Verstappen and Red Bull wins the Mexico City Grand Prix but the ultimate winner is Kimi Antonelli who becomes World Champion. Talking of Champions, our Mexico City Grand Prix Result Summary is a real winner.
With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered watching live in the parts of the planet where it’s night time, or don’t have enough time regardless of time zone.
Mexico City Grand Prix Result Race Summary
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Here’s where we capture the laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – PRE-RACE & QUALIFYING
Lewis Hamilton becomes the oldest F1 driver since Mario Andretti to take a pole position, which is coincidental and the American also drove a Ferrari, and the flag of the country hosting the GP was also green, white and red (Italy). Ferrari have been threatening to do something for a while, so here they are 1-3. Kimi Antonelli only needs to finish 9th to win the Championship, so is probably not that fussed with 5th. Oscar Piastri missed Q3 for the first time this season and since 2024.
Someone who didn’t get as far as Q1 was Esteban Ocon, who was sensationally dropped by Haas on the Friday night and reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa at the track justified the job for a change and got a late call up. He actually outqualified the Cadillacs and Lance Stroll, which says something about the cars, and Lance Stroll. Ocon blew up at his team on radio on Friday and views were exchanged later, presuming at least one side of the conversation took offence and put Ocon out on his arse. Will Ocon be seen again? Given he’s been let go for 2027, and his replacement Rafael Camara is Brazilian, we’ll say no.
TOP TEN QUALIFYING
| 1 | Lewis HAMILTON | Ferrari | 1’16.514 | Gap |
| 2 | George RUSSELL | Mercedes | 1’16.523 | 0.009 |
| 3 | Charles LECLERC | Ferrari | 1’16.633 | 0.119 |
| 4 | Max VERSTAPPEN | Red Bull | 1’16.692 | 0.178 |
| 5 | Kimi ANTONELLI | Mercedes | 1’16.707 | 0.193 |
| 6 | Lando NORRIS | McLaren | 1’16.824 | 0.31 |
| 7 | Isack HADJAR | Red Bull | 1’16.900 | 0.386 |
| 8 | Arvid LINDBLAD | Racing Bulls | 1’17.117 | 0.603 |
| 9 | Pierre GASLY | Alpine | 1’17.153 | 0.639 |
Liam Lawson qualified in the top 10 but his Q3 he was disqualified from qualifying due to a technical infringement with his MGU-K power unit – he starts from the back or pitlane. Max Verstappen gets a one-place penalty for a practice clash with Liam Lawson.
STARTING GRID – HAM RUS LEC ANT VER NOR HAD LIN GAS HUL
Setting the scene – RACEDAY
It’s hot on raceday, which might add another element to a track that offers plenty of challenges. The first corner is always interesting with a long, straight run to the right-left-right combo, which hopefully brings a combination of ambition and lack of talent.
Tyre Tactics: Verstappen is on Mediums with the Audis and Colapinto. The rest of the field are on softs.
Lap 1 – Ferraris start well and they are 1-2 into the first corners as George Russell has a slow start from second. Leclerc challenges Hamilton through those first corners but the pole sitter hangs on. But approaching the net set of turns Leclerc tries again and they both hit the grass, Leclerc worse than Hamilton. Leclerc stays in front, but Verstappen overtakes Hamilton, surely Leclerc can’t stay in front as he fully cut the corner, while Hamilton just did a little lawn mowing. Around the same corners Hadjar has spun off dropping him to the tail of the field. Decent start for Franco Colapinto from outside the top ten to seventh.
ORDER – LEC VER HAM ANT RUS LIN COL NOR PIA HUL
Lap 4 – Charles Leclerc still leads the race somehow, but investigation is ongoing. Hamilton enquires via radio as well. Hard for Ferrari, because Verstappen being second means he can’t just give the place back to Hamilton. Advantage Red Bull. George Russell’s race could be about to get worse with an investigation into possible contact.
Lap 5 – Lando Norris passes Franco Colapinto, he’d better watch his social media after that. He does have history with Colapinto.
Lap 6 – Pre race Fernando Alonso said he was going to boycott the race due to car issues, maybe he should have. He’s called into the piuts on lap 6, presumably to retire. Lance Stroll is also asked to stop the car as well, but in pure Stroll-esque behaviour, he does it at a point where a Virtual Safety Car must be called.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR DELPOYED
VSC allows the start replays to happen while nothing else is. It firms up that Leclerc should be penalised, Hamitlon probably not, and George Russell’s is a slam dunk penalty for a slam dunk clipping of Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull as he was turning in front of him.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR ENDS
Lap 10 – Kimi Antonelli is right on Lewis Hamilton’s tail for third, which is more than the 9th place he needs for the Championship, and if he can get past will make Hamilton even more grumpy.
ORDER – LEC VER HAM ANT RUS NOR LIN PIA COL HUL
Lap 11 – George Russell is under investigation for his first lap clash with Isack Hadjar that sent the Red Bull to the tail of the field.
Lap 12 – Oscar Piastri passes Arvid Lindblad for 7th, some nice racing from Piastri today, something we haven’t seen much of in 2026.
Lap 13 – PENALTY – Charles Leclerc gets a five second penalty for cutting the corner on the first lap after his clash with team mate Hamilton and keeping the lead. Not too bad really, as he is currently 5.0 seconds in front of third placed Hamilton. Verstappen questions the five seconds over ten seconds on team radio. George Russell gets a ten second penalty for tapping Isack Hadjar into a spin on the first lap.
Lap 16 – Leclerc is nearly four seconds in front of Verstappen now and over 6 to the good of Hamilton, so who knows, the penalty may not hurt at all., but pure Ferrari to throw away a race where it looked like they had the pace to go 1-2.
Lap 19 – Charles Leclerc leads by 4.5 seconds, which almost covers the five second penalty handed to him for the first lap corner cutting. Then the following few cars all have a gap of two second-ish to the car in front. Only Lando Norris and George Russell threatens to break into a battle, for 5th. For the record Oscar Piastri is seven seconds behind Norris at this stage. Whilst he’s up from 12th on the grid, and raced well to get there, it’s not been a good weekend.
Lap 20 – Oliver Bearman slips past Gabriel Bortoleto for those into their midfield news. Whilst in the midfield news, an unexpected sight of Sergio Pere in 13th, Pit stops may have helped but not a bad effort at home and in his 300th race.
Lap 23 – Leclerc is almost five seconds in front of Verstappen alone now, with the pit stops surely not far away it should be an interesting period of the race. Lando Norris is still stuck behind George Russell and getting a bit grumpy. Probably less grumpy than George Russell.
Lap 27 – Oscar Piastri is the first of the big cars at the front to pit for new tyres. A slow-ish stop – 5.2 seconds instead of the usual 2.5 and less – sees him lose a spot behind Bortoleto. Not calling sabotage from McLaren, but it’s just his luck in 2027.
Lap 28 – Leclerc and Verstappen enter the pitlane and leave in the opposite order as the Ferrari needs to serve the five second penalty and Red Bull win the pit lane battle and on track as Verstappen stays within the five seconds needed. Lewis Hamilton leads and has some clean air to establish a lead. Not for long, he pits the following lap. Kimi Antonelli now leads.
Lap 32 – Poor Sergio Peres, his great midfield run is spoiled by a stuck tyre at his pit stop.
Lap 33 – Lewis Hamilton sets fastest lap as he’s probably trying to prove a point to team and Leclerc. Meanwhile further ahead Antonelli continues to lead, and George Russell finally gives Lando Norris some clear air by pitting and taking his ten second penalty. He drops from second to 8th, but importantly ahead of Oscar Piastri. But it isn’t and won’t be the first place he needs to keep the Championship alive.
ORDER – ANT* NOR* VER LEC HAM LIN* COL* RUS PIA BEA*
* Yet to pit
Lap 39 – Kimi Antonelli still leads and probably proving why he’s such a worthy Champions, cruising out in front on 40 lap old soft tyres. It sure helps to have the best car, but so does Russell who has had luck and ego problems in 2026.
Lap 40 – Lando Norris pits and his is a slow one too as he overshoots the marks in his pit. Makes no difference really as he finally gets past George Russell when he returns to the track.
ORDER – ANT* VER LEC HAM NOR RUS PIA BEA* LIN HAD
Lap 44 – Kimi Antonelli pits from the lead, and he rejoins in fourth place, which is more than the 9th he needs to become World Champion.
ORDER – VER LEC HAM ANT NOR RUS PIA LIN COL GAS
Lap 45/46.
SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
Valtteri Bottas has had a big crash going into turn one, and the Safety Car is called. Lewis Hamilton dives into the pits, as does George Russell and Oscar Piastri. Not everyone seems convinced to pit though. Kimi Antonelli failed to get really lucky by just one lap. He can’t have everything.
RED FLAG – RACE STOPPED
Well, that didn’t quite work out for the drivers who pitted, and looking at the bunch it’s all the drivers who haven’t been very lucky in 2026, and they’re getting another serve. That’s because everyone gets to change their tyres while Red Flag stops the race, so all they did was lose track position.
Replays show that Bottas’ suspension fails under braking for the first corner. He’s just a passenger as he heads toward the first corner wall. Thankfully the car rotates and the rear hits first, potentially saving his legs.
ORDER – VER LEC ANT HAM NOR RUS LIN PIA COL HUL
Well, the above was the order when the race stopped, but for some reason the FIA has ordered cars to restart in a different order, the most notable is Hamilton swapping with Antonelli. Handing back an advantage to those who pit so close to the Red Flag.
ORDER – VER LEC HAM ANT NOR RUS PIA LIN
RACE TO RESTART FROM NEW STANDING START
Lap 46 – The race resumes with a brand new start, Verstappen kills it from the line and makes it to the first corner first, but does come under temporary pressure from Lewis Hamilton with a hint of a bump through the chicane. They argue over first place for a few more corners, but the Red Bull stays in front. Charles Leclerc is really slow off the line but recovers to third by the time of the first corner.
Lap 48 – Kimi Antonelli isn’t playing it safe with a Championship there to be won. He dives past Leclerc going into the first corner and leaves him behind at over half a second a lap. Oliver Bearman is out after contact with Nico Hulkenberg who receives a ten second penalty a few laps later.
ORDER – VER HAM ANT LEC NOR RUS LIN PIA COL GAS
Lap 51 – Investigation into Verstappen being out of position at the start is dismissed without a penalty for the Red Bull. Hamilton is going to have to take the lead on track, he’s fallen just over a second behind after early post-Red Flag harassment, so maybe not.
Lap 55 – Lando Norris v Charles Leclerc is the tastiest battle on the track, that hasn’t led into tears yet. Don’t really expect that from these two anyways.
Lap 56 – Carlos from Williams is under investigation for a start line infringement, which he probably couldn’t be too annoyed at sitting in 17th or second last position.
FINAL LAP – Verstappen win, but Antonelli wins even more as he becomes the youngest ever World Champions at 20. Kind of fitting he shares that moment with the two most recent champions. He’s done so well, in a car that more experienced driers can’t handle, being decisive when needed and circumspect when required.
Refer to top for official results, penalties applied change positions post-race.
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
Essentially a Winners and Losers under a different name.
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. 5 points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – KIMI ANTONELLI
Became the youngest World Champion with a podium finish and a solid weekend that usually comes from an experienced driver sealing a second or third crown. Sure he’s kind of got lucky with having the best car, but he’s done the best job with it. You only have to look at George Russell.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
VERSTAPPEN – A fine win against the better teams.
LANDO NORRIS – Just keeps the getting the maximum of the McLaren every weekend.
LIAM LAWSON – Disqualified from Qualifying, started at the back and still got best of the rest points.
RYO HIRAKAWA – Made his F1 debut at late notice on Friday for Saturday, qualified ahead of the Cadillac and Lance Stroll in a good start, then got the final point of the day after a very solid drive and a few driver penalties ahead.
THE GRAPE-EST – ESTEBAN OCON
Being sacked in the middle of a GP weekend doesn’t happen very often in F1 history. As if losing your seat at the end of the season wasn’t bad enough, your team sabotages your Friday FP sessions, then tell you to bugger off after confronting them angrily about it. What makes it worse, it’s probably his last race in F1.
DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS
GEORGE RUSSELL – After his car basically didn’t work off the starting grid dropping place he didn’t want from 2nd on the grid, he then had to spend his afternoon in the upper midfield and watch his team mate become World Champion.
FERNANDO ALONSO – Jokingly said he should boycott the race, he should have. Early DNF.
LANCE STROLL – Not only did he get a standard Aston Martin DNF, but he was also out-qualified by Hirokawa on debut in the Haas.
LEWIS HAMILTON – Threw away a win by over-defending on his team mate the first lap.
CHARLES LECLERC – Threw away a win by over-pushing against his team mate on the first lap.
OSCAR PIASTRI – Bad enough missing Q3 for the first time in two seasons, but his pittance of World Championship points were taken away with a post-race penalty after a clash with Lidnblad.
VALTTERI BOTTAS – The race DNF was certainly not his fault, but with his team mate signed for 2027, he needed a big day out to convince the team to double down on 2027 incumbents.
ASTON MARTIN – Where was that new pace? The team bombed out in qualifying in Q1 then retired both cars after 5 laps.
Was it a good race, loads of action, a tense ending, a surprise result or DNF, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest?
We rate the big race itself, so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
PRE RACE ACTION (FP, QUAL, SPRINT, HYPE, OFF TRACK etc) – 4 / 5
Mexico is a pretty cool track, with lots of interesting lead up events around the track. Friday’s usually dull practice sessions were livened up with a clash between Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson. Then Esteban Ocon was dumped on Friday by Haas and replaced by Ryo Hirakawa. Plus a little hype on the pending Kimi Antonelli Championship.
ON TRACK ACTION (RACE) – 4 / 10
The Red Flag added a different element to the race that was ok to that point. First lap shenanigans between Ferrari was interesting enough. A few battles through the race, but these cars have made it so hard to overtake.
ANY SURPRISES? – 2 / 5
Kimi World Champions, Verstappen winning, Russell/Piastri underperforming or just unlucky, early Aston Martin DNF. Nothing out of the ordinary here.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 5 / 5
Well yeah, Kimi Atonelli becomes World Champion. And the youngest to ever do so no less.
ENDING – 2 / 5
After the Red Flag dragged it out, and the racing straight after the restart dropped away quickly, it was an ok end to the race, with more focus rightfully focusing on the new World Champion as you’d expect.
OVERALL RATING – 17 / 30
Not a bad race all told, but will be remembered in time for Kimi Antonelli’s World Championship, the foreseeable flash point for a potential Ferrari intra team battle, and Esteban Ocon getting sacked.
