Verstappen Wins in Mexico City and Antonelli Becomes F1's Youngest World Champion: Hamilton Second by 0.799 Seconds After His First Ferrari Pole
A 20-year-old needed only ninth place. He took third instead, behind a Verstappen-Hamilton duel decided by eight-tenths of a second - and left Mexico City as the youngest world champion the sport has ever had.
Max Verstappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday, holding off Lewis Hamilton to take a sixth victory at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez - and Kimi Antonelli finished third to become the youngest World Champion in Formula 1 history, the FIA reported. Verstappen took the chequered flag in 2 hours, 20 minutes, 28.772 seconds over 71 laps, just 0.799 seconds ahead of Hamilton, with Antonelli 4.006 seconds behind the winner.
Antonelli, 20, had arrived in Mexico City needing only to finish ninth to guarantee the title regardless of his rivals' results, the FIA said, and his podium sealed his maiden Drivers' Championship with races to spare. He breaks the youngest-champion record Sebastian Vettel set at 23 in 2010, and he is the first Italian to win the drivers' title since Alberto Ascari in 1953, Crash.net reported. The afternoon was interrupted by a red flag following a heavy accident for Valtteri Bottas - a suspension failure on lap 46, Crash.net reported - and a late Safety Car after Arvid Lindblad crashed out, the FIA said.
For Hamilton, second place closed a landmark weekend a step short. On Saturday he had taken his first Grand Prix pole for Ferrari - a 1:16.514 lap that was the 105th pole of his career and Ferrari's first of 2026, Formula1.com reported - and on Sunday he pressed Verstappen to the flag without quite getting past. Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari. Verstappen's win was his third of the 2026 season and the 74th of his career, Crash.net reported.
