Max Verstappen wins Mexican GP after starting fifth; Kimi Antonelli crowned champion

Max Verstappen was victorious in the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday. The Red Bull driver climbed from fifth to win at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, but the race will be remembered mainly for Kimi Antonelli's championship: the 20-year-old Mercedes driver was crowned the youngest-ever F1 world champion.

Verstappen started in fifth after receiving a penalty during the qualifying session on Saturday. However, the Dutch driver quickly climbed to second after the start, going past Lewis Hamilton when the Brit and his teammate Charles Leclerc almost collided.

The incident led to a five-second penalty for Leclerc, which was criticized by Verstappen and Hamilton. “Ha, I thought all the new penalties were 10 seconds now,” Verstappen said, while Hamilton said the “stewards are handing the race to Charles.”

A smart move by Red Bull gave Verstappen the upper hand over Leclerc. Knowing that the Frenchman had to take a five-second penalty, Red Bull timed their pit stop to coincide with Leclerc’s, ensuring that Verstappen was ahead of him with the same tires.

Red Bull set the scene, telling Verstappen, “We basically need one of your magic Mexico stints here.” A tactical error from Ferrari shortly after this gave Verstappen the edge over Hamilton.

Ferrari decided to pit Hamilton when Valtteri Bottas crashed off the track, only to see that the FIA had issued a red flag, meaning that the race was suspended and all mechanics had time to work on the cars anyway. Hamilton restarted the race in second rather than first, which proved to be costly.

Verstappen kept his lead when the race restarted half an hour later. Hamilton did not make it easy, nor when a safety car was called shortly later, but Verstappen was able to hold on for his sixth win at the circuit.

Hamilton finished second, and Antonelli finished third. Verstappen climbed to second in the rankings, behind the newly crowned world champion.