Antonelli Becomes Youngest World Champion, Mercedes Admits Major Mistake on Russell's Car

Andrea Kimi Antonelli made history as the youngest Formula 1 world champion after finishing the Mexican GP in third place on Sunday (26/10/2025). The achievement also ended Mercedes' wait, a team that had been hit by disappointment over the technical failure that struck George Russell in the same race.

At the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, the Mercedes team experienced two extremes: celebrating its first drivers' world title since 2020 while at the same time swallowing a bitter pill over the mechanical problem that cost Russell a podium chance. Mercedes' Track Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin, openly praised Antonelli's performance, which he described as extraordinary.

“Congratulations to Kimi on his world title. The race was very dynamic, but he did a great job managing the soft tires in the first stint and was able to last more than 40 laps,” Shovlin said in an official team release.

Tire strategy was the difference. Antonelli, who started from fourth, chose to begin on soft tires and successfully maintained tire performance well beyond the normal limit. This approach created a significant strategic offset against his rivals. Although the red flag period on lap 45 wiped out that advantage, the 20-year-old driver remained calm when the race resumed. He immediately overtook Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to take a podium position and seal the 2026 world title.

“He started the restart from P4 but made a very good maneuver against Leclerc to get back into a podium position. After that, he controlled the race in a very measured way to finish third and take the title. Throughout the season he has been extraordinary, and the way he handled the pressure today shows the great progress he has made,” Shovlin added.

On the other side of the garage, Russell had to swallow disappointment. Starting from second, the British driver suffered a battery deploy system failure before reaching the first braking zone. The sudden loss of electrical power made him lose many positions on the main straight, which then ruined his race strategy overall. The situation was made worse by a 10-second penalty for spinning Isack Hadjar's Red Bull at turn 6.

“George had a difficult afternoon through no fault of his own. The deploy problem on the run to turn 1 made him lose several positions and put him in a defensive position from the start. From there, he had to recover in traffic, and the contact with Hadjar and the subsequent penalty made his task even harder,” Shovlin explained.

Nevertheless, Russell remained calm and managed to salvage sixth place. However, the Mercedes pitwall did not look for excuses for the electrical problem. “It is very disappointing because we did not give him the race start he needed, and that is our mistake as a team,” he admitted.

With the drivers' title already secured, Mercedes does not intend to ease off. The German team immediately shifted focus to the Brazilian GP at Interlagos next weekend. “We have a lot to focus on ahead of Brazil. We want to add the constructors' title to the drivers' title, and we know we still have to perform at our best to achieve it. We will celebrate today, then immediately turn our attention to the next race,” Shovlin concluded.

For Mercedes, Antonelli's success is proof that their young driver development program is bearing fruit. However, the incident that struck Russell is a reminder that car reliability remains a task to be addressed. Will Mercedes be able to sweep both the drivers' and constructors' titles this season? The answer will become clear in the remaining rounds.