Kimi Antonelli secured the Formula 1 world championship after the Mexico City Grand Prix while finishing third in the race.
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Twenty-year-old Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli became the youngest champion in Formula 1 history on Sunday with four races remaining in the season.
Antonelli, the first Italian to win the title since Alberto Ascari in 1953, took an unassailable lead in the standings over Mercedes teammate George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton after the Mexico City Grand Prix.
At the race, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won for the sixth time, and Antonelli crossed the line in third.
The Mexico City GP was stopped on lap 46 with a red flag after Valtteri Bottas crashed into the wall at the first corner following issues with his right-side suspension. Cadillac reported that Bottas was given “further medical assessments as a precaution”; he got out of the car unaided and waved to fans before leaving the track.
When racing resumed, Verstappen was first, followed by Leclerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Norris and Russell, and Verstappen held the win.
Sebastian Vettel was the previous youngest champion at age 23, after winning the title in 2010.
Antonelli celebrated on the team radio after securing the championship, saying, “Thank you so much, we did it, we did it, thank you so much ... thank you.”
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