Kimi Antonelli Becomes Youngest Formula One World Champion
The Mercedes driver is the first Italian champion since 1953. He only needed ninth place, and he cried over the team radio as he crossed the line in third.
MEXICO CITY, Nov 2 – Kimi Antonelli has become one of the youngest world champions in Formula One history. The Italian driver secured the title on Sunday with a third-place finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix, clinching the championship at 20 years and 68 days old.
His triumph marks a remarkable rise for the Italian driver, who entered the season as one of the sport’s most promising talents and ended it as its newest champion.
Antonelli only needed to finish ninth. He did far better than that. When he took the checkered flag at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, his lead in the standings stood at 119 points, too big for anyone to catch.
He was in tears on the team radio.
“Get in there, Kimi. Champion of the world,” his race engineer, Peter Bonnington, told him. Bonnington is often the target of the young driver’s pranks. Antonelli could barely get his words out. He thanked the team, again and again.
His parents and sister were waiting as he climbed from the car, embracing him before his pit crew joined in a jubilant group celebration.
Antonelli becomes the first Italian to win the Formula One world championship in 73 years, ending a drought that dates back to Alberto Ascari’s title in 1953. He also breaks Sebastian Vettel’s record as the youngest champion; the German was 23 years and 134 days old when he claimed the first of his four titles with Red Bull in 2010.
“I’m speechless. I’m trying to process what has just happened,” Antonelli told the crowd. He said it had been an amazing season. He said it was special to share the podium with Verstappen and Hamilton, and that he hopes for more fights with them.
On the podium, he wore an Italian flag around his shoulders. He sprayed champagne everywhere.
He admitted the weekend had made him a bit tense. Later, he told reporters he slowed down on the last lap because he was so emotional he could hardly see the track. He just wanted to bring the car home, he said.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton started from pole and finished second, close behind Verstappen. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari. McLaren’s Lando Norris, who won the title last year, was fifth.
George Russell, Antonelli’s teammate, came sixth. He needed to win to keep his title hopes alive, and it went wrong for him from the start.
There were more penalties after the race. Oscar Piastri crossed the line seventh but was given 10- seconds for causing a crash, which dropped him to 15th. The two Alpine drivers, Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly, also lost their points with 10-second penalties for going too fast under yellow flags.
That moved Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson up to seventh. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto was eighth and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar ninth. Ryo Hirakawa took the last point in 10th, on his debut for Haas.
The result shakes up the rest of the table. Verstappen moves up to second overall, and Hamilton is third. Russell, the favorite before the season began, drops to fourth. He’s now 130 points behind his teammate.
Mercedes lead the team standings with 630 points, against 504 for Ferrari.
The race was stopped on lap 46. Valtteri Bottas lost control of his Cadillac when the front left suspension failed at high speed on the main straight. The car went straight into the barriers at turn one. Bottas was checked by medics in the car. Then he got out, gave a thumbs up, and walked to an ambulance. He was later released from the medical center.
Verstappen led when the race restarted, with Hamilton right behind him. Antonelli got past Leclerc for third. Then came another safety car, after Arvid Lindblad and Piastri crashed into each other. The race went green again with nine laps to go.
Verstappen held on. Race officials cleared him of a false start, and he won by 0.799 seconds. It’s his 74th career win and his sixth in Mexico. Antonelli finished about four seconds back.
There was trouble between the two Ferraris early on. Hamilton made a good start from his 105th career pole, his first for Ferrari at a full race. Leclerc came up beside him from third. The two ran side by side through the first corners. Then Leclerc cut across turn four and over the grass. Hamilton ran wide, and Verstappen slipped past into second.
“Pushed out by my own teammate,” Hamilton said on the radio.
Leclerc got a five-second penalty. That didn’t help Hamilton much. He stayed behind Leclerc after both made their pit stops, and Leclerc served his penalty there. Hamilton said Leclerc should have just handed the places back. The stewards said neither car would have made the corner at the speed they were going.
Russell had started on the front row but got away badly and fell to fifth. He also hit Hadjar and knocked him off the track, and was given a 10-second penalty for it. By then, his slim hopes of catching his teammate were all but gone.
For Antonelli, there are still four races left, but there is nothing left to chase in the drivers’ standings. The next stop is Brazil next weekend, where Mercedes can also lock up the team title.
He said he plans to enjoy the rest of the year. Two seasons into his Formula One career, he already has a world championship and a place in the record books that may be hard for anyone to take away.
