Mexico City Grand Prix: Antonelli 123 clear, one point splits second

• Round19 of 23
• Race daySun 1 Nov
• CircuitMexico City
• Still to run5 rounds

Kimi Antonelli won the United States Grand Prix last time out and arrives in Mexico City 123 points clear. The closer fight is the one behind him. Max Verstappen won the two grands prix before Austin's, has been on the podium at each of the last three, and has scored more points than anyone over the last five rounds. George Russell is still second in the table, but his form has gone the other way.

Championship standings

The Mercedes pair are 123 points apart. Below Antonelli it's crowded: Russell, Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc all sit between 242 and 233 points. Toggle between drivers and constructors for the full table heading into Mexico:

Hamilton is one point behind Russell, Verstappen is on 236 and Leclerc on 233. Four drivers from three teams are fighting over second place, and Lando Norris, on 211, isn't far behind them. Oscar Piastri, on 144, is a long way back in seventh.

The constructors' table is more settled at the top. Mercedes lead on 607 to Ferrari's 474. The open question is third, where McLaren and Red Bull are level on 355 with five rounds left.

Recent form

Verstappen has the momentum heading into Mexico, with Antonelli close behind. Here is where the leading contenders finished in each of the last five races, best recent form first:

Verstappen's row reads 2, 2, 1, 1, 3: five podiums, two wins and 109 points, the most in the field. Antonelli's 98 is the only other total close to that, and he has two wins and nothing worse than fifth. Leclerc hasn't finished below fourth in the window and has two straight second places. Russell won in Azerbaijan, then finished 20th, 9th and 8th, which leaves him on 41 points over the five rounds, fifth among these drivers.

How the title race has unfolded

The cumulative view shows how Antonelli built his lead. Switch to the momentum view to see the scoring rate instead of the total:

At 24.3 points a race over the last three rounds, Verstappen is the fastest scorer among the leaders, with Antonelli on 21. Hamilton is on 14. Russell has dropped to 2 points a race, and that rate explains how a driver second in the standings has three cars within nine points of him.

If current form holds

Take each driver's scoring rate over the last five races and run it across the five rounds still to come. Read it as a what-if rather than a forecast, but it shows how much the recent order matters:

Antonelli finishes on 463 and keeps the title. Second place changes hands: Verstappen climbs from fourth to second on 345, Leclerc takes third on 311, and Russell drops from second to fifth on 283, behind Hamilton's 291. On recent pace the Mercedes one-two in the standings doesn't hold to the end of the season.

What's at stake this weekend

Antonelli leads by 123 with five rounds left. Pick results for the contenders below and see what Mexico does to that gap:

Russell has to find 123 points on his teammate in five rounds, and recent form points the wrong way: Antonelli outscored him 98 to 41 over the last five. For everyone else the title is out of reach, so second place is the prize, and the gaps there are small enough to change on a single result.

Across the rest of the season, each challenger has a target:

• Russell: 123 points to make up on Antonelli across five rounds.
• Hamilton: 1 point to take second off Russell.
• Verstappen: 5 points behind Hamilton, and scoring faster than anyone in the top four.
• McLaren v Red Bull: level on 355, so whichever team finishes ahead in Mexico leaves third in the constructors'.

The battles across the grid

The title fight has the biggest gap on the board. Most of the others are much closer. Here they are, sorted by the gap:

Alonso and Ocon are level for 16th, and four points split Gasly and Lindblad for tenth. In the constructors', Haas lead Audi by seven for seventh. The closest fight near the top is for second, where Russell and Hamilton are a point apart and Verstappen is five behind them.

The circuit: Mexico City

• Lap length4.304 km
• Corners17
• Race laps71

That's 71 laps of a 4.304 km track with 17 corners. Mexico City sits at altitude, and the thin air cuts downforce and cooling, so teams run plenty of wing and still find the cars moving around. The lap starts with a long run to Turn 1 and ends with a slow section through the stadium, so a car needs good straight-line speed and traction out of the slow corners.

Two ways to read what that favours this weekend: how 2026's similar tracks have gone, and who tends to win here.

Verstappen won here three years running, from 2021 to 2023. Sainz won in 2024 and Norris last year. Neither Mercedes driver has won here: Mercedes' last win on the list came in 2019 with Hamilton, who now drives for Ferrari. On circuit history and current form alike, this weekend suits Verstappen.

Grid position matters less than it looks. The long main straight gives a chasing car the slipstream, and the Manual Override boost adds to it, so a poor qualifying doesn't have to cost the race.

Watch the run to Turn 1. It's a long drag from the grid to the first braking zone. Cars get three and four wide, and the front row can lose its advantage before the first corner.

For the full podium history, pole-to-win conversion and every past result here, see our Mexico City Grand Prix results page.