Max Verstappen won Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix, holding off Lewis Hamilton by 0.799 seconds. Kimi Antonelli started fourth and finished third to clinch his first world championship; Formula1.com describes him as the youngest F1 champion ever.
Final classification: the top 10
The Race's final classification, with penalties applied, is below. The race ran 71 laps and was described as round 19 of the season.
| Pos | Driver (team) | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen (Red Bull) | — |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) | +0.799s |
| 3 | Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) | +4.006s |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) | +10.707s |
| 5 | Lando Norris (McLaren) | +11.778s |
| 6 | George Russell (Mercedes) | +12.263s |
| 7 | Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) | +20.899s |
| 8 | Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) | +22.041s |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) | +22.503s |
| 10 | Ryo Hirakawa (Haas) | +25.373s |
Alex Albon was 11th, Carlos Sainz 12th and Oscar Piastri 13th. Formula1.com reports that Lawson, disqualified from qualifying, started from the pit lane and still climbed to seventh.
Antonelli needed ninth, took third
According to Formula1.com, Antonelli only had to finish ninth or better to secure the title, whatever Hamilton and Russell did. The 20-year-old started fourth and finished third. He made his stop on lap 43, a 4.3-second stop just before the Safety Car came out, and was the last driver to change tyres. After becoming champion he said: "We did it. Without Mercedes, without my family, I wouldn't be here." The championship points and the gap to second place are not given in any of the three reports read, so they are not quoted here.
How the race unfolded: first corner, red flag, restart
Hamilton started on pole with Leclerc alongside. The two ran side by side through Turns 1 and 4 and both went off track, with Leclerc taking the lead across the grass. Hamilton's exit from Turn 5 was compromised, which let Verstappen through. The incident was placed under investigation straight away, and Leclerc was given a 5-second penalty.
On lap 7 Stroll stopped at Turn 6, bringing out a short VSC. The lap 43 Safety Car was upgraded to a red flag on lap 46 after Valtteri Bottas crashed at Turn 1; his front-left suspension reportedly failed under braking, and he got out unaided and went to the medical centre. After the standing restart, Piastri and Arvid Lindblad made contact and the Safety Car came out again, and Verstappen nailed the restart with eight laps remaining. The five retirements were Lindblad, Ollie Bearman, Bottas, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.
The sources differ in places. Formula1.com's text says Verstappen won by 0.7s, but its own table, The Race and PlanetF1 give 0.799s. PlanetF1's table also appears to be a pre-penalty snapshot, so positions from sixth down differ. This article follows the penalty-adjusted result.