Italian driver Kimi Antonelli, of the Mercedes team, secured his first Formula 1 World Championship title on Sunday after finishing third at the Mexico City Grand Prix, becoming the youngest world champion in the competition's history. Antonelli clinched the title at the age of 20 years and 68 days, breaking the record held by German Sebastian Vettel since 2010, and becoming the first Italian to win the championship since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
His coronation came four races before the end of the season, after achieving nine victories in 19 rounds, surpassing his teammate and direct rival, British driver George Russell. Antonelli entered the race with a 123-point lead over Russell, needing only to finish within the top nine to secure the title, regardless of other competitors' results.
Race Details
The Italian driver finished the race at the Aut贸dromo Hermanos Rodr铆guez behind Dutch driver Max Verstappen of Red Bull and British driver Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari. Antonelli started fourth and maintained his position during the first lap, during which Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc took the lead from his teammate Hamilton before receiving a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
Penalties and Stops
Russell was also penalized with a 10-second addition to his time after colliding with French driver Isack Hadjar of Red Bull, causing his car to spin and fall back. Verstappen exploited the conflict among the leading drivers to take the lead from Leclerc after pit stops. The race was halted for 40 minutes after Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas of Cadillac crashed into the barriers due to a suspension failure.
Final Results
The safety car returned on lap 59 following a collision between Australian Oscar Piastri and Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad, which ended with the latter crashing into the barriers. After the restart, Verstappen maintained the lead despite pressure from Hamilton and car contact, while Antonelli overtook Leclerc, who made an error at the first corner, to move into third place, with the top three maintaining their positions until the end.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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