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

Kimi Antonelli left Mexico City with the championship at 20. Third place on Sunday secured the Mercedes driver’s first Formula 1 title and made him the youngest world champion in the sport’s history, according to Formula 1’s official report.

Max Verstappen won the race for Red Bull, holding off Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari by 0.799 seconds. Antonelli finished 4.006 seconds behind the winner. Three drivers stood on the podium with three different achievements: a race victory, a narrow defeat and a championship secured.

A podium was more than enough

Antonelli had arrived needing ninth place or better regardless of his rivals’ results. Starting fourth, he finished comfortably inside that requirement despite a race interrupted by a red flag and a late Safety Car. F1’s account of the teams’ reactions says he passed Charles Leclerc after the restart and completed the remaining laps without losing his podium position.

That distinction matters to the performance. This was a day to protect a season’s advantage while still responding to the opportunities the race offered. Third gave Antonelli 15 points. The official championship table after Mexico lists him on 380, ahead of Verstappen on 261, Hamilton on 259 and Mercedes teammate George Russell on 250.

The title was therefore settled on a day another driver won. Verstappen’s victory and Hamilton’s pressure remained the race’s competitive center, even as Antonelli’s result carried the larger consequence. Mercedes had its champion; the battle at the front still came down to less than a second.

The result after the penalties

The published race classification includes penalties applied after the finish. Oscar Piastri was classified 13th after a 10-second penalty for causing a collision. Franco Colapinto finished 15th following a 10-second yellow-flag penalty, while Pierre Gasly was 17th after a stop-and-go penalty was applied for a yellow-flag infringement.

Those changes moved Liam Lawson to seventh, Gabriel Bortoleto to eighth, Isack Hadjar to ninth and Ryo Hirakawa to tenth. They did not alter the podium or Antonelli’s title. The final results distinguish the order on the road from the points actually awarded.