Max Verstappen won the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday, his third victory of the season and his third in four races. The Red Bull driver held off Lewis Hamilton after a restart and took his seventh consecutive podium since the season resumed.
The race was also the setting for Kimi Antonelli’s title confirmation. The 20-year-old Italian became the youngest world champion in history by finishing third, a result that ensured the crown. He needed to finish ninth or better and delivered a 16th podium in 19 races this season, finishing behind Hamilton’s Ferrari and Verstappen’s Red Bull.
Antonelli started fourth and built his race patiently before taking advantage of the circumstances. He moved into third at the restart by passing Charles Leclerc, after a half-hour interruption caused by Valtteri Bottas’s violent crash. Antonelli said he was speechless and proud to share the podium with champions such as Hamilton and Verstappen.
Leclerc had earlier taken the lead after a borderline first-lap move on his teammate that was penalized, and he later dropped back after serving a five-second penalty. Verstappen then took control and stayed ahead, with his engineer Giampiero Lambiase urging him to find his Mexico magic. Verstappen had already won five times at the Foro Sol.
Hamilton started from his 105th career pole, his first in Ferrari red, but had to settle for second. He described the outcome as bittersweet after a forceful clash with Leclerc at the start and said there would need to be an explanation internally. Hamilton had been aiming for a second win this season after Barcelona and missed a chance to gain ground in the fight for second in the championship, a position taken by George Russell.
Russell finished sixth after a chaotic start in which he pushed Isack Hadjar into a spin and received a heavy penalty. Hadjar ended 12th, outside the points and two places behind Pierre Gasly, whose 10th-place finish for Alpine secured the final point.
Sources: Le Figaro.