Antonelli becomes F1’s youngest world champion as Verstappen wins in Mexico

Kimi Antonelli clinched his first Formula 1 world championship with third place in the Mexico City Grand Prix. Max Verstappen won ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Pirelli credits Verstappen’s victory to a two-stop strategy. He started on medium tyres, switched to softs on lap 27 and, after 18 laps on the C5 compound, took advantage of a red-flag stoppage to fit another set. He then held off Hamilton to the finish. Antonelli started on softs, switched to mediums on lap 43 and used the interruption to fit another used set of softs. Pirelli says that approach enabled him to secure third and the championship.

At 20, Antonelli became F1’s youngest world champion, taking the record from Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 when he won his first title.