Kimi Antonelli clinched his first world title and became the youngest champion in Formula 1 history by finishing third at the Mexico City Grand Prix. Antonelli — 20 years and 68 days old — finished the race in third, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

History made by a teenage sensation

Antonelli, who was still a teenager until late August, spent the closing laps watching as Hamilton tried to close the gap on Verstappen after contact at the first chicane at the restart. Hamilton was unable to get close enough to pass and ended the race frustrated, believing a win had slipped away due to Charles Leclerc’s aggressive driving on the first lap.

Antonelli’s achievement shattered Sebastian Vettel’s previous record for the youngest champion by three years and 66 days. He is also the first Italian to win the F1 title since Alberto Ascari in 1953. During the slowing down lap, Antonelli was overcome with emotion, weeping and laughing on the radio before managing to say: “Thank you so much. We did it. We did it.”

Tensions at Ferrari

The race was marked by rising tensions at Ferrari between seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc. The incident in question occurred on the first lap when Leclerc overtook Hamilton through Turns One to Five, leading to controversy and internal frustration. Both Verstappen and Hamilton radioed to say Leclerc should have given up the position, but he retained the lead and was given a five-second penalty.

Hamilton later expressed the belief that Leclerc cost him a potential win — had the two Ferrari drivers worked together, they might have finished one-two and potentially held that position until the end of the race, given the difficulty of overtaking.

Steady performance under pressure

Antonelli entered the race knowing that staying out of trouble would be enough to secure the title. The only way he could lose it was if either George Russell or Lewis Hamilton won the race. Even in that scenario, he needed to finish only ninth if it was Russell or 10th if it was Hamilton.

During the race, a red flag was triggered on lap 45 after Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac crashed, forcing a 25-lap sprint to the finish. Later, a second red flag came with 12 laps remaining after Arvid Lindblad crashed his Racing Bulls following contact with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

At the restart with seven laps to go, Antonelli remained calm amid the chaos, running at the back of a tight group with Verstappen and Hamilton. The trio crossed the finish line nose to tail, with less than two seconds separating them.

The top 10 finishers were:

  • 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. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
  • 8. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
  • 9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
  • 10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

With several races still to go in the season, Antonelli’s title win marks a historic and dominant start to his career. The next race will take place in Brazil at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix from 6–8 November.