A 73-year drought of F1 Drivers’ Championships in Italy ended today. Kimi Antonelli secured the 2026 Formula 1 Drivers’ Title after finishing 3rd in the Mexican Grand Prix. Max Verstappen took the win from an annoyed Lewis Hamilton in 2nd.
Vamos In Mexico
The formation lap got underway, and Lewis Hamilton already suffered a small issue. He locked up going into Turn 1, causing a small flatspot on his front right tyre.
Lights went out in Mexico, and home hero Sergio Perez had a good start, making up 6 places to 14th. Charles Leclerc battled against his teammate for the lead, which forced both the Ferrari drivers off track. Leclerc gained the lead while Hamilton lost two positions, dropping behind Max Verstappen into 3rd. The stewards gave Leclerc a 5-second time penalty for gaining an advantage.
George Russell got a 10-second time penalty for spinning Isack Hadjar around at the beginning of the race. Hadjar fell to the back of the grid as a result of that incident.
Both McLaren drivers started to gain positions after a poor qualifying for Oscar Piastri and a slightly bad start for Lando Norris. By lap 5, Norris had made back what he lost, moving past Franco Colapinto and Arvid Lindblad to 6th. Piastri fought to get up to 7th from his 13th-place starting slot.
Double Retirement
On lap 6, Fernando Alonso was told to box to retire his car. He was followed by Lance Stroll next lap, who caused a brief Virtual Safety Car, also to retire from the race. Another weekend to forget for Aston Martin.
A short lull period was broken by Oliver Bearman, who beautifully slid past Gabriel Bortoleto to take 11th.
Hamilton vented his frustration over the radio around Lap 24, saying, “The stewards are basically handing Charles this win.” The clean air had allowed Leclerc to essentially nullify his penalty.
Pit Stops Flooding In
Lap 28 saw the start of the pit-stop sequence with Piastri, Leclerc and Verstappen coming in. Verstappen took advantage of Leclerc’s penalty and took the net lead away.
Lewis Hamilton came in next lap. Kimi Antonelli took the race lead in what has been an uneventful but crucial race for him so far.
Unfortunately, Perez suffered a very slow pit stop, and he fell to the back. Another slow stop came from Mercedes, with Russell’s penalty added to the stationary time. Despite McLaren leaving Norris out on degrading Softs, he jumped Russell to 5th after his stop.
Big Hit For Bottas
Antonelli had just made his one and only pit stop of the race when Valtteri Bottas had a big crash into Turn 1. An initial Safety Car was called before settling for a Red Flag for barrier repairs. Bottas suffered a front left suspension failure down the start/finish straight, causing him to hurdle towards the barriers as a passenger in his own car. He was thankfully okay.
A standing start restarted the race on Lap 47 in Mexico. Chaos erupted again as Verstappen and Hamilton tapped each other fighting for the win. Leclerc had a huge lock-up into the first corner, causing a very deep flat spot on his front left.
Further back in the field, Nico Hulkenberg ran into the back of Bearman, who ended up retiring due to the contact. Hulkenberg got a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.
On Lap 48, Antonelli passed Leclerc for 3rd place, putting him in a great place to take the World Championship. Piastri was in a close battle with Arvid Lindblad before an unfortunate bit of contact occurred. Piastri tapped the rear left wheel of Lindblad, making the young Brit DNF.
Restart Take Two
Yet another Safety Car was brought out, meaning another restart. Hamilton was close behind Verstappen as it returned to green flag racing. Norris, too, was on the tail of the flat-spotted car of Leclerc.
In the end, it was Max Verstappen who crossed the finish line first, taking the win in Mexico. After a frustrating race for Lewis Hamilton, he took home 2nd. Rounding off the podium was Kimi Antonelli. Charles Leclerc managed to hold off Lando Norris to keep 4th.
The Winner Takes It All
But it was Andrea Kimi Antonelli who was crowned the 2026 Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champion after a phenomenal season. He became the youngest ever Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champion at just 20 years and 68 days.
The last Italian World Champion was Ascari in 1953, and 73 years later Italy can celebrate once again.