The key facts

  • Antonelli became champion at 20 years and 68 days — more than three years younger than Vettel in 2010
  • He is the first Italian champion since 1953 and has scored 380 points with four races left in the season
  • The race was halted with red flags after crashes involving Bottas and Lindblad

Title clinched early and with a record

Kimi Antonelli claimed the Formula 1 championship title at the Mexican Grand Prix on November 1, finishing third in the Mercedes behind race winner Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The Italian is 20 years and 68 days old — the previous record belonged to German Sebastian Vettel, who first became champion in 2010 at 23, meaning more than three years later. This was reported by AFP, while details of the driver's biography were provided by Kun.uz.

First Italian champion in 73 years

Antonelli is the first Italian to win the title since 1953, when Alberto Ascari became champion. According to Kun.uz, he is only the third Italian champion in history: before Ascari, who won in 1952 and 1953, the title was taken by Giuseppe Farina in 1950. The Bologna native made a sharp leap in results: in 2024 he was a Mercedes test driver, in the 2025 season he made the podium three times without a win and finished the year seventh with 150 points, while in the current season, before Mexico, he had already won nine races.

How the race unfolded

To clinch the title early, Antonelli only needed to finish no lower than ninth — he started fourth and held third place. The race was interrupted after laps 45–46 of 71: Valtteri Bottas's Cadillac suffered a broken front-left suspension, the car went off the track and hit the barrier; the 37-year-old Finn climbed out of the car and waved to the crowd. Closer to the finish, another yellow flag was caused by Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bull, who collided with Oscar Piastri. Hamilton, who started from pole, lost the lead in a battle with his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc on the fourth lap — Leclerc received a five-second penalty, but kept his position; on the restart Hamilton passed both Leclerc and Antonelli, then fought with Verstappen until the finish. Leclerc finished fourth, reigning champion Lando Norris fifth, and Antonelli's teammate George Russell — who needed only a win to keep the title fight alive — sixth.

Points and remaining races

After Mexico, Antonelli has 380 points, with four rounds remaining in the season. Verstappen (261) overtook Hamilton (259) in the overall standings — now they, in Deutsche Welle's wording, will fight for second place. The new champion admitted he nearly missed the final lap due to emotions: «I lost, I think, two seconds because I couldn't look ahead — I think I saw two Ferraris». Verstappen, meanwhile, took his sixth win at the Mexico City Grand Prix. The series next heads to Brazil and Las Vegas, while the final rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi are in question due to regional instability — this is reported by both euronews and Deutsche Welle.