamilton. Leclerc was handed a five-second time penalty but a furious Hamilton said "the stewards are basically handling Charles this win" on the radio.
Verstappen crucially stayed within five seconds of Leclerc before the only round of pit stops to take the lead as they pitted together, but appeared to have an inferior car compared to the Ferraris, and was on aging soft tyres.
Leclerc got a poor launch from second so Hamilton attacked Verstappen into Turn 1, with the pair making contact as the Red Bull driver came out on top in the exchange.
Verstappen did just enough to keep Hamilton at bay with Antonelli, fittingly, just behind the two F1 legends in third.
Leclerc battled his way to fourth with flat-spotted front tyres from a lock up on the restart, while McLaren's Lando Norris finished fifth and Mercedes' George Russell sixth.
Russell had earlier served a 10-second time penalty for colliding with Red Bull's Isack Hadjar on the opening lap, which dropped him out of the podium fight.
Piastri had crossed the line in seventh but was given a 10-second time penalty for his collision with Lindblad, so dropped to 15th.
That promoted Alpine's Franco Colapinto to seventh, ahead of Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, the other Alpine of Pierre Gasly, and Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto in 10th.
Britain's Oliver Bearman was in contention for points until Audi's Nico Hulkenberg ran into the back of him on the restart while his Haas team-mate and F1 debutant Ryo Hirakawa was 13th.
Why it matters
Antonelli finished third to secure the F1 Drivers' Championship with four rounds to spare, becoming the first Italian world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
The 20-year-old avoided all the chaos in one of the most action-packed races of the season and was hugely emotional after the chequered flag. "We did it, we did it.
I wouldn't be here without Mercedes, without my family, so I'm very grateful for this moment and it's one that will live forever," said Antonelli. "I'm speechless.
" After a difficult rookie campaign, Antonelli has become just the fourth driver to become world champion in their second Formula 1 season, after Juan Manuel Fangio (1951), Jacques Villeneuve (1997) and Lewis Hamilton (2008).
He has exceeded expectations by winning nine races so far in 2026 and finished just two races outside of the podium places when he has seen the chequered flag.
Antonelli won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 2026 with Mercedes, becoming the youngest-ever World Drivers' Champion; he has won nine Grands Prix since his debut in 2025.
Max Verstappen is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing.
Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won consecutively from 2021 to 2024 with Red Bull, and has won 74 Grands Prix across 12 seasons.
What happens next
Formula One continues with four rounds left on the 2026 calendar, Sky Sports said. The next fixture date and venue were not given in the sources.
Mexico City GP top six finishers
Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari |
3 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes |
4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
5 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
6 | George Russell | Mercedes |
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