Kimi Antonelli becomes youngest Formula 1 champion in history

Youngest champion in history

Kimi Antonelli clinched his first world title and became the youngest champion in Formula 1 history by finishing third at the Mexico City Grand Prix. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver beat Sebastian Vettel’s record for being the youngest champion by three years and 66 days. Antonelli also became the first Italian to win the F1 title since Alberto Ascari in 1953. He entered the race knowing he only had to finish ninth if his teammate George Russell or Lewis Hamilton won, or tenth if Hamilton won.

Antonelli, who had previously won from 19th on the grid at his home Grand Prix in Monza, secured the championship with four races remaining in the season after a season where he won five of the first six races. Antonelli took the championship lead after the third round in Japan. He finished the race in third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Antonelli had tears mixed with laughter on the radio during the slowing down lap, saying, "Thank you so much. We did it. We did it." Mercedes brought the driver into their young driver program when he was 12, and he took Hamilton’s place last season. He won nine races in a season where he failed to score points only twice because of mechanical failures. He outraced teammate George Russell, who was the pre-season favourite, to take the title.

Chaos at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

Max Verstappen won the race to take his third win in four races, while Lewis Hamilton finished second and Charles Leclerc finished fourth. Antonelli drove a composed race despite a red flag that led to a 25-lap sprint to the finish. A Valtteri Bottas crash on lap 45, caused by a front suspension failure on his Cadillac, forced the race to stop.

Antonelli ran a steady fourth in the first stint behind Leclerc, Verstappen and Hamilton, moving into the lead as others made their pit stops. He pitted for fresh tyres just one lap before the safety car appeared. At the restart, Leclerc locked his left front wheel and passed Antonelli, but the Mercedes driver moved back into third place. A second safety car occurred with 12 laps to go when Arvid Lindblad crashed his Racing Bulls after a collision with Oscar Piastri. During the final seven laps, Verstappen, Hamilton, and Antonelli ran nose to tail with less than two seconds covering the three cars. The third race of this second triple-header moves to the Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos from 6-8 November.

Internal tension at Ferrari

Hamilton expressed frustration because Charles Leclerc’s aggression on the first lap cost the team a potential one-two finish. Hamilton started on pole with Leclerc in third, but Leclerc challenged Hamilton through Turns One, Two, and Three before diving around the outside at the Turn Four/Five chicane. Leclerc cut the corner to take the lead, which allowed Verstappen to move into second place. The stewards investigated the move and gave Leclerc a five-second penalty because he gained an advantage by leaving the track.

Hamilton told the media, "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 also stated, "We’ve got big problems. Big, big problems." Leclerc finished fourth after battling a flat spot on his tyre caused by his lock-up after the red flag, although he had expressed concerns about his tyre making it. Russell finished sixth, including a 10-second penalty for tipping Isack Hadjar into a spin on the first lap, ahead of Piastri.