Antonelli's Coronation: Winners and Losers from the Mexico City Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli is Formula 1's 2026 world champion, clinching the title at the Mexico City Grand Prix with a measured drive to third — and doing it in a Mercedes that no longer holds the upper hand.

Why it matters:

Twelve months ago, Antonelli's rookie campaign was wobbling. Too young, too soon, too much asked of him. Mercedes held its nerve, and the payoff is a five-race winning streak, that comeback from 19th at Monza, and a championship sealed with a late lunge on Charles Leclerc after the red flag restart.

The details:

• Winners — Antonelli and Mercedes. Toto Wolff promoted him at 18 to replace Lewis Hamilton; former talent scout Gwen Lagrue had found him in karting at 12. The Brackley-Brixworth operation that sputtered through the ground-effect era has struck back hard under the 2026 regulations.
• Max Verstappen. When the car is there, he is untouchable. When it isn't, he is opportunistic — picking off one Ferrari at the start, the other during the only green-flag stop on lap 28, then soaking up Hamilton's pressure for his third win in four races.
• Losers — Ferrari. Hamilton was incandescent that Leclerc's off-track pass drew only a soft five-second penalty, and demanded "serious talks" after losing a race he looked capable of winning. Fred Vasseur's reply was pointed: drivers owe respect to the 2,000 people building the car.
• Cadillac and Valtteri Bottas. Another reliability setback, with Bottas fortunate to walk away from a front-left suspension failure at Turn 1.
• Honda. Fernando Alonso parked within six laps with abnormal power unit pressures, a repeat of the problems that opened the year in Australia.

What's next:

Four teams separated by three to four tenths heading toward 2027, with Antonelli, Verstappen and Hamilton sharing a podium in Mexico — a passing of the torch and a warning in equal measure.