Mexico Grand Prix 2026 Result: Antonelli Is F1 World Champion at 20, Verstappen Wins, Brazil Time in Pakistan

Kimi Antonelli is the 2026 Formula 1 world champion. He finished third in the Mexico City Grand Prix, which ended at about 3:20 am PKT on Monday 2 November, and at 20 he is the youngest champion in F1 history. Max Verstappen won the race for Red Bull Racing, 0.799 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari.

Antonelli needed only ninth place. Third gave him 380 points, 119 more than anyone else, with four races and at most 100 points left. Formula 1 confirmed the title and the record the same night. We read the official classification, the starting grid, both championship tables and Formula 1's race report on formula1.com on 2 November 2026. Below are the full points finishers, how the race was won, the penalties, and the next race time in Pakistan.

Antonelli became champion at 20 by finishing third

Antonelli clinched the 2026 title by finishing third in Mexico City for Mercedes. He is 20, the youngest world champion ever, beating Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 years, 4 months and 11 days old when he won in 2010.

He is also the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953, and only the third Italian ever, after Nino Farina in 1950 and Ascari. Born in 2006, he is the first champion born in the 2000s. Formula 1's records article lists more firsts: youngest pole sitter, youngest championship leader and youngest Monaco winner.

His season, in short: he won five races in a row from China to Monaco, led the table from Japan in March, and won nine of the first 18 Grands Prix. Formula 1's race report quotes his first words after the flag: "I'm speechless."

Verstappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix from fifth on the grid

Max Verstappen won from fifth on the grid, 0.799 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with Antonelli third. It was Verstappen's sixth win in Mexico City and his third of 2026, after Bahrain and Singapore in October.

The race took more than two hours and 20 minutes because of a red flag, which we explain below. Seventeen cars finished and five retired: Arvid Lindblad, Oliver Bearman, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso. The Aston Martins lasted only five laps; the classification gives no reason.

The Ferrari fight and a red flag decided the race

Hamilton started on pole, but he and Leclerc went wheel to wheel into Turn 1. Leclerc cut across the grass to lead and got a five-second penalty. Verstappen passed Hamilton in the fight, then took the lead when Leclerc served the penalty at his stop.

The race was stopped after Valtteri Bottas crashed with a suspension failure on his Cadillac and the barrier needed repairs. That meant a standing restart. Antonelli started it fourth and passed Leclerc into Turn 1.

A late collision between Lindblad and Oscar Piastri brought another Safety Car. At the final restart Hamilton chased Verstappen to the flag but finished less than a second behind. Ferrari's team principal, Fred Vasseur, was angry about the battle between his drivers, and Hamilton talked of needing "serious talks".

Two grid notes matter. Verstappen qualified fourth but dropped to fifth with a one-place penalty for a collision in practice. Lawson was disqualified from qualifying for a technical breach and started from the pit lane, yet finished seventh.

Penalties changed the bottom of the points

Post-race penalties took points away from both Alpine drivers. Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were penalised for not slowing under yellow flags, and Piastri got 10 seconds for the Lindblad collision. That lifted Ryo Hirakawa into tenth and a point on his debut.

• Franco Colapinto: 10 seconds for not slowing under yellow flags, classified 15th.
• Pierre Gasly: a stop-and-go penalty, converted after the race, for the same offence, classified 17th.
• Oscar Piastri: 10 seconds for causing the collision with Lindblad, classified 13th.
• George Russell: 10 seconds for tapping Isack Hadjar into a spin at Turn 6, still sixth.
• Nico Hulkenberg: penalised for hitting Bearman from behind, which ended Bearman's race.

Hirakawa replaced Esteban Ocon at Haas after second practice. He started 18th, and the penalties ahead of him turned 13th on the road into tenth on paper.

Second place in the championship is now a four-way fight

With the title gone, the fight is for second. Verstappen has 261 points, Hamilton 259, Russell 250 and Leclerc 245, just 16 points apart with four races left. Lando Norris, on 221, can still reach second in theory.

Mercedes lead the constructors' table on 630 points to Ferrari's 504. The full 24-driver and 11-team tables, with the maths for both titles still open, are in our F1 standings after Mexico.

The Brazil Grand Prix starts at 10:00 pm PKT on 8 November

Round 20, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, starts at 10:00 pm PKT on Sunday 8 November. It is the first race after the title was settled, so it is the start of the fight for second place, and the clocks suit Pakistan far better than Mexico did.

The remaining four races, in order, are:

1. Brazil, Sunday 8 November, 10:00 pm PKT.
2. Las Vegas, Sunday 22 November, 9:00 am PKT.
3. Qatar, Sunday 29 November, 9:00 pm PKT.
4. Abu Dhabi, Sunday 6 December, 6:00 pm PKT.

Every session for the Interlagos weekend is in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix time in Pakistan, and the rest of the season is in the F1 2026 schedule in Pakistan time.

Common questions

Who won the Mexico Grand Prix 2026?

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, 0.799 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with Kimi Antonelli third.

Who is the 2026 F1 world champion?

Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes. He sealed it in Mexico City on 1 November local time, early on 2 November in Pakistan.

How old is Kimi Antonelli?

He is 20, and Formula 1 says that makes him the youngest world champion in the sport's history.

Where did Antonelli finish in Mexico?

Third, from fourth on the grid. He needed ninth place to be sure of the title.

Why did Verstappen start fifth when he qualified fourth?

He took a one-place grid penalty for a collision in second practice, which moved Antonelli up to fourth.

When is the next F1 race in Pakistan time?

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix, at 10:00 pm PKT on Sunday 8 November 2026.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

We read the official race classification, the starting grid, the drivers' and teams' standings and the race calendar on formula1.com on 2 November 2026, along with Formula 1's own race report and its article on the records Antonelli has broken. The finish time in PKT is our estimate: a 1:00 am start plus the 2 hours 20 minutes race time. The classification gives no reasons for the Aston Martin retirements, and we could not confirm Antonelli's exact age in days. Brazil and later race times are from our earlier conversions of Formula 1's session times.