Sports News Blitz writer Leia Cornall provides a lap-by-lap breakdown of the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix. Max Verstappen takes victory at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Meanwhile, Andrea Kimi Antonelli makes Formula 1 history by securing his first World Championship title.
Dramatic start sees early contact and retirements
Lap 1/71 – The lights go out in Mexico City as the race gets underway. The drivers prepare to crown a new world champion.
Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton battle for the lead. Their cars make light contact during the opening corners. As a result, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen climbs from fifth to second.
George Russell and Isack Hadjar also make contact. Russell’s Mercedes loses power, while Hadjar spins off the track. The incident drops Hadjar towards the back of the field.
Race Control notes the contact between Hamilton and Leclerc. Leclerc keeps the lead after Hamilton’s off-track overtake.
Lap 6/71 – Fernando Alonso brings his Aston Martin into the pits and retires. Meanwhile, Hadjar starts fighting his way back through the field.
One lap later, Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll pulls off the track. He also retires, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car (VSC).
The VSC period ends on Lap 8. McLaren’s Lando Norris regains the two positions he lost while avoiding Russell at the start. Race Control also notes Russell’s incident for investigation.
Verstappen takes advantage of Ferrari’s pit stops
Lap 12/71 – Charles Leclerc receives a five-second time penalty. The stewards punish him for the incident involving Hamilton at the start.
Lap 13/71 – George Russell receives a 10-second penalty for his collision with Hadjar.
Lap 27/71 – Leclerc and Verstappen enter the pits. The Ferrari driver leads the race, with Verstappen five seconds behind.
Leclerc serves his penalty during the stop. This allows Verstappen to move ahead when both drivers leave the pits. The Red Bull driver takes the net race lead.
Hamilton brings the second Ferrari into the pits on Lap 28.
Lap 39/71 – McLaren suffers another slow pit stop. Norris spends 6.0 seconds in the pits. Earlier, teammate Oscar Piastri had also lost time with a 5.2-second stop.
Bottas brings out the red flag
Lap 43/71 – Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas has a rough crash into the barriers as his suspension snaps down the back straight, sending the safety car out for a short lap before race control calls a red flag and stops the session.
The marshals work to repair a broken barrier and remove Bottas’ car as all drivers pull into the pit lane and exit their cars during red flag conditions.
Valtteri is out of the car and okay. Race control announces the race will have a standing restart.
Race restart
Lap 47/71 – Hamilton passes team-mate Leclerc on the restart as Max Verstappen holds his line and remains in the lead coming up to Turn 1.
Antonelli and Norris are putting pressure on Leclerc as he flat-spots his soft tyre on the restart, resulting in Kimi Antonelli overtaking Leclerc for the final podium spot. Verstappen leads from Hamilton, Antonelli, Leclerc and Norris.
Lap 48/71 – Haas’ Oliver Bearman pulls into the pits and retires from the Grand Prix after contact with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg on the restart. Nico Hulkenberg receives a 10-second time penalty for this incident.
Lap 59/71 – McLaren’s Oscar Piastri crashes into VCARB’s Arvid Lindblad after an attempt to overtake him on the outside, sending Lindblad into the gravel. Stewards announce they will investigate this incident after the race.
Verstappen wins as Antonelli makes history
Lap 71/71 – Max Verstappen holds the lead over Lewis Hamilton, winning the Mexico City Grand Prix, making it one of Verstappen’s most successful circuits on the F1 calendar.
Kimi Antonelli cements his championship win, making Formula 1 history as the youngest world champion of all time.
