It was yet another bittersweet afternoon at the Mexico City Grand Prix. The standard of performance shown today would certainly have allowed us to challenge for the podium, but Lando finished the race in fifth place - just one position higher than his starting grid position. Oscar had finished the race in seventh place, but the penalty he received for contact with Lindblad defenestrated him out of the points, undoing his fine comeback from twelfth place. It was precisely the Qualifying result and the confirmed extreme difficulty in overtaking - caused by the limitations of the current technical regulations and the characteristics of the circuit - that proved costly.
Lando started P6 and Oscar P12, with the pair having contrasting opening laps. Lando dropped to P8 while Oscar hooked up a great start to rise to P9. Once the field started to spread, and cars ahead lost Overtake Mode, Lando was able to pass Franco Colapinto and Arvid Lindblad to regain P6, but could not pass George Russell, with Oscar following him through into P7.
Lando believed he had more pace than the cars ahead and was keen on the undercut, but with a gaggle of midfield runners on his pit window, there was nowhere for him to go without becoming mired in traffic. Russell had a 10s penalty to serve, but Lando was more interested in the cars ahead.
Oscar was struggling a little more with his rear tyres, and opted to pit on lap 26, swapping from Soft to Medium in a 2.57s pit stop. That triggered a cascade ahead, with Leclerc, Verstappen and Hamilton all pitting. Lando's best option at that point was to go long, hanging out for a Safety Car or at least to build a good tyre delta. He rose to P2 when Russell pitted and made his own stop on lap 39 to swap Soft for Medium.
Lando came out of his pit stop in P5. With 30 laps to go, he was 20 seconds behind the Ferraris and lapping six- or seven-tenths quicker and set for a long chase. The race was thrown into another turn, however, when Valtteri Bottas was pitched into the barriers at Turn 1 after a car failure. The initial Safety Car was good news for Lando, the subsequent Red Flag was the opposite.
Oscar had pitted under the Safety Car on lap 44, to swap back onto the Soft tyre, but the Red Flag did not cost him position, and he took the restart in P7, with Lando in P5. The entire field had fitted Soft under the Red Flag, with a Sprint distance of 24 laps to run. Lando held P5 at the standing start, but Oscar dropped to P8. On lap 59, when battling Lindblad for P7, the rookie driver collided into Oscar at the first chicane, resulting in floor damage for Oscar, debris on track, and a second Safety Car.
When the race once again went green, Oscar had significant floor damage and a loss of load, but managed to work hard to defend his P7 and retain the place to the Chequered Flag. Up ahead, Lando could not find a way past Charles Leclerc and finished P5. Having spent much of the race in the slipstream of first Russell and then Leclerc, his afternoon underlined how difficult overtaking was at this circuit, despite the pace available.
Andrea Stella: "First of all, on behalf of the whole team, I would like to congratulate Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes on a truly historic achievement. Becoming the youngest World Champion in the history of Formula 1 in just his second season is something extraordinary. For Italian motor racing, Kimi now joins an exclusive group alongside legendary names such as Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Farina, who have inspired entire generations of Italian fans. His incredible consistency, his reliability and the remarkable progress he has made over the past year have made this triumph truly exceptional.
"As for our performance today, the race confirmed that we had the potential to finish on the podium. Unfortunately, we paid the price for both our drivers' starting grid positions and the limitations imposed by the technical regulations, which make overtaking practically impossible on a track like this: with all the time Lando spent in the slipstream - first behind Russell and then behind Leclerc - I think he could now draw the rear of their cars with his eyes closed! Furthermore, the harsh penalty Oscar received for the contact with Lindblad cost us further valuable points: a real shame because Oscar had staged a good comeback.
"In our battle with Red Bull for third place today, we could only limit the damage after a Qualifying session that had put us in a difficult position. We have 16 points to make up, but I believe that with the pace we showed today and the upgrades coming to Brazil next week, we have every chance of achieving at least that target. To do so, however, we'll have to be perfect as a team, in every respect."
Kimi Antonelli became the youngest world champion in F1 history by finishing P3 in today's Mexico City Grand Prix, with team-mate George Russell coming home P6. Starting from P4, Kimi managed his opening stint strongly, combining pace with careful tyre management to extend his Soft tyres beyond 40 laps and put himself in contention for the podium. A red flag interruption due to a sizeable crash for the Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas ultimately removed the tyre offset he had built, with Kimi running P3 when the race was suspended. With the restart order taken from the control line at pit entry, however, Kimi resumed the race in P4. He quickly regained a podium position though with an impressive move on Leclerc into Turn 1 on the second lap after the restart. Kimi took P3 at the chequered flag, securing his 17th podium of the season and, most importantly, the 2026 World Drivers' Championship. George meanwhile made a solid launch from P2 but suffered an unexpected lack of deployment on the run to Turn 1, costing him several positions. He subsequently made contact with Hadjar at Turn 6 and received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision. George showed solid pace thereafter and, after serving his penalty, rejoined ahead of Piastri in P6. He took the restart following the red flag in sixth position and held that place to the chequered flag.
Kimi becomes the youngest world champion in F1 history at just 20 years and 68 days old, surpassing Sebastian Vettel who was 23 years and 134 days old in 2010. He becomes the first Italian to become world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953, ending a 73-year wait. He also becomes just the third Italian to win the world championship after Ascari and Giuseppe Farina.
Kimi becomes the first graduate of the team's junior programme to win the world championship and adds a 10th Drivers' title for the three-pointed star ('54, '55, '14, '15, '16, '17, '18, '19, '20).
Toto Wolff: What Kimi has achieved today is extraordinary. To become Formula 1 World Champion at 20 years old, and to do it in only his second season, is a remarkable achievement. But what makes me most proud is not the record or the statistics, it is the journey he has been on to get here.
There were difficult moments last year. There were people who questioned whether he was ready for Formula One and whether he deserved to be in a Mercedes. We always believed in his talent and knew those difficult experiences would make him stronger. To see the way he has responded this season, the confidence he has built and the level at which he is now performing is incredibly satisfying. We saw that maturity again today. He managed the first stint extremely well, stayed patient when the red flag took away the advantage he had created, and then made the move when he needed to after the restart. To deliver that performance with a World Championship on the line says a lot about him.
We also have to acknowledge George. Today was another race where we didn't give him the platform to show what he could do. The deployment issue at the start immediately compromised his afternoon and, although the incident and penalty made his race more difficult, he kept fighting and brought the car home in P6. There have been too many occasions this season where we have let George down, and he has deserved more from us. His contribution to what we have achieved this year has been immense, and we shouldn't lose sight of that today.
This is a tremendous moment for everyone at Brackley and Brixworth, and all those associated with the team. Championships are never won by one individual. There are so many people who have contributed, both here at the track and back at the factories, and they should all feel incredibly proud tonight. Thank you to Mercedes-AMG for their continued support, our Title and Technical Partner PETRONAS and so many more. We all believed in Kimi from a very young age and today he is a Formula One World Champion. That is a very special moment for all of us.
Andrew Shovlin: Congratulations to Kimi on his first World Championship. It was quite an eventful race, but he did a really good job managing the Soft tyre in the first stint and was able to run it beyond 40 laps. That gave us some useful options for the end of the race, although the red flag effectively reset things and removed the tyre advantage we had created. He restarted P4 but made a very good move on Leclerc to get back into the podium positions and drove a very controlled race from there to take P3 and the title.
He has driven superbly across the season and the way he handled the race today, with everything that was at stake, was another demonstration of the progress he has made. It's an incredible achievement for him and he should be rightly proud of himself.
George had a difficult afternoon through no fault of his own. The deployment issue on the run to Turn 1 cost him several positions and put him on the back foot from the very start. From there, he was having to recover in traffic and the contact with Hadjar and subsequent penalty made that task harder. He kept his head down, showed good pace and fought back to P6. It's frustrating because we didn't give him the start to the race that he needed and that is on us as team.
We have plenty to focus on as we head to Brazil We want to add the Constructors' Championship to the Drivers' title, and we know we still must deliver the performances to do that. We'll enjoy today, then turn our attention very quickly to the next race.
Laurent Mekies: "First of all, huge congratulations to Kimi on winning the World Championship today. He has performed at an incredibly high level and should be extremely proud of what he and his team have accomplished.
"For us, this is our third win in the last four races with Max, and a testament to the talent, hard work and spirit we have in the Team. Everyone at the track and back in Milton Keynes did an outstanding job this weekend to turn the car around in difficult conditions and deliver this very special win.
"Max drove a pure masterclass and extracted every millisecond from the car and every millimetre from the track to deal with all the circumstances thrown at him today. It was far from straightforward, with the Safety Car, the red flag and the standing starts, but Max delivered in his usual fashion, fought an extremely tight race until the end and won it on merit.
"It was a tough race for Isack after he was hit by George and had to fight his way through from the back of the field. Every time he made progress, the circumstances of the race worked against him, but he kept on going, made a lot of overtakes and ultimately missed out on the points by less than a second.
"I'm very proud of how the Team has dealt with all the unique challenges of Mexico, both on the chassis side and the PU side, and of the extraordinary execution level once again. We have a lot we still want to improve in the final races, and we will also take the learnings from this very special win."
Scuderia Ferrari HP secured its thirteenth podium finish of the season, courtesy of Lewis Hamilton's second place finish in the Mexico City Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, his seventh of the season. Charles Leclerc's fourth place added to the team's points haul, enabling Ferrari to outscore all its rivals for the third race in a row, further strengthening its second place in the Constructors' Championship. On a Sunday that saw Andrea Kimi Antonelli secure the Drivers' title, there was a sense of regret within the Scuderia over a result that could have been better had the two drivers not tripped over each other at Turn 4 on the opening lap, effectively handing victory to Max Verstappen.
At the start, Lewis and Charles, lining up first and third respectively on Soft tyres, made good starts and moved into the top two positions. At Turn 4, Charles attacked his team-mate and the two got in each other's way, allowing Verstappen to pass Hamilton. Leclerc remained in the lead, but on lap 12 he was handed a five-second penalty for the move on his team-mate. Charles pitted on lap 27 to switch to Medium tyres and serve his penalty. Verstappen also made his pit stop on the same lap, rejoining ahead of the Monegasque, while Lewis pitted one lap later, also switching to Medium tyres and returning to the track behind his team-mate. As the first round of pit stops was completed, Charles and Lewis moved up the order and, following Antonelli's stop on lap 44, were second and third behind Verstappen. On lap 45, Valtteri Bottas' crash brought out the Safety Car, followed by the red flag. The race restarted with 25 laps remaining, Charles in second place on the grid and Lewis third both on Soft tyres. Hamilton managed to get ahead of his team-mate, who then locked-up at Turn 1, flat spotting a tyre that caused severe vibrations on his car. It dropped Leclerc out of the podium places and down to fourth behind Antonelli. The Safety Car was required again on lap 60 following an accident involving Arvid Lindblad and Oscar Piastri. From that point onwards, the positions at the front remained unchanged: Verstappen won ahead of Lewis and Antonelli, who was crowned World Champion, while Charles crossed the finish line in fourth place.
The Formula 1 World Championship continues at breakneck pace: Scuderia Ferrari HP, and the other teams, now head to Brazil for the São Paulo Grand Prix next weekend, which will bring the triple-header in the Americas to a close.
Fred Vasseur: Congratulations to Kimi (Antonelli) and to Mercedes. Kimi has done a fantastic job from the first race of the season, so it's a well-deserved championship title.
From our side, today's result is very difficult to digest because we have done so much work and made a huge step forward in terms of pure performance over the last couple of rounds. Once again today, as a team, we scored more points than our closest competitors.
But it was a difficult race and, looking at what happened today on the first lap, I always expect everyone to show respect for the brand, the team, our partners and, above all, the two thousand people working for us back home. They put an incredible amount of effort into what we do, working day and night at the factory to improve the car and bring upgrades to the track. That's why missing out on a win in this way is difficult to accept.
We were running one-two on track here in Mexico and, when you are in that position, you have to make the most of the opportunity. We will discuss what happened within the team and make sure everything is clear going forward. Now we head to São Paulo, where we will try to win, and in this respect it is good that the next race comes so soon.
James Vowles, Team Principal: "It's a shame to be lacking pace, which ultimately meant we couldn't fight for points today, but it was really great work by HPP and the team to make sure that the high altitudes didn't impact us, and we were able to freely race from start to finish, which is probably one of the most difficult races for that. It was harder to overtake than anticipated here, so, it was near enough, just about being in trains of cars.
"Alex had an excellent restart following the red flag, however unfortunately, it wasn't enough to be fighting in the top 10. We'll review all the learnings we have and come back ready to tackle the last race of the triple header in Brazil.
"A heartfelt congratulations to Kimi and Mercedes. He deserved this championship and won it on merit. He did an outstanding job from start to finish. A deserving champion, and I'm sure the first of many."
Alan Permane: "A long and tough day today. Arvid drove an absolutely superb race and has had a fantastic weekend overall. He nailed the start and continued to chip away gaining two, three, even four tenths a lap, all while managing his tyres. The crash with Piastri was an unfortunate end to an exemplary weekend and it's a small consolation that Oscar received a penalty.
"Liam also had a challenging race. The penalty from qualifying put us on the back foot, but we took the opportunity to fit a fresh power unit, which he would have needed to take at some point this season anyway. With Alpine's penalty, Liam ultimately finished seventh, having started from the pitlane, which is an incredible effort and a great result for the team.
"We leave today with some valuable points and plenty of positives to take forward as we head to Brazil next week to close out the triple header."
Adrian Newey: "It has been a disappointing day, especially as Fernando showed very good pace all weekend."
TGR Haas F1 Team finished with Ryo Hirakawa 13th on his debut, while Ollie Bearman retired at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Round 19 of the 2026 FIA Formula 1 World Championship - held across 71 laps at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Hirakawa made his maiden grand prix getaway from 18th position on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires and gained a place on the opening lap, before battling against the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson. Hirakawa pitted on lap 36 for Red soft tires - and shortly afterwards the race was suspended due to barrier damage following Valtteri Bottas' high-speed accident. The Japanese driver took the standing restart on lap 47 from 17th place, on softs, and pitted again for a used set of softs on lap 57 during a safety car period caused by Arvid Lindblad crashing at Turn 2. Hirakawa restarted from 15th and passed both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon during the closing laps to classify in 13th place at the checkered flag.
Bearman took the start from 14th position on soft tires and moved up to 12th place, before he overhauled Gabriel Bortoleto into Turn 1 for 11th after 19 laps. Bearman came into the pits on lap 40 for Yellow medium tires, before the race was halted due to Bottas' accident. The Briton took the standing restart from 11th position, on soft tires, but was rear-ended into Turn 4 by Audi's Nico Hulkenberg - who was issued a time penalty. The damage sustained to Bearman's VF-26 was too significant for him to continue in the race and he was forced to retire.
TGR Haas F1 Team occupies seventh position in the Constructors' Championship on 30 points.
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "The result is obviously disappointing, but overall, as a team performance, it was a decent day. Race pace was really good with Ollie, we were quicker than Audi, and he made some really nice overtakes. With that Turn 4 incident, Ollie did everything correctly. He put the car in the right place, and there's nothing you can do when someone drives into you, so it's really unfortunate. I think we had a chance to score points for sure, but you have to take it on the chin - you can only control what you can control.
"What can I say about Ryo's first Formula 1 race? The first race start was good, and as we expected, throughout the race, he was improving and he stayed calm. The second race start wasn't as good, but how he came back to overtake both of the Williams' was spot on, so he should be really proud of his performance. I just want to say thanks to all the crews here, they've had a lot to work on this weekend and we never missed a session, even with some big changes. Now, we move on to Brazil."
Allan McNish, Racing Director: "First of all, congratulations to Kimi Antonelli for securing the world championship. It's a remarkable performance at such young age. For us, it has been a challenging weekend overall here in Mexico City. The altitude places particular demands on the cars, and the whole team worked extremely hard to make sure we had both cars running reliably and able to fight for points at the end. In reality, it was a race of two halves. Nico was in contention throughout, but unfortunately the red flag came at the wrong moment for him to make his strategy work. On the other side, it brought Gabi back into the fight, and he made the most of that opportunity. Although he ultimately finished just outside the points in P11, it was a very strong performance, particularly given the limited running he had in free practice sessions. There is plenty to learn from this weekend, but also credit due to everyone for pulling together through some difficult circumstances. Now we head straight to Brazil, Gabi's home race."
Flavio Briatore: "I'm happy with the performance and the pace we showed in the race compared to Qualifying, but I'm less happy with the final result. After the penalties applied post-race, we leave Mexico City without any points, which is a pity after having both cars finish in the points. Franco drove a very good and consistent race, which he needed after a run of bad luck in recent races. Pierre also drove well and had some power issues off the line, so did a good job to recover. Therefore, it's frustrating not to come away with anything from this race.
"Also, congratulations to Kimi Antonelli on winning his first World Drivers' Championship. He has had an impressive season, especially at such a young age, performing well and dealing with the pressure. He has represented Italy fantastically and I'm personally very happy for him to achieve this milestone so early in his Formula One career. Bravo Kimi!"
The Cadillac Formula 1® Team finished the Mexico City Grand Prix with Checo Pérez in P17 on his 300th Grand Prix appearance, while Valtteri Bottas retired on Lap 46.
Both drivers made strong starts, with Pérez gaining six positions on the opening lap to move into P14 and Bottas climbing four places to P17. Racing in front of his home crowd, Pérez ran as high as P13 before his first pit stop, ultimately taking the checkered flag in P17 to complete his milestone weekend.
Bottas' race ended on Lap 46 following an incident which the team will fully investigate. The Finnish driver underwent precautionary medical checks and was subsequently released, with confirmation that he was okay.
The team now heads to Interlagos for next week's São Paulo Grand Prix in one week's time.
Marcin Budkowski, Team Principal: "A very eventful day in Mexico City. Firstly, everyone is relieved that Valtteri is OK after the incident on Lap 46. We will fully investigate the cause of this failure and ensure such accidents do not happen again.
"Taking the positives, it was our most competitive weekend in terms of relative pace and very encouraging to see both drivers fighting in the pack. They both had great starts, especially Checo, who had phenomenal first laps after both starts and was running up into P13 at one stage. We had some equipment issues in both pit stops which cost both drivers time and positions on track.
"Congratulations to Checo on his historic 300th Grand Prix start - it has been such a memorable week for him and the whole team at his home race. I would also like to recognize Kimi's [Antonelli] remarkable season - well done to him and his team.
"Despite the limitations with our current package, we always aim for solid operational execution, and we have come up short today. Lots to analyze on and act on before another important race in Brazil next weekend."
Kimi Antonelli was crowned Formula 1 World Champion at the Mexico City Grand Prix, finishing on the third step of the podium in a race won by Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver took victory ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who crossed the line in second place.
For the Italian, it is a historic achievement because, at just 20 years of age, he becomes the youngest World Champion in Formula 1 history. Until now, the record belonged to four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel, who claimed his first title at the age of 23.
The podium, set against the backdrop of the circuit named after the Rodríguez brothers, featured only World Champions: Verstappen boasts four titles, Hamilton has won seven, and Antonelli has now added his first to his tally.
Verstappen secured victory thanks to a two-stop strategy. The Dutchman started on Medium tyres before switching to Softs on lap 27. After completing 18 laps on the C5 compound, the race was halted by a red flag. Verstappen took advantage of the interruption to fit another set of Soft tyres and subsequently held off Hamilton's charge to the chequered flag.
The Ferrari driver had started on Softs before switching to Mediums. During the Safety Car period that preceded the red flag, he fitted another set of Softs. At the restart, Hamilton opted once again for Softs, using a previously run set. The Ferrari man set the fastest lap of the race on both the red-marked and yellow-marked compounds.
Antonelli, meanwhile, started on Softs and waited until lap 43 before switching to Mediums. The Italian also took advantage of the red flag to fit another used set of Softs. It was a strategy that enabled him to secure third place and, more importantly, the World Championship.
Kimi Antonelli is the third Italian driver in Formula 1 history to win the World Championship. His two predecessors also achieved the feat using exclusively Pirelli tyres. Giuseppe "Nino" Farina claimed the title in the inaugural World Championship season of 1950, contesting six races on Pirelli tyres, while Alberto Ascari secured his second consecutive crown in 1953, winning all eight Grands Prix he entered that year on Pirelli rubber.
Dario Marrafuschi: "Congratulations to Kimi Antonelli on winning the World Championship. It is a thoroughly deserved success, built on the consistency he has demonstrated throughout the season and sealed today with another outstanding performance, culminating in a podium finish in a race packed with drama alongside two World Champions.
Without the neutralisations, a one-stop strategy would have been the most competitive option for this Grand Prix. Both the Soft and Medium compounds proved capable of covering around half the race distance, making it possible to complete the event with a single tyre change. The C5 once again confirmed itself as the benchmark compound in terms of grip and driver confidence, although the performance gap to the C4 was very small, with both compounds showing similar levels of degradation. It was therefore no surprise that every driver chose the Soft for the final stint after the Safety Car, despite also having the Hard compound available.
From a technical perspective, tyre behaviour was very positive. We recorded no significant graining, and degradation remained within expected levels, proving lower than what had been observed on Friday.
A lock-up by Leclerc at the restart following the red flag also provided further evidence of the robustness of Formula 1 tyres. The tyre sliding across the asphalt caused particularly severe localised wear on the front-left tyre, bringing it very close to the internal structural layers.
This is certainly not a routine occurrence, but it is one that is consistently taken into account throughout Pirelli's development and validation processes, including through rigorous indoor testing programmes. The ultimate objective is to ensure that the tyre maintains an appropriate level of integrity even under extreme conditions, allowing drivers to continue racing in complete safety.
The performance of the Soft compound was particularly interesting, as demonstrated by Antonelli's lengthy stint. He completed 43 laps while maintaining very limited degradation and a competitive pace right through to the closing stages of the race.
The C3, meanwhile, was not considered by the teams because, under race conditions, it did not offer any performance advantage over the two softer compounds. Overall, the data collected confirmed a very clear picture, fully consistent with the simulations carried out before the event, both in terms of degradation and the competitiveness of the various strategic options."
