By Alan Baldwin
MEXICO CITY, Nov 1 (Reuters) – A tearful Kimi Antonelli became Formula One’s youngest world champion at 20 years and 68 days old on Sunday when he finished third for Mercedes in a red-flagged and restarted Mexico City Grand Prix won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The first Italian champion since 1953 sobbed with joy over the team radio as he took the chequered flag at the high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with his overall lead now an unassailable 119 points.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton started from pole position and took a close second place — after clashing with teammate Charles Leclerc — on an afternoon of drama with two safety cars, multiple crashes and an agonising 33-minute halt with 25 of the 71 laps remaining.
“Get in there, Kimi. Champion of the world,” said his race engineer Peter Bonnington, a regular target for the young driver’s practical jokes.
“We did it thank you so much,” gasped the Italian, whose parents and sister were there to embrace him when he stepped out of the car. He was then mobbed by his pit crew.
The previous youngest champion was Germany’s Sebastian Vettel, who took the first of his four with Red Bull at 23 years and 134 days in 2010.
“I’m speechless. I’m trying to process what has just happened,” said Antonelli in comments to the crowd. “It’s been an incredible season, and to share this podium with Max and Lewis is truly incredible. And looking forward to some more battles in the future.
“This weekend I did feel a bit more tense, but I’m just so happy that we got it done, and now we can enjoy the rest of the season,” he added, with an Italian flag wrapped around his shoulders on the podium and spraying the champagne with abandon.
The last Italian champion was Alberto Ascari, 73 years earlier.
VERSTAPPEN GOES SECOND OVERALL
Leclerc finished fourth, McLaren’s outgoing champion Lando Norris was fifth and Antonelli’s teammate George Russell only sixth in a race he had to win to have any chance of staying in contention.
That also meant Verstappen went second in the overall standings, with Hamilton third and pre-season favourite Russell plummeting to fourth and 130 points behind Antonelli.
Mercedes have 630 points in the constructors standings to Ferrari’s 504 and could clinch that title in Brazil next weekend.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was seventh in the race, ahead of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the top 10.
The race was stopped, after a brief safety car deployment, on lap 46 of 71 after Valtteri Bottas suffered a high-speed front-left suspension failure down the straight with his Cadillac pitched uncontrollably into the barriers at turn one.
Bottas received medical attention in the car but then walked to an ambulance, giving a thumbs up, as the rest of the field returned to the pits. He went to the medical centre and was released.
Verstappen led from the re-start, challenged by Hamilton with Antonelli passing Leclerc, and there was then another safety car when Racing Bulls’ rookie Arvid Lindblad and Piastri collided — with the field released to race again with nine laps to the chequered flag.
The four-time champion, cleared of a false start, hung on to take his 74th career win — and sixth in Mexico — by 0.799 of a second with Antonelli four seconds down the road.
FERRARI PAIR COLLIDE
Hamilton had led away from the original pole position, for the 105th time in his career but first for Ferrari at a full grand prix, with Leclerc slotting in behind from third on the grid.
The Briton held him off as they went side by side through the opening corners but Leclerc cut turn four and went across the grass as they battled for the lead, with Verstappen then taking second from Hamilton as the Ferrari looped wide.
“Pushed out by my own teammate,” said Hamilton over the radio.
Stewards handed Leclerc a five-second penalty but that did little for Hamilton, who remained behind his teammate after their respective stops on laps 28 and 29 with the Monegasque taking his penalty.
“The problem with the five-second penalty is he’s got clean air and doesn’t have to manage like the rest of us. He should just give the positions back,” said the seven-time world champion.
Stewards said neither car would have made the corner on track, given the speed they were going.
Russell, who had lined up on the front row, made a poor start and dropped to fifth. The Briton also collided with Isack Hadjar, with the Red Bull punted off, and the stewards handed him a 10-second penalty.
Hadjar pitted for a change of tyres when a virtual safety car was deployed on lap seven when Lance Stroll stopped his Aston Martin on track.
(Reporting by Alan BaldwinEditing by Toby Davis)
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