Overview
- Kimi Antonelli secured the 2026 drivers’ championship with a third-place finish at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday, November 1, which made his points lead unassailable with four races remaining.
- Max Verstappen won the race and Lewis Hamilton finished second, with Antonelli joining them on the podium to seal the title for Mercedes.
- A heavy crash by Valtteri Bottas damaged barriers and forced a roughly 40-minute red-flag stoppage and a standing restart, a sequence that reshaped strategies and allowed fresh tyre choices for the field.
- Stewards gave Charles Leclerc a five-second penalty for a first-lap incident with Hamilton, a decision that fueled sharp criticism from Hamilton and intensified scrutiny of Ferrari’s intra-team conduct.
- Antonelli becomes the youngest Formula 1 world champion and the first Italian winner since Alberto Ascari in the 1950s, Mercedes wins its first drivers’ crown since 2020, and attention now turns to the constructors’ fight and the next race in Brazil.