MEXICO CITY (AP) — After crossing the finish line of the Mexico City Grand Prix behind race winner Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, F1 history-maker Kimi Antonelli placed his hands on the steering wheel and his voice cracked as he said, “We did it, we did it.”
Although the 20-year-old Mercedes driver finished third in the Mexican capital on Sunday, he became the youngest champion in the history of Formula 1.
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“Thank you so much, we did it, we did it, thank you so much ... thank you,” Antonelli said on the team radio after securing the title with four races still left in the season.
Antonelli, the first Italian to win the title since Alberto Ascari in 1953, took an unassailable lead in the standings over teammate George Russell and Ferrari's Hamilton.
Sebastian Vettel was the previous youngest champion at age 23 in 2010.
Verstappen won the Mexico City GP for the sixth time.
“I would not be here, without Mercedes and my family, I am speechless just trying to process this,” Antonelli said at the end of the race. “It has been an incredible season.”
“For 73 years, our country has waited for this moment, and today an entire nation will celebrate one of its own reaching the very pinnacle of our sport,” said Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
“Today, his name joins the legends of our sport. A new chapter in Formula 1 history has been written, and I firmly believe this is only the beginning of an extraordinary legacy.”
The race 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 the driver was given “further medical assessments as a precaution.” Bottas had got out of the car unaided and waved to the fans before leaving the track.
At the restart, Verstappen was first — followed by Charles Leclerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Lando Norris and Russell — and the Red Bull driver did not let the win slip away.
After Mexico, F1 will head to Brazil and then to Las Vegas. It remains uncertain whether the final two scheduled Grands Prix — in Qatar and Abu Dhabi —will take place, given instability in the region.
Hamilton, who had secured pole position on Saturday, lost it on the fourth lap while battling for the lead with Leclerc. Hamilton briefly went off track, dropping back to third place.
The maneuver between the two Ferrari drivers was investigated, resulting in a five-second penalty for Leclerc — a decision that left seven-time world champion Hamilton fuming.
“The stewards are basically handing Charles this win. We agreed in the drivers’ briefing,” Hamilton said. “The problem with a 5-second penalty is that he’s got clean air and doesn’t have to manage (the car) like the rest of us. He should have just given the position back.”
Shortly before the red flag caused by Bottas’ crash, Hamilton radioed, “We’ve got problems ... big, big problems.” On pulling into the garage, he appeared visibly frustrated with his team.
After a disastrous qualifying, Fernando Alonso joked that he wouldn’t race in Mexico and would head straight to Brazil instead.
That nearly became a reality.
Alonso, a two-time F1 champion, was forced to retire early, with his teammate Lance Stroll exiting the race shortly afterward on the seventh lap, capping off a disastrous visit to Mexico for the Aston Martin team.
“I was just told to retire the car due to an engine issue. I’m not sure what happened. The car was fine during the first practice sessions, then it failed in qualifying, and now it’s happened again,” Alonso said. “We had reliability issues at the worst possible time.”
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