MEXICO CITY LOWDOWN: All the key moments as Antonelli secures maiden title and Verstappen denies Ferrari victory

Kimi Antonelli’s stellar sophomore campaign had left little doubt that he would win his maiden Drivers’ Championship, but he did so in style with a podium finish at the eventful Mexico City Grand Prix.

While it was a rollercoaster of a weekend for many, with Max Verstappen shaking off a grid penalty to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay and clinch victory as Ferrari faced further internal turmoil, Antonelli’s title triumph was one for the history books in more ways than one.

Here are all the key moments from the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix…

Antonelli becomes F1’s youngest champion

It always seemed likely that Antonelli would achieve his childhood dream of becoming a Formula 1 World Champion in Mexico City, with the Mercedes driver only needing ninth place, regardless of where main rivals George Russell and Hamilton finished.

Starting fourth for Sunday's 71-lap race, the 20-year-old Italian stayed out of trouble through the opening phase and circulated behind the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Hamilton, as well as eventual race winner Verstappen.

While the trio made their pit stops, Mercedes kept Antonelli out in the hopes of a Safety Car which eventually came – but one lap after Antonelli had already stopped.

With the Safety Car upgraded to a red flag due to barrier repairs, Antonelli once again had to face the gauntlet of a standing start from P4, which he accomplished without issue and even gained a position shortly after at the expense of Leclerc with a confident overtake into Turn 1.

Thereafter, Antonelli shadowed Verstappen and Hamilton until the chequered flag, becoming the youngest driver in history to win the F1 title and the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953 on an historic weekend.

"Without them, I wouldn’t be here – without Mercedes, without my family," said Antonelli. "So I’m very grateful for this moment, and it’s one that will live forever. I’m speechless. I’m trying to process what has just happened.

“It’s been an incredible season, and to share this podium with Max and Lewis is truly incredible."

Ferraris come together again on the opening lap

Although Antonelli took centre stage in Mexico after his title success, the other main talking point in the paddock was how Ferrari had seemingly thrown away a chance of victory.

Hamilton had claimed his maiden Grand Prix pole for the Scuderia and initially held his lead on the long run down to Turn 1, only for team mate Leclerc to challenge around the outside.

Having gone side-by-side, the pair went off the track at Turn 4, with Leclerc cutting the grass to take the lead, while Hamilton slipped behind Verstappen.

With Leclerc handed a five-second penalty for the incident, it meant that the Monegasque driver lost the lead and dropped behind Verstappen as both pitted at the same time.

Hamilton also jumped Leclerc at the standing restart and hounded Verstappen until the chequered flag, but the seven-time World Champion was left unimpressed by his team mate's tactics, as Leclerc accepted he deserved a penalty.

Team Principal Fred Vasseur was also left unimpressed, telling Canal+: "I'm having trouble swallowing it. It's a lack of respect for all the people who work. Wasting a victory is hard. It's stuck in my throat. They're not racing for themselves. We're going to clear all this up."

Verstappen comes out on top in a hectic race

In a hectic race with multiple storylines, it was Red Bull’s Verstappen who came out on top to win his sixth Mexico City Grand Prix.

The Dutch driver started P5 on the grid but had a great start, before taking advantage of the scrap between the two Ferraris to jump ahead of Hamilton and cause a headache by being in the way of that potential place swap.

He overtook Leclerc for the lead of the race in the pit stop where the Monegasque served his five-second time penalty, and then survived a standing restart following the red flag caused by the Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas suffering a suspension failure and crashing into the barriers.

He continued to hold off Hamilton after a late Safety Car restart, caused by a collision between Arvid Lindblad and Oscar Piastri, to cross the finish line just 0.7s ahead.

Verstappen has now won three of the last four Grands Prix, bringing home 149 points. That has shot him up to second in the Drivers’ Championship, two points ahead of Hamilton.

Another challenging race for Russell as Mercedes ‘let him down’

It was another challenging race for Russell who started the Mexico City Grand Prix in P2 but, after a poor start, he crossed the line in sixth – whilst watching his Mercedes team mate celebrate clinching the title.

The Briton initially challenged Hamilton on the run down to the first corner but seemed to suffer with energy deployment issues, which saw him drop four places.

His pain was compounded after tapping Isack Hadjar at Turn 6, sending the Red Bull driver into a spin… that collision saw him handed a 10-second penalty by the stewards.

Russell crossed the line in P6 but that result, and the higher placing of Verstappen and Hamilton, has seen him drop to fourth in the standings.

Speaking after the race, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said the team had let Russell down with the technical issue he suffered at the start. “I believe he was racing for the victory here and then came in this lack of energy and ruined his race," he told Sky Sports F1.

Wolff went on to acknowledge that seeing Antonelli take the title was also a difficult moment for Russell: “We have two drivers, we don’t have one. The car just didn’t work for him this year. And then misfortune like today, we just have to sort it out for him.”

Hirakawa scores on his Grand Prix debut for Haas

Ryo Hirakawa came to Mexico City expecting to compete in FP1 for Haas, and instead found himself making his Grand Prix debut. Having performed credibly in the first session, he returned to the sidelines for FP2, only to find himself promoted to a race seat after the team replaced Esteban Ocon following that second practice session.

The Japanese racer did well in Qualifying, winding up 19th but with the caveat that he picked up traffic on his final flying lap. In the Grand Prix he kept his starts clean, which could not be said for everyone. With so many incidents, Hirakawa kept a cool head and chose his moments well to pull off some overtakes despite the tricky track conditions.

He described the day as a “dream”, but even he could not have predicted what would happen next, when a raft of post-race penalties lifted him from P13 to 10th, meaning he scored on debut.

“I was trying to learn from what others were doing, and maybe the first stint was tough, but I learned a lot,” he divulged. “After the Safety Car, with the soft compound, I had more confidence and, after the last one, I had much more confidence and passed two cars, so I’m happy to finish like that.”

But emotions were not so positive on the other side of the garage, with Ollie Bearman forced into retirement with car damage. He was battling on the fringes of the points and looking competitive when he was hit from behind by Nico Hulkenberg, who was penalised for the incident.

Unfortunately, the damage was too severe for Bearman to continue, but at least Haas have the consolation of that one point to take away from Mexico City.