Kimi Antonelli Becomes Formula One’s Youngest World Champion With Third Place in Mexico City
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli finished third at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday to clinch his first Formula One title at 20 years and 68 days, passing the record held by Sebastian Vettel.
MEXICO CITY — Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli became Formula One’s youngest world champion on Sunday, finishing third at the Mexico City Grand Prix to clinch his first title at 20 years and 68 days.
Antonelli needed only a ninth-place finish to secure the championship, and he crossed the line with his overall lead at an unassailable 119 points, according to Reuters. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the race, and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finished second.
Antonelli was in tears on the team radio as he took the checkered flag at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. “Thank you so much,” he said. “We did it.” After the race, he said, “I wouldn’t be here without Mercedes, without my family. So I’m very grateful for this moment and it’s one that will live forever and I just, I’m speechless.”
A race of interruptions
Hamilton started from pole position, his 105th pole and his first with Ferrari, and battled early with teammate Charles Leclerc, who led the opening lap after driving across the first corner and later took a five-second penalty. Leclerc finished fourth.
The race was red-flagged on lap 45 after Valtteri Bottas crashed into the wall when his front-left suspension broke, Reuters reported, and the stop lasted 33 minutes with 25 of the 71 laps remaining. There were two safety cars and multiple crashes on the afternoon.
Verstappen’s win was his sixth in Mexico and his third in four races, and it moved him to second in the standings, 119 points behind Antonelli. Hamilton is third, two points further back. George Russell, the third driver still in title contention entering the race, finished sixth.
A record that stood since 2010
Antonelli passed the mark set by Sebastian Vettel, who won his first title in 2010 at 23 with Red Bull. He is the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953, and only the fourth driver to win the title in his second season, after Hamilton, Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Manuel Fangio, according to USA Today.
Antonelli entered the race with 365 points and nine wins this season, including five wins in a row from China to Monaco, Reuters reported. He joined the Mercedes development program as an 11-year-old karting driver and made his Formula One debut last year at 18.
On the podium, Hamilton and Verstappen lifted Antonelli onto their shoulders, and Antonelli was handed an Italian flag. “It’s incredible, of course, what a season he had,” Verstappen said. “And to do that also at such an age I think is really, really impressive.”
Four races remain on the calendar, with the championship now settled and the fight for second place still open.
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and USA Today.
