ANTONELLI CROWNED CHAMPION IN MEXICO AS VERSTAPPEN WINS RACE

Kimi Antonelli is your 2026 Formula 1 World Champion. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver locked up the title with third place in Mexico City, becoming the youngest champion in F1 history. He needed only P9 to clinch regardless of what Lewis Hamilton or George Russell did — he gave himself margin.

Max Verstappen won the race from fifth on the grid after Charles Leclerc took a five-second penalty for cutting the track while battling Hamilton on lap one. The Red Bull driver held off Hamilton at the restart following a red flag for Valtteri Bottas' crash, then again after a late Safety Car triggered by Arvid Lindblad's shunt with Oscar Piastri. Hamilton finished 0.8 seconds back, his 39th runner-up result across both Ferrari and Mercedes stints.

Sergio Perez limped home last of the classified finishers for Cadillac in front of his home crowd. Antonelli has two races to savor it — Brazil and Abu Dhabi are victory laps now.