Verstappen wins in Mexico as Antonelli seals historic F1 title

Max Verstappen held off Lewis Hamilton to win a Mexico City Grand Prix twice transformed by safety cars, while Kimi Antonelli secured his first Formula 1 world championship in third place. At 20 years and 68 days, the Mercedes driver became the youngest champion in the sport’s history.

The margins had been tiny before the race. Lando Norris led Saturday’s final practice by just 0.001 seconds from Antonelli, with Charles Leclerc third. Pirelli expected both one-stop and two-stop strategies to be competitive, while warning that traffic could determine which worked best.

Qualifying belonged to Hamilton. His 1:16.514 gave him his first Grand Prix pole for Ferrari, just 0.009 seconds ahead of George Russell; Leclerc was third. Verstappen qualified fourth and Antonelli fifth, but a one-place grid penalty for Verstappen reversed their starting positions. Norris started sixth, while McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri qualified 12th.

Antonelli arrived with 365 championship points, 123 clear of Russell, and needed only ninth to guarantee the title regardless of his rivals. The opening lap made his task no harder, but it turned the fight for victory upside down.

Hamilton led away from pole before Leclerc attacked his team-mate. Both went off at the Turn 4–5 sequence; Leclerc crossed the grass and emerged in front, while Verstappen slipped past Hamilton for second. The stewards gave Leclerc five seconds for completing an overtake off track, finding that both Ferraris had entered Turn 4 too fast to stay on the circuit. They reduced the usual ten-second guideline because Hamilton was also off track and the incident occurred early on the first lap.

Russell’s afternoon unravelled too. He said he had made a good initial start but then lacked full energy deployment on the straight. He fell back and collided with Isack Hadjar at Turn 6, spinning the Red Bull driver. The stewards gave Russell ten seconds, finding he had not established the right to the corner. Hadjar eventually recovered to ninth after post-race penalties; Russell finished sixth.

Aston Martin’s race ended early: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both retired after five completed laps with power-unit problems, according to the team.

Leclerc built more than five seconds over Verstappen, who had started on mediums while the other leading drivers chose softs. Red Bull then matched Ferrari’s stop: Leclerc served his penalty and switched to mediums, while Verstappen took softs and emerged ahead. Hamilton stopped for mediums on the following lap.

Mercedes kept Antonelli out on his original softs, hoping for a safety car. It arrived one lap after he finally stopped. Antonelli later said the difference in tyre age had given him hope of catching the leaders, but the subsequent red flag reset that opportunity.

The interruption followed a heavy crash for Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas, whose front-left suspension collapsed under braking for Turn 1. The safety car came out before the race was stopped for barrier repairs. Bottas was released after medical checks, and Cadillac said it would investigate the failure. His team-mate Sergio Pérez, making his 300th Grand Prix start at home, finished 16th after a slow stop and a five-second pit-lane speeding penalty.

After almost 40 minutes, the field returned for a standing restart. Hamilton passed Leclerc and challenged Verstappen; the two leaders made contact at the first chicane, but Verstappen stayed ahead. Leclerc locked a front tyre, and Antonelli passed him for third on the following lap.

Piastri had climbed from 12th to seventh earlier in the race, but Arvid Lindblad regained the place at the standing restart. After following the Racing Bulls driver for around 12 laps, Piastri attacked; they collided at Turn 2 and Lindblad crashed out, bringing another safety car. The stewards gave Piastri ten seconds after the race, finding he had not been fully alongside and that Lindblad had left room. Piastri said he had been trying to concede the position but could not move any farther left. The penalty dropped him from seventh at the flag to 13th.

Verstappen controlled the final restart and kept Hamilton behind through the closing laps. The Ferrari finished 0.799 seconds back; Antonelli was third, 4.006 seconds behind the winner. Leclerc held fourth despite his damaged tyre, with Norris unable to find a way past in fifth. Norris said his race pace had been strong, but his qualifying position and the straight-line speed limiter had made overtaking difficult.

Ferrari’s missed opportunity prompted sharp reactions. Hamilton felt the opening battle had cost the team victory; Leclerc accepted that his penalty was deserved and said Verstappen’s position between the Ferraris had made the situation confusing. Team principal Fred Vasseur said the drivers needed to show respect for the people working for Ferrari.

The order behind the leaders changed after the finish. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly had crossed the line in the points, but both were penalised for failing to slow sufficiently under yellow flags. Colapinto fell to 15th after ten seconds were added; Gasly’s stop-and-go penalty was converted to 30 seconds, dropping him to 17th.

Piastri’s and Colapinto’s penalties promoted Liam Lawson from ninth at the flag to seventh, completing a Racing Bulls recovery from the pit lane. He had initially qualified eighth but was disqualified for an MGU-K technical breach; subsequent parc fermé changes and additional power-unit elements meant he had to start from the pit lane. The team argued that the breach brought no performance advantage, but the stewards said that did not excuse it. Gabriel Bortoleto rose from 11th at the flag to eighth for Audi; he said practice problems had left him with little data for tyre management and set-up.

Ryo Hirakawa’s Haas debut also ended in the points. After driving in first practice, he replaced Esteban Ocon following the second session and qualified 18th. He passed both Williams drivers and was promoted from 13th at the flag to tenth; Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz finished 11th and 12th. Haas team-mate Oliver Bearman retired with suspension damage after Nico Hülkenberg hit him at Turn 4 following the standing restart. The stewards held Hülkenberg solely responsible and gave the Audi driver ten seconds; he finished 14th.

Antonelli’s title was settled with four rounds remaining. He said he backed off on the final lap because tears made it difficult to see; afterwards Hamilton and Verstappen lifted him onto their shoulders on the podium. He is the first Italian F1 champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953.

Mercedes still has work to do in the constructors’ championship: Ferrari outscored it by 30 points to 23 in Mexico, reducing the gap to 126, with Mercedes on 630 and Ferrari on 504. Red Bull moved 17 points ahead of McLaren in the fight for third.

Final race classification

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 7. Liam Lawson — Racing Bulls 8. Gabriel Bortoleto — Audi 9. Isack Hadjar — Red Bull 10. Ryo Hirakawa — Haas 11. Alex Albon — Williams 12. Carlos Sainz — Williams 13. Oscar Piastri — McLaren 14. Nico Hülkenberg — Audi 15. Franco Colapinto — Alpine 16. Sergio Pérez — Cadillac 17. Pierre Gasly — Alpine

Not classified: Arvid Lindblad, Oliver Bearman, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.