Kimi Antonelli Becomes F1’s Youngest World Champion at Mexico City Grand Prix

Mexico City — Kimi Antonelli became the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history on Sunday, sealing the title at the Mexico City Grand Prix with a third-place finish in his Mercedes.

Antonelli, 20, needed only to finish inside the top nine. He did considerably better, reaching the podium behind race winner Max Verstappen of Red Bull and runner-up Lewis Hamilton, who headed straight for the young champion to congratulate him.

The victory was Verstappen’s sixth at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Antonelli breaks the record held by Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 when he won the 2010 world championship. During the celebrations, a photograph of a young Antonelli approaching his idol Hamilton drew wide attention — at the time, the Briton already had four of the seven titles he has since collected.

Antonelli was still in his car with his helmet on when he was heard sobbing with emotion over what he had achieved.

“It is great to have a new world champion,” Hamilton said.

Red flag reshapes the race

The race had run without major incident apart from the retirements of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, whose Aston Martins both stopped with power unit problems.

On lap 45, however, Valtteri Bottas lost a wheel and slammed into the safety barrier. He escaped uninjured, but the incident forced a red flag that reshuffled strategies and changed the rhythm of the race.

Sergio Pérez honored before home crowd

Sergio Pérez finished 17th, last of the drivers still running at the end, but took satisfaction from remaining in Formula 1 — a feat he has achieved at times against difficult circumstances. Before the start, he was honored for reaching 300 races in the series and celebrated with his home fans.