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The Italian teenager has produced a series of stunning performances this term, putting him within touching distance of becoming the youngest world champion in F1 history. It’s an honour currently held by former Red Bull hero Sebastian Vettel, who, at the tender age of 23 years and 134 days, pipped Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, and Fernando Alonso to the post in a thrilling conclusion to the 2010 campaign.
Having still been a teenager when he clinched second place at this summer’s Dutch Grand Prix, Antonelli is poised to smash Vettel’s long-held record.
Thanks to his colossal 123-point lead, the Mercedes frontrunner only needs a ninth-place finish to wrap up the title with four races to spare. However, if neither Lewis Hamilton nor Silver Arrows teammate George Russell cross the line first in the Mexican capital, Antonelli cannot be caught at the summit of the driver’s standings.
This weekend marks the 26th edition of the Mexico City Grand Prix, more than six decades on from F1’s maiden visit to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Defending world champion Lando Norris claimed a crucial triumph here last year, handing him a major boost in his successful bid for silverware. Unfortunately, Sunday’s outcome at the Circuit of the Americas confirmed the English speedster would be relinquishing his crown, perhaps sooner rather than later given Antonelli’s current form.
Drivers will next head south to São Paulo, before returning to the United States for the glamorous Las Vegas Grand Prix.
It’s eventually then onto the Middle East, where Lusail and Abu Dhabi will host the final two races of the season following the chaos caused by the ongoing Iran War, which resulted in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix being cancelled and the Bahrain Grand Prix’s relocation to Malaysia.
Mexico City Grand Prix 2026: Key Information
Date: Friday, October 30th to Sunday, November 1st
Location: Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City
F1 race weekend: 19 (of 23)
2025 winner: Lando Norris (McLaren)
TV Channels: Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event
Favourites: Max Verstappen: 11/8, Kimi Antonelli: 7/4
Odds provided by bet365
Schedule
We’ve provided the full schedule for this weekend’s Mexico Grand Prix below. All slots are in GMT, with local time – otherwise referred to as ‘track time’ – included in brackets.
Friday
Practice 1: 18:30 – 19:30 (12:30 – 13:30)
Practice 2: 22:00 – 23:00 (16:00 – 17:00)
Saturday
Practice 3: 17:30 – 18:30 (11:30 – 12:30)
Qualifying – Q1, Q2 and Q3: 21:00 – 22:00 (15:00 – 16:00)
Sunday
Race start: 20:00 (14:00)
Is a double celebration on the cards?
In addition to Kimi Antonelli’s potential coronation, Mercedes could also secure their first Constructors’ Championship in five years on Sunday.
The Silver Arrows have been represented on the podium at every single Grand Prix this season, racking up a colossal 12 wins in the process. A further four triumphs across the six Sprint Races have served to further extend their lead, which currently stands at an almost-unassailable 133 points.
Nevertheless, it’s highly unlikely that Mercedes – whose previous eight championships came consecutively during a glittering period between 2014 and 2021 – will clinch the title in Mexico City. For that outcome to materialise, both Ferrari drivers would need to fail to secure a single point, something that hasn’t even been close to occurring all season.
If it doesn’t happen this weekend, you can guarantee that both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships will be safely stowed away in the Mercedes trophy cabinet following the conclusion of next month’s São Paulo Grand Prix.
What happened last time out?
Kimi Antonelli was almost crowned champion last weekend, following a dominant display at the Circuit of the Americas. The Bologna-born speedster converted pole position into a commanding triumph, seizing the initiative from the very beginning of the race.
Trouble in Texas for Russell
Both Mercedes drivers adopted a one-stop strategy on a dry track in Texas, but George Russell experienced contrasting fortunes to his younger teammate. Following an underwhelming qualifying session, the Englishman was forced off the track as he locked horns with Isack Hadjar and Oscar Piastri midway through the first lap.
The stewards determined that he had gained an unfair advantage from this altercation, resulting in him serving a five-second penalty from the pits. Unable to recover the deficit in his below-par W17, Russell found himself in P8 when he sauntered past the chequered flag.
However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the 28-year-old, whose fading title hopes would have diminished altogether had he finished just one position lower in the final classification.
In the box seat
Meanwhile, Antonelli managed to extract every inch of efficiency out of a vehicle that no longer holds technical superiority over the rest of the field. A major battle was won early on, when he survived intense pressure from Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc while heading along COTA’s infamous uphill stretch into turn one, the location of so many dramatic moments over recent years.
The virtual safety car was deployed soon after to clear some debris following an action-packed start to proceedings, but it wasn’t in operation long enough for Verstappen to significantly close the gap on the race leader.
The four-time world champion made several unsuccessful charges for the front, before eventually ceding second place on the back of a wheel-to-wheel skirmish with the rampaging Leclerc. With Hamilton finishing just outside the podium places for the fourth time this season, Ferrari would leave Austin with a larger points haul than both Red Bull and Mercedes.
Early exits
There was also drama at the back of the pack, with three drivers failing to complete the 56 laps. Having reported that his VF-26 was handling erratically after bumping Pierre Gasly early on, Oliver Bearman threw in the towel on the 24th tour.
Franco Colapinto then also retired due to collision damage, before an engine issue on board Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac MAC-26 compelled the veteran Finn to slow to a halt, triggering a second virtual safety car in the process.
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez: Track overview
The first official racing venue in Mexico, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez was originally called the Magdalena Mixhuca, the name of the park in which it was constructed.
Whilst it was heavily modified about a decade ago, many of the track’s key characteristics have remained the same. The most famous of which is the sweeping Peraltada curve, a high-speed corner located towards the end of the lap. The 17th turn was cut in half ahead of the returning 2015 Mexican Grand Prix, with its steep banking angle lowered as part of these works. It was also renamed in honour of Nigel Mansell around this time, as a homage to his typically daring overtake of Gerhard Berger during their scrap for second place in 1990.
The re-designed Peraltada layout cuts through the imposing Estadio GNP Seguros, initially known as the ‘Foro Sol’ baseball stadium following its construction in 1993. Beyond the tens of thousands seated in the arena’s grandstands lies an extended start-finish straight, where drivers can eclipse speeds of 350km/h.
Immediately after lights out and then again ahead of turn four, there are long straights that reward raw baseline speed. These stretches often stage fearsome wheel-to-wheel skirmishes, as drivers use aggressive tactics to either doggedly protect their position or surge past a rival at pace.
A challenging esses section is stationed midway through the lap between turns seven and 13, although its aggressive sweeping corners have recently been replaced by softer, fixed-angle bends.
Situated on ground over 7,000ft above sea level, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez comfortably has the highest altitude of any F1 track on the planet. The thinner air provides several challenges for competitors and their support teams, most notably reduced drag, diminishing engine power, and slower cooling efficiency.
That makes generating sufficient downforce a key objective for Team Principals, who will aim for an aerodynamic setup that matches their approach in Monaco, where maintaining grip on Monte Carlo’s tight and winding roads is the most important priority.
Mexican Grand Prix: History and past Winners
The first-ever Mexican Grand Prix was contested in 1962, when Jim Clark recovered from a nightmare start to take first place at Magdalena Mixhuca Park.
A flat battery caused the Scotsman’s Lotus 25-Climax to stall on the grid, resulting in his mechanics entering the track to give him a push-start. With no direct line of communication in place between track marshals, the start flag was waved and drivers set off amidst an environment of chaos and confusion.
As he entered his tenth lap, stewards black-flagged Clark’s car after determining his push-start to be illegal. That compelled him to dive into the pits and hop into the second-works vehicle of Lotus teammate Trevor Taylor, who had already lost plenty of ground on early frontrunners Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren.
Having emerged from the pitlane in third position, Clark clawed back a 57-second deficit on the leaders in lightning-quick fashion, re-claiming pole position with more than a third of the race remaining. He then cruised to the line without any further dramas, finishing more than a minute ahead of runner-up Brabham.
Clark’s heroic antics paled into insignificance, however, as the weekend was overshadowed by the tragic death of Ricardo Rodríguez. During practice, the young Mexican driver hurtled into the barriers at the Peraltada corner due to the failure of his rear suspension. Rodríguez’s older brother Pedro would also be killed in a racing accident nine years later. As a mark of respect, the venue for the Mexican Grand Prix was renamed the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in 1979.
The inaugural running of the Grand Prix was a non-championship event, but it was incorporated into the F1 circuit the following year. Clark returned to Mexico City to defend his crown, before picking up his third and final victory here in 1967. Four years later, the race was indefinitely cancelled owing to crowd troubles at the 1970 event – the start was delayed by an hour as officials struggled to control 200,000 spectators – and a lack of local interest following the death of Pedro Rodríguez.
The Mexico Grand Prix eventually returned in 1986 after a number of revival attempts, with the country having hosted the World Cup just a few months prior. However, this latest reincarnation of the event was discarded six years later, as poor track conditions alongside Mexico City’s intensifying air pollution emergency proved too much of a concern for the F1 hierarchy.
It’s been over a decade since the race was reintroduced for a second time, while this weekend’s meeting is the sixth official ‘Mexico City Grand Prix’ following a name change in 2021. Max Verstappen has become the event’s most successful driver during this latest era, collecting five titles over the past eight years.
Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz Jr., and Lando Norris are the only other members of F1’s current crop to have emerged victorious at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, although the likes of Kimi Antonelli, Charles Leclerc, or George Russell could soon join this prestigious club.
Mexico City Grand Prix winners (2015 onwards)
2015: Nico Rosberg
2016: Lewis Hamilton
2017: Max Verstappen
2018: Max Verstappen
2019: Lewis Hamilton
2020: Cancelled (due to coronavirus pandemic)
2021: Max Verstappen
2022: Max Verstappen
2023: Max Verstappen
2024: Carlos Sainz
2025: Lando Norris
Where to watch on TV or live stream?
Having recently extended their lucrative broadcasting deal until 2034, Sky Sports continues to be the home of Formula 1 in the United Kingdom. Every single minute of the practice, qualifying and race sessions from all 23 of this season’s Grands Prix is being televised live on the network’s dedicated F1 channel, as will be the case this weekend.
Coverage commences at 18:00 (GMT) on Friday evening and runs through to Sunday’s podium ceremony, before attention shifts towards the São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos. In addition to being screened on Sky Sports F1, the opening two practice runs and Sunday’s feature race are also slated for Sky Sports Main Event.
Online viewers can follow all of these events via the Sky Go app, which can be downloaded onto any smartphone or compatible device.
Betting odds
Here is the outright winner’s market for this Sunday’s keenly anticipated Mexico City Grand Prix:
Max Verstappen (Red Bull): 11/8
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): 7/4
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): 8/1
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): 17/2
George Russell (Mercedes): 16/1
Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), and Pierre Gasly (Alpine): All 250/1
All of the 11 other drivers are priced at odds of 500/1
The odds, correct at the time of publication, are subject to change. All odds provided by bet365.