MEXICO CITY (The Thursday Times) — Kimi Antonelli became Formula One’s youngest world champion on Sunday, sealing the title at 20 years and 68 days old by finishing third for Mercedes in a red-flagged Mexico City Grand Prix won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The Italian beat the record set by Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 years and 134 days old when he won his first title with Red Bull in 2010. He is also the first Italian champion since 1953, and his 119-point lead can no longer be overtaken with the races that remain.
Antonelli wept over the team radio as he took the chequered flag. “I’m speechless,” he told the crowd afterwards, an Italian flag around his shoulders on the podium.
Verstappen took his 74th career win, and his sixth in Mexico, holding off Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari by 0.799 of a second. Hamilton had started from pole, his first for Ferrari at a full grand prix, but clashed with teammate Charles Leclerc in the opening corners. Leclerc finished fourth, Lando Norris fifth and George Russell, Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate, only sixth in a race he had to win to stay in contention.
The race was stopped for 33 minutes on lap 46 of 71 after a front-left suspension failure sent Valtteri Bottas’s Cadillac into the barriers at turn one at high speed. Bottas walked to an ambulance and was later released from the medical centre. A second safety car followed when Oscar Piastri and Arvid Lindblad collided, and Piastri was later given a 10-second penalty that dropped him from seventh to 15th.
Verstappen now sits second in the standings, with Hamilton third and Russell fourth, 130 points behind Antonelli. Mercedes lead Ferrari 630-504 in the constructors’ standings and could clinch that title in Brazil next weekend.
