Mexico City GP 2026: Verstappen wins, Antonelli crowned world champion

Max Verstappen won the 2026 Mexico City GP for Red Bull from grid position 5. After the restart he kept Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari narrowly behind him all the way to the chequered flag. Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished third in the Mercedes, and with that podium the Italian becomes the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history. The race was decided between laps 43 and 46: Antonelli pitted one lap before the Safety Car, and from then on Verstappen led.

At the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Hamilton started from pole position. George Russell lined up alongside him in the Mercedes, with Charles Leclerc behind in the second Ferrari. Leclerc was already leading after the opening lap, though not entirely cleanly: the two Ferraris touched at Turn 4, both went off track and Leclerc cut the corner. On lap 12 he was handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Hamilton was furious and accused the stewards of gifting Leclerc the victory, saying they were “basically handing Charles this win” (PlanetF1).

The start went badly for Russell. According to Mercedes, he was unable to deploy full power at the start. On the opening lap he then hit Isack Hadjar, who had made good progress up the order. Hadjar spun and dropped to the back of the field. Russell received a ten-second time penalty for the collision on lap 13. Hadjar switched to mediums during the Virtual Safety Car on lap 7, but still ended up outside the points.

At the front, Leclerc led until lap 27. But because his penalty would only be served at his pit stop, it was clear early on that he would lose the lead in the pits.

The first round of stops went Red Bull's way. Leclerc and Verstappen both pitted on lap 27. Including his penalty, Leclerc spent 28.7 seconds in the pit lane, Verstappen just 22.4 seconds. The effect on the order was immediate: Leclerc dropped from P1 to P5, while Verstappen was P4 three laps after his stop. He switched from mediums to softs. Hamilton pitted a lap later, on lap 28, and fell from P2 to P6.

Antonelli, by contrast, stayed out. He took the lead on lap 28 and ran his first set of softs for a full 43 laps. According to Pirelli, the tyre barely degraded, and in the tyre supplier's view a one-stop strategy would have been the fastest without any neutralisations. Russell also stayed out for a long time, until lap 33. With his penalty he then spent 33.9 seconds in the pit lane and slipped from P2 to P6. Lando Norris in the McLaren stopped from second on lap 39 and rejoined in P5.

Antonelli pitted from the lead on lap 43 and was P4 three laps later. The Safety Car came out on the very next lap, and from then on Verstappen led. Hamilton, Russell, Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly used the Safety Car on lap 44 to make a stop. It paid off for Hamilton: fourth before the stop, he was second three laps later. Shortly afterwards came the red flag, and during the stoppage all teams were allowed to change tyres. Verstappen, Leclerc and Antonelli all went onto softs for the final stint. That wiped out the advantage Antonelli had built with his long stint, as Mercedes also acknowledged. Verstappen's one-stop strategy with the switch to softs worked out perfectly. Antonelli, on the other hand, was undone by unlucky timing: he stopped exactly one lap before the Safety Car.

The red flag came out on lap 45 because the barrier at Turn 1 had to be repaired after the heavy crash of Valtteri Bottas. Several incidents went to the stewards during the stoppage. Gasly exited the pit lane on a red light, which led to no further investigation. Sergio Pérez of the Cadillac F1 Team received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Verstappen defended the lead at the standing restart. He and Hamilton made light contact at Turn 1, but the stewards took no action. Verstappen's position in his grid box was also checked, again without consequence. Leclerc flat-spotted a tyre under braking at the restart, and Antonelli pounced on the Monegasque at Turn 1. Further back, there was a crash at Turn 4 at the same moment. There, Nico Hülkenberg in the Audi ran into the back of Oliver Bearman of the Haas F1 Team and received a ten-second penalty for it.

The Safety Car was deployed again on lap 59. Before that, Piastri and Arvid Lindblad of the RB F1 Team had collided at Turn 2, and Lindblad hit the barrier hard. After the final restart on lap 63, Verstappen pulled a small gap in the stadium section. Hamilton stayed close but found no opportunity to attack before the finish, and was left with fastest lap as consolation. You can relive every phase of this turbulent race on our race page for the Mexico City GP in 3D.

• Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (after lap 5): He parked the car in the pits. According to the team, it was the same MGU-K problem that had already stopped him in qualifying. Alonso: “The same MGUK issue that stopped us in Qualifying reoccurred and forced us to stop.” (Honda Racing)
• Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (after lap 5): The team retired him to protect the battery. He stopped the car at Turn 6, and shortly afterwards there was a Virtual Safety Car on laps 7 and 8. According to Honda, Mexico City's altitude put more strain than expected on the cooling of the energy recovery system.
• Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac F1 Team (after 42 laps, lapped): Probably due to a front suspension failure, he crashed at high speed at Turn 1. This brought out first the Safety Car and then the red flag. Bottas got out of the car unaided and was checked at the Medical Centre.
• Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team (after lap 47): By his own account he was in the points at the restart when Hülkenberg hit the back of his car at Turn 4. With the rear of the car damaged, his race was over.
• Arvid Lindblad, RB F1 Team (after lap 58): He retired after the collision with Piastri at Turn 2. According to the team, he was running in P7 at the time. Lindblad was unhurt; the stewards will only rule on the incident after the race.

Winners: Besides Verstappen, Liam Lawson stood out in particular. After a power unit change he made a pit lane start from P22 and finished ninth: 13 places gained, the best figure of the day. Ryo Hirakawa was quick on his Haas debut and made up five places from P18. Franco Colapinto of the Alpine F1 Team moved up from grid position 11 to P8. Gabriel Bortoleto narrowly missed out on the points in eleventh.

Losers: Russell dropped from grid position 2 to P6, Hadjar from P7 to P12. Hülkenberg lost six places, picked up a ten-second penalty and finished only 16th, and he also had to pit again under the second Safety Car on lap 59. Aston Martin lost both cars after just five laps. At Williams, Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz could only manage 14th and 15th.

Important: the result is provisional. Three investigations were still open at the end of the race: the battle between Piastri and Lindblad, and possible yellow flag infringements by Gasly and Colapinto at Turn 2. The stewards intended to rule on all three cases after the race.

Antonelli now has 380 points. With a 119-point lead over Verstappen, nobody can catch him in the drivers' standings any more. The Mercedes driver is therefore world champion with races to spare, and the youngest champion Formula 1 has ever had. Behind him it is now getting exciting: Verstappen jumps two places to P2 on 261 points, with Hamilton just two points behind. Russell drops two places and is fourth on 250 points, followed by Leclerc on 245 and Norris on 221 points.

In the constructors' standings, Mercedes lead with 630 points ahead of Ferrari on 504. Red Bull, on 380, and McLaren, on 371 points, are fighting for P3. You can find the full table in the 2026 standings.