Kimi Antonelli becomes Formula One’s youngest world champion in Mexico City

⁠Kimi Antonelli has become Formula One’s youngest world champion ⁠at 20 years and 68 days old with his third-place finish for Mercedes at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The first Italian champion since 1953 sobbed with joy over the team radio as he took the chequered flag at the high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the red-flagged, restarted race for his second win of the season, but Antonelli’s overall lead ⁠reached an unassailable 119 points after finishing third.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton started from pole position and took a close second place – after clashing with teammate Charles Leclerc – on an afternoon of drama, with two safety cars, multiple crashes and an agonising 33-minute halt with 25 of the 71 laps remaining.

“Get in there, Kimi. Champion of the world,” said his race engineer Peter Bonnington, a regular target for the young driver’s practical jokes.

“We did it. Thank you so much,” ⁠gasped the Italian, whose parents and sister were there to embrace him when he stepped out of the car. He was then mobbed by his pit crew.

The previous youngest champion was Germany’s Sebastian Vettel, who took the first of his four with Red Bull at 23 years and 134 days old in 2010.

“I’m speechless. I’m trying to process what has just happened,” Antonelli said to the crowd.

“It’s been an incredible season, and to share this podium with Max and Lewis is truly incredible. And looking forward to some more battles in the future.

“This weekend, I did feel a bit more tense, but I’m just so happy that we got it done, and now ‌we can enjoy the rest of the season,” he added, as he stood on the podium with an Italian flag wrapped around his shoulders, spraying the champagne with abandon.

The last Italian champion was Alberto Ascari, 73 years earlier.

“On the last lap, I just backed off, because I just couldn’t see the track. I was getting emotional,” Antonelli told a later news conference.

“So it was just good to bring it home.”

Verstappen second in drivers’ standings

Leclerc finished fourth, McLaren’s outgoing champion Lando Norris fifth, and Antonelli’s teammate George Russell only sixth in a race he had to win to have any chance of staying in contention.

That also meant that Verstappen went second in the overall standings, with Hamilton third and preseason favourite Russell plummeting to fourth, 130 points behind Antonelli.

Mercedes have 630 points in the constructors’ standings to Ferrari’s 504 and could clinch that title in Brazil next weekend.

The race was stopped after a brief safety car deployment on lap 46 of 71 after Valtteri Bottas suffered a high-speed front-left suspension failure down the straight, with his Cadillac pitching uncontrollably into the barriers at turn one.

Bottas received medical attention in the car, but then walked to an ambulance, giving a thumbs-⁠up, as the rest of the field returned to the pits. He went to the medical centre and was released.

Verstappen led from the restart, challenged by Hamilton, with Antonelli passing Leclerc. There was then another safety car when Lindblad and Piastri collided, with the field released to race again with nine laps to the ⁠chequered flag.

‘Pushed out by ‌my own teammate’

Hamilton had led away from the original pole position for the 105th time in his career, but the first for Ferrari at a full Grand Prix, with Leclerc slotting in behind from third on the grid.

The British driver held him off as they went side by side through the opening corners, but Leclerc cut turn four and went across the grass as they battled for the lead, with Verstappen then taking second from Hamilton as the Ferrari looped wide.

“Pushed out by ‌my own teammate,” Hamilton said over the radio.

The stewards handed Leclerc a five-second penalty, but that did little for Hamilton, who remained behind his teammate after their respective stops on laps 28 and 29, with the Monegasque taking his penalty.

Russell, who had lined up on the front row, made a poor start and dropped to fifth. He also collided with Hadjar, punting the Red Bull off, and the stewards handed him a 10-second penalty.