GP MexicoAndrea Kimi Antonelli makes history; champion at 20 years old after Verstappen's victory

What seemed like an unbeatable record, just "16 years ago," fell on November 1, 2026. And perhaps it is no longer unbeatable, but the margin is very narrow. In his second season as a Formula 1 driver, only two months after turning 20, Andrea Kimi Antonelli has completed his emergence to become the Formula 1 world champion, giving Italy its fourth drivers' title and the first since the distant second championship of Alberto Ascari in 1953. He achieved this at the Mexican Grand Prix, where he finished third in a thrilling race won by Max Verstappen.

Knowing the importance of keeping the first position at the start, Lewis Hamilton perfectly executed his launch, with George Russell in his slipstream. However, the Brit suffered a partial power loss well before braking, and was summarily overtaken by Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Antonelli. With the option to become the leader, Leclerc attacked his teammate with all his might, first in turn 1 unsuccessfully, and then in turn 4.

Here, controversy arose, as Leclerc, going on the outside, ended up making the turn on the grass, rejoining in first position, while Verstappen took advantage of the situation to pass Hamilton at the next corner, making it difficult for Ferrari to order Leclerc to return positions. In the replay, it was noted that Leclerc was partly forced by the delayed braking of a Hamilton who also briefly went off track. As the pack passed through turn 5, there was another incident when Isack Hadjar was spun out by a Russell who was desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

These incidents were not penalized until lap 13, with just five seconds of penalty for Leclerc and another ten for Russell. Prior to that, Leclerc had already opened a three-second gap over a Verstappen who had chosen to start on medium tires. Behind, Franco Colapinto had a blazing start to move into seventh behind Arvid Lindblad, although both were eventually passed by the two McLarens. Carlos Sainz, for his part, was running in 16th place, having lost position to his teammate Alexander Albon.

Aston Martin's race lasted just seven laps, in another great farce of the 2026 season for the Silverstone team. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll came into the pits after just four laps, revealing the anticipated serious cooling problem. Alonso ended up parking the car in his garage, while Stroll was left stranded on the track, causing a Virtual Safety Car period. From then on, the race went on without too many surprises during its first stint.

After 21 laps, Leclerc reached a five-second margin over Verstappen, but this did not grow or even slightly decreased. On lap 28, one lap after Piastri started the stops for the leaders, both leaders came into the pits, and Verstappen managed to exit ahead of the Monegasque. Meanwhile, Norris had managed to catch up to Russell, who was about six seconds behind Antonelli until he made his stop on lap 34. Seeking to gain position over his countryman, the McLaren driver stopped six laps later and achieved his goal, despite a slow stop due to overshooting the brake.

Antonelli's stop finally came on lap 44, leaving Verstappen in the lead with a two-second margin over Leclerc, who had a similar margin over Hamilton. Half a minute later, Valtteri Bottas suffered a severe accident when his suspension suddenly broke during braking at turn 1, crashing backwards into the escape barriers. The Finnish driver, with some caution, ended up getting out of the car on his own, but soon after a red flag was thrown following the appearance of the Safety Car.

Hamilton, Russell, and Piastri had taken advantage of the Safety Car to make a second stop, whose effect was completely nullified by the red flag. Initially, Hamilton had lost third place to Antonelli, and Piastri seventh to Lindblad, but it was determined that the order for the restart would be the same as the previous lap, returning these drivers to their previous positions, although all would now have new tires, with everyone choosing to mount soft compounds.

Leclerc not only had no opportunity to attack Verstappen on the second restart, but was also overtaken by Hamilton and flat-spotted his left front tire under braking. Hamilton, predictably, was briefly forced off the track by the leader when both attempted to enter parallel into the first corner, including a slight touch. In fact, Verstappen was briefly investigated for having started outside his box, but this was quickly dismissed. To top it off, Leclerc lost another position at the start of the next lap thanks to a fantastic late braking by Antonelli.

Penalties were indeed received by Nico Hülkenberg for a collision with Oliver Bearman, who ended up retiring from the race, and Sergio Pérez for a speeding infraction in the pit lane prior to the red flag. Verstappen maintained a margin of just over a second over Hamilton, while Leclerc defended himself as best he could from Norris with his flat-spotted tire. Piastri had lost position to Lindblad on the restart, and while trying to recover it on lap 59, he collided with the Racing Bulls driver, who ended up against the wall with significant damage to both left suspensions. Second Safety Car inbound.

Restarting the race four laps later, Verstappen denied Hamilton any options and although he closed to just over half a second, he found no way to pressure the Dutchman, whose third victory in four races propels him to second place in the standings. Hamilton scored his seventh podium of the year, nine fewer than an Antonelli who has only missed a top-three position three times this year. Meanwhile, Leclerc held off countless attempts from Norris, including at the last corner, to retain fourth place.

Meanwhile, sixth place means that Russell, who was only considered a few months ago as the only real title contender, falls to fourth in the standings behind Hamilton, with Leclerc getting closer. Behind Piastri, Colapinto won the midfield battle, over Liam Lawson, who maximized every opportunity to gain positions despite starting from the pit lane, taking advantage of a mistake from Pierre Gasly in the restart to steal a point. Sainz also lost ground at that juncture, finishing in fifteenth place, while debutant Ryo Hirakawa finished in 13th place.

For the second consecutive year, Formula 1 celebrates a new champion, someone who, undoubtedly, has done all the necessary merits to fully take advantage of the best car on the grid. Antonelli has early on responded to critics who considered his promotion accelerated and too well positioned, and has validated the trust of Toto Wolff, who did not want to let another Verstappen slip away at any cost. It's still early, but the decision seems to have yielded enough dividends for now. Only time will tell if he is in a position to rewrite the history books.

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Fotos: Motor.es / Alberto Fernández López