Kimi Antonelli becomes the youngest World Drivers’ Champion in F1 history while Verstappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton managed to get off to a great start off the line, and managed to lead going into turn 1, though with a strong challenge from his teammate Leclerc. While this was happening, Russell had himself a poor start from 2nd, and exited the opening sequence of corners in 5th.
There was a big tussle between the two Ferrari drivers in the run down to turn 4, as Leclerc managed to pull alongside Hamilton on the outside of the corner, but Hamilton would go off track, pushing Leclerc off in the process, which would allow Verstappen to snatch 2nd place from under his nose. Verstappen would effectively gain the lead of the race for a time after the stewards would give Leclerc a 5 second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
More chaos would unfold on lap 1 as Russell would come into contact with Isaac Hadjar in a fight for 5th place. Hadjar would spin, dropping him down to last place, while Russell was able to keep his place on track, though he would receive a 10 second penalty for causing a collision.
The Honda engines in the Aston Martins would prove to strongly dislike the high altitude of Mexico City, with Alonso being asked to retire on lap 6, while Stroll would be told to stop the car just moments later. Stroll would park on the outside of turn 6, and in such a manner that the Virtual Safety Car had to come out.
The early stages of the race became quite processional as gaps started to build, though Leclerc was able to build the gap up to over 5 seconds by lap 25. While this was happening, Hamilton was complaining on the radio about how Leclerc’s penalty was too lenient, saying that the stewards were basically handing him the win.
Pit stops would come for the leaders at the end of lap 27, as Leclerc would pit from the lead, with Verstappen coming in on the same lap, the two on alternate strategies for one another. Despite having a gap of over 5 seconds at one point, Verstappen did well to close the gap just enough that, by the time they both came out of the pits, Verstappen would leave in the net lead of the race.
Hamilton would pit just one lap later, coming out a few seconds behind Leclerc and leaving Antonelli in the lead, though without having pit yet, actually waiting to pit until lap 44.
Norris had been stuck behind Russell for much of the opening half of the race, clearly believing he would be significantly faster than the Mercedes driver if he was ahead, but he was unable to get close enough for a move. Fortunately for him though, Russell would finally pit on lap 34 and, with his 10 second penalty, would end up far behind Norris after his stop a few laps later.
A safety car was brought out on lap 45, only moments after Antonelli had pit. This was due to Bottas spinning into the barrier at turn 1 after it appeared that his suspension completely broke on his front left tyre.
This provided Hamilton with an opportunity to box onto new soft tyres, having not enjoyed life on the mediums, only dropping one place while everyone around him failed to pit. The safety car would be upgraded to a red flag, which would reinstate Hamilton into 3rd place for the restart as the stewards decided to use the racing order for the end of lap 45, as it was the last one completed prior to the red flag.
Verstappen and Hamilton both managed to get a good start off the grid on the restart of the race, with the two of them covering the top two positions heading into turn 1. Hamilton would make attempt to make an overtake around the outside of turn 1, but Verstappen would use as much of the track to defend the lead as he legally could.
Leclerc would have a massive lock up going into turn 1 on the restart, which would cost him a lot of pace, with Antonelli managing to overtake the Ferrari one lap after the resumption of the race, while Norris would soon after begin to really harass Leclerc for 4th place.
Also at the restart, Hulkenberg had drove into the back of Bearman in the braking zone at turn 4, causing the Haas to spin and retire from the race due to the damage sustained. This would result in Hulkenberg receiving a 10-second penalty, effectively confirming he would not pick up any points today
After a short period of racing, another safety car would come out on lap 59 as Arvid Lindblad would find himself on the wall after contact with Piastri at the opening complex of chicanes.
Other than Gasly going off track, there was minimal carnage that took place on the safety car restart on lap 63, with Verstappen managing to easily stay ahead of Hamilton for the lead of the race.
Hamilton would stay hot on the heels of Verstappen all throughout the rest of the race, but ultimately did not have the pace to even attempt an overtake for the lead, all the while Norris was continuing his attempts to take 4th from Leclerc, who managed to just about hang on to the position with a tyre that was flat spotted down to the canvas.
While the battle for the lead was going on in the dying laps, Antonelli was sitting comfortably in 3rd place, and once he crossed the chequered flag, he would become the youngest world champion in F1 history at just 20 years old.
He also becomes the first Italian driver to win the World Drivers’ Championship in 73 years, the last being Alberto Ascari in 1953.
The next race is the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which will take place on Sunday, November 8. While the World Drivers’ Championship is decided, the Constructors’ Championship is still yet to be decided, with Mercedes leading Ferrari by 124 points with up to 4 races remaining.
