Kimi Antonelli Clinches F1 Title at 20 With Third in Mexico City, Four Races Early

Since he took the championship lead at the third round in Japan, Kimi Antonelli has not given it back. On Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, he made it permanent.

Antonelli finished third in the Mexican Grand Prix, scored 15 points and became the youngest world champion in F1 history at 20 years and 68 days. He needed ninth place. He took the title with four races still to run.

A record that stood since 2010

Sebastian Vettel held the previous mark, winning his first title at 23 in 2010. Antonelli was four at the time.

He is also the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953. For Mercedes, it is the team's first drivers' title since Lewis Hamilton won in 2020 and the 10th overall, according to the Guardian's count.

He did it in his second season. His rookie year in 2025 produced occasional highs and plenty of errors, and his 150 points were less than half of the 319 scored by teammate George Russell.

How the season went

Russell began 2026 as the pre-season favorite and won the opener in Australia. Antonelli then won the next five races: China, Japan, Miami, Canada and Monaco. He added a win in Belgium before the summer break. In China he became the youngest pole-sitter. In Monaco he became the youngest driver to complete a grand slam of pole, fastest lap, every lap led and the win.

After the summer break he added wins in Italy, Spain and Austin. The Monza win came from 19th on the grid at his home race. He now has nine wins in 19 races, and failed to score only twice, both times because of mechanical failures.

He entered Mexico with a 123-point lead over Russell.

"Kimi surprised us all with his maturity," former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner told NBC News. "I didn't expect it. He's a 20-year-old with the mind of a 30-year-old experienced F1 driver."

A messy race behind him

Antonelli started fourth. Hamilton took pole for Ferrari and finished second. Verstappen won for Red Bull, his sixth victory in Mexico City.

The race had two safety cars, multiple crashes and a 33-minute stoppage with 25 of 71 laps left. Officials threw the red flag on lap 46 after Valtteri Bottas hit the wall at the first corner with a right-side suspension problem. Bottas climbed out unaided and waved to fans. His team, Cadillac, said he was given further medical assessments as a precaution.

Russell qualified second but dropped to sixth after a 10-second penalty for a crash. Both he and Hamilton needed to win, with Antonelli finishing lower down, to keep the title fight alive. Antonelli's third place would have been enough even if they had both done it.

Ferrari had its own problem. Charles Leclerc made a strong start and tried to pass Hamilton for the lead at turn four, but cut the corner. Stewards found he gained an advantage and gave him a five-second penalty to serve at his pit stop. Leclerc finished fourth.

Hamilton disagreed with the call. "The problem is he's got clean air, and doesn't have to manage like the rest of us. He should just give the place back," he said. "The stewards are basically handing Charles this win." Leclerc has not been quoted in response.

What Antonelli said

He was in tears on the team radio as he took the flag. "Thank you so much, we did it, we did it," he said.

Afterward he credited his team and family. "I wouldn't be here without Mercedes, without my family, so I'm very grateful for this moment and it's one that will live forever," he said. He also said he felt "a bit more tense" this weekend, and added: "Now we can enjoy the rest of the season."

His father, Marco, a former DTM-level driver who ran a Lamborghini racing team, told the BBC he spotted something unusual when Kimi was 10. At the Adria circuit, Marco ran the throttle and brake from beneath his son in a Lamborghini while Kimi steered and shifted. Marco said he pushed to about 320 km/h and Kimi caught the oversteer cleanly. "Maybe he has something special," Marco recalled thinking. He says his son was "born in a garage."

What is left on the calendar

F1 now heads to Brazil, then Las Vegas. Whether the final two races, in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, will go ahead is uncertain given instability in the region. If they are cancelled, Antonelli's title will be the last meaningful result of 2026.

The fight for second in the standings is still open, with Russell and Hamilton his nearest challengers.