Antonelli is world champion. Ferrari threw away P1 and P2.

1 November 2026 · Mexico City Grand Prix

He's 20, the youngest champion ever and the first Italian to win it since Ascari in 1953. He needed P9 in Mexico, finished P3 behind Verstappen and Hamilton and still wasn't the main story.

That was Ferrari. Hamilton led and Leclerc slotted in behind him, on a track where passing is hard, so all they had to do was stay put.

Then Leclerc, P5 in the championship and 14 points off P3, drove turn 4 like a man fighting for the title. He picked a line that wasn't going to work in a million years and finished the turn as a lawnmower.

The Race

At turn 4 Hamilton was on the inside. Leclerc tried to go round the outside and cut across the grass into the lead. Hamilton braked late to stay ahead, ran wide too, and Verstappen took P2.

A place gained off the track has to be given back. Leclerc said he tried, but Verstappen was in the way, as usual.

Leclerc and Verstappen pitted together on lap 27. Leclerc had to sit still for an extra 5 seconds, Ferrari's stop was more than a second slower than Red Bull's on top of that, and Leclerc came out behind Verstappen.

Mercedes left Antonelli out, hoping for a safety car, which slows everyone down and makes a stop cheaper. They gave up and pitted him on lap 43. The safety car came a lap later, when Bottas's suspension failed and the crash stopped the race.

At the restart Hamilton passed Leclerc and went for the lead at turn 1, where Verstappen pushed him off the track.

Behind them, Leclerc braked so hard that his front tyres stopped turning, and Antonelli went past him for a podium he didn't need. Leclerc lost about half a second a lap to him from there, with Norris under a second behind to the finish.

Hamilton summed up Ferrari's afternoon on the radio, in words worth framing: "We've got big problems. Big, big problems."

Elsewhere In The Grid

Russell started P2, lost power on the first straight and got 10 seconds for spinning Hadjar. Toto Wolff took the blame for the power loss, which won't calm the people online sure he has a "button" for it. Russell skipped his interviews and is now P4 in a championship his teammate just won.

It was a festival of penalties, 7 in all. After the race, Piastri got 10 seconds for the crash that put Lindblad in the wall, and Gasly and Colapinto were penalised for not slowing for the yellow warning flags there. All 3 lost their points.

The title is settled. P2 isn't: Verstappen leads Hamilton by 2 points with Russell and Leclerc close behind, and Brazil can't decide it. Our calculator shows who can still get it.

Who finishes P2? Play it out →