Kimi Antonelli crossed the line third at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday and became Formula 1’s youngest world champion. He nearly didn’t make the final lap at racing pace.

“Already the lap before, I think I lost probably two seconds because I was already crying, basically. I couldn’t see clearly ahead,” Antonelli told Sky Sports.

The 20-year-old eased off on the final tour of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. By then, he said, he could just about pick out the two cars still running ahead of him.

“On the last lap I just backed off because I just couldn’t see the track. I was getting emotional, and I said, ‘I’m just going to back off because otherwise I crash here,’” he told RaceFans.

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He held third anyway, behind race winner Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. He had needed only a ninth-place finish over the 71-lap race to seal the drivers’ crown, regardless of where his rivals finished.

Verstappen converted a day of Ferrari miscues into victory for Red Bull, and Hamilton rounded out the podium for the Scuderia. For Antonelli, third was more than sufficient, and more than a formality once the emotions started breaking through the visor.

Vettel’s record falls by three years

At 20 years and 68 days, the Mercedes driver wiped more than three years off Sebastian Vettel’s mark as the sport’s youngest world champion.

The title was sealed with four rounds still on the 2026 calendar. Behind him, the battle for runner-up in the drivers’ standings tightened: Verstappen moved to 149 points and Hamilton to 147, per the post-race table, with George Russell fourth in the second Mercedes.

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‘One of my biggest dreams’

Antonelli described a flood of memories rushing back as he nursed his Mercedes through the final corners.

“It was a very special final lap, and definitely, when I crossed the line, I let it all out because it was just achieving one of my biggest dreams,” he told Sky Sports.

The F1 field reconvenes at Interlagos for the São Paulo Grand Prix on November 6-8, 2026.

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