Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli is Formula One world champion after finishing third at the Mexican Grand Prix, behind race winner Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The result gave the Italian the title with four races left in the season and made him the youngest champion in the series' history at 20 years, two months and eight days.
Antonelli replaces Sebastian Vettel as the youngest title holder. Vettel was 23 years, four months and 11 days old when he won his first championship with Red Bull in 2010.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told Antonelli over the radio: "Kimi, we did it! World champion! We did it!" Antonelli was sobbing and initially unable to speak. Wolff later said on Sky: "Not many believed it. But we got it."
With nine wins and 16 podiums, Antonelli took the crown in his second season in F1. He celebrated the title alongside four-time champion Verstappen and seven-time champion Hamilton. Verstappen said it was "unbelievable" what kind of season Antonelli had produced "at this age" and that he was "very proud of him." Hamilton called the performance "phenomenal." Hamilton, who won Mercedes' last drivers' title in 2020, and Antonelli's teammate George Russell, sixth on Sunday, had no real chance of stopping him.
At the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Antonelli needed only two points. A ninth-place finish would have been enough if Russell won, and tenth would have sufficed if Hamilton won; otherwise the title was already secure. He lined up fourth after benefiting from a grid penalty against Verstappen, having said he was tense in qualifying, had lost confidence in the car and had made too many mistakes, while also dealing with a virus.
Hamilton started from his 105th career pole, his first with Ferrari and his first after more than three years. He got away well, while Russell dropped to fifth. Leclerc went close behind his Ferrari teammate, and both cars left the track at Turn 4. Leclerc crossed the grass and led after the shortcut, while Hamilton lost momentum and Verstappen took second. Hamilton complained that he had been "pushed off by my own teammate" and later said the stewards were "basically giving Charles this win" after Leclerc received a five-second penalty.
Antonelli stayed on his line and avoided risk. He led after the first pit stops, with a nearly four-second advantage over Russell, but Verstappen was the effective leader after the stops. Russell served a 10-second penalty for a first-lap collision. Antonelli was the last to pit, taking fresh tyres on lap 43.
Antonelli came out fourth, 12 seconds behind Hamilton, and moved ahead of him through Hamilton's second stop. Leclerc was second and Verstappen first. Then Valtteri Bottas crashed heavily when the left front suspension of his Cadillac broke without external influence; he was able to get out. The safety car came out, then the red flag, and the race was interrupted for about 40 minutes while the car was recovered and the barrier repaired.
At the restart, race control reset the order to that of the last completed lap, putting Hamilton back ahead of Antonelli. Verstappen pulled away. Hamilton overtook and defended hard against Leclerc before attacking Verstappen. Antonelli stayed out of the fighting and passed Leclerc on lap 48. Arvid Lindblad crashed on lap 59, bringing out another safety car; racing resumed on lap 62. When the 71 laps were complete, Antonelli crossed the line third behind Verstappen and Hamilton, securing the title.
Sources: Süddeutsche Zeitung.