Kimi Antonelli clinches the Formula 1 title at 20, the youngest champion in the sport's history

What happened

Kimi Antonelli won the Formula 1 drivers' championship on Sunday, November 1, with a third-place finish in Mexico City. At 20 years and 68 days old, the Italian is the youngest world champion the sport has had, the BBC and Al Jazeera reported. Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the race ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli arrived in Mexico needing only to stay out of trouble. The BBC reported that he could lose out on the title that day only if George Russell or Hamilton won, and even then a ninth- or tenth-place finish would have been enough. According to Al Jazeera, his third place left him an unassailable 119 points clear.

He broke down over the team radio as he crossed the line. "We did it. Thank you so much," he said, according to Al Jazeera, which reported that his parents and sister were waiting for him when he climbed out of the car. He later told reporters he had eased off on the final lap because he was too emotional to see the track.

A record-breaking season

The title is the first for an Italian driver since Alberto Ascari in 1953, the Guardian and the BBC reported. Antonelli beats Sebastian Vettel's record by more than three years; Vettel was 23 when he won his first title with Red Bull in 2010. The Guardian said it is Mercedes' tenth drivers' title and its first since Hamilton won in 2020.

Antonelli led the standings almost from the start. The Guardian reported that he took the lead after the third round in Japan, won five of the first six races and took nine wins in all, failing to score only twice, both times because of mechanical problems. One of those wins came from 19th on the grid at his home race at Monza.

It is only his second season in Formula 1. Mercedes signed him to its young driver program at 12 and promoted him to replace Hamilton last year, a difficult rookie season, the Guardian said.

A chaotic race behind him

The race itself was dominated by a dispute inside Ferrari. Hamilton started from pole, but on the first lap teammate Charles Leclerc cut across the grass at the turn four chicane to take the lead, letting Verstappen slip past Hamilton into second, the BBC reported. Leclerc kept the position and was given a five-second penalty. Hamilton said the stewards were "basically handing Charles this win," the Guardian reported.

Valtteri Bottas crashed his Cadillac heavily at turn one after a front suspension failure, which led to a safety car and then a red flag while the barriers were repaired. Al Jazeera reported that Bottas walked to an ambulance and was later released from the medical center. A second safety car followed a collision between Arvid Lindblad and Oscar Piastri. In the closing laps Verstappen, Hamilton and Antonelli ran nose to tail, and the BBC said less than two seconds covered all three at the finish.

What comes next

Verstappen moved up to second in the standings, with Hamilton third and Russell, who had been the preseason favorite, fourth after finishing sixth, Al Jazeera reported. The outlets differed on Verstappen's form: Al Jazeera called it his second win of the season, while the BBC described it as his third in four races.

Mercedes now leads the constructors' standings with 630 points to Ferrari's 504 and could clinch that title in Brazil next weekend, according to Al Jazeera. On the podium, Antonelli said he was looking forward to more battles with Verstappen and Hamilton.

Sources

• Kimi Antonelli becomes youngest F1 champion with third place in Mexican GP theguardian.com
• Antonelli becomes world champion as Verstappen wins in Mexico bbc.co.uk
• Kimi Antonelli becomes Formula One’s youngest world champion in Mexico City aljazeera.com

rss.mobi wrote this story from what these sites reported; each report belongs to its publisher. Found a mistake? Write to rss-mobi@vvm.space.