The Mexico City Grand Prix, round 19 of the 2026 Formula 1 calendar, can settle the drivers' championship this Sunday, 1 November. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, of Mercedes, arrives at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on 365 points, 123 ahead of his team-mate George Russell and 124 ahead of Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) — the only two rivals still mathematically alive.
The arithmetic
The championship's official standings put Antonelli first on 365 points, followed by Russell on 242, Hamilton on 241, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) on 236, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) on 233 and Lando Norris (McLaren) on 211.
Four races follow Mexico: São Paulo (6–8 November), Las Vegas (19–21), Qatar (27–29) and Abu Dhabi (4–6 December). None of them carries a sprint: the calendar the FIA and Formula 1 announced for 2026 placed the last of the year's six short races in Singapore, in mid-October.
That leaves 125 points on the table including Mexico, at 25 per race. On that arithmetic Verstappen — on 236 — can no longer reach the total Antonelli already has, and the same goes for Leclerc and Norris. The fight is down to three drivers, two of them in the same team.
According to the breakdown published by Infobae, Antonelli is champion on Sunday if he finishes ninth or better. Tenth also does it, provided Russell does not win the race. If he finishes out of the points or retires, the decision moves to São Paulo — unless neither Russell nor Hamilton wins in Mexico. For Hamilton, the only door left open is to win with the Italian scoring nothing.
If the title is settled in the Mexican capital, Antonelli becomes the youngest champion in Formula 1 history — ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who did it in 2010 at 23 years and 134 days — and the first Italian to win it since Alberto Ascari in 1953. It would be his 43rd race in the category. In the constructors' championship, Mercedes leads by 133 points and can wrap it up in Mexico by scoring the maximum 43 points while Ferrari takes no more than four.
A track 2,200 metres up
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is 4.304 km long, with 17 corners and a main straight of around 1.2 km. Sunday's race is 71 laps, 305.354 km in all.
The figure that shapes the whole weekend is not in the layout but in the altitude: the circuit sits more than 2,200 metres above sea level. Thinner air cuts downforce — cars run maximum-load wings and still generate less grip than anywhere else on the calendar — and makes cooling engines and brakes harder. It is why Mexico tends to punish teams that arrive with the least thermal margin.
Pérez, 300 races and a blank score
Sergio Checo Pérez starts his 300th Grand Prix in Mexico City, a mark reached in Formula 1 history only by drivers such as Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Räikkönen, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.
The Mexican debuted at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix with Sauber and has, across 15 seasons, six wins, 39 podiums and three pole positions. He has driven for McLaren, Force India, Racing Point and Red Bull, and this year races for Cadillac — the team that joined the grid in 2026 — alongside the American Colton Herta. He reaches race 300 still without a point this season.
The first practice session comes with a twist: according to El Financiero, ten rookies will take over the race seats for that hour.
Weekend schedule
Times in Mexico City local time (CST, UTC-6):
- Friday 30 October: free practice 1 at 12:30 and free practice 2 at 16:00.
- Saturday 31 October: free practice 3 at 11:30 and qualifying at 15:00.
- Sunday 1 November: drivers' parade at 12:00, national anthem at 13:44 and the start at 14:00.
The GTM Super Copa, Masters Historic and Fórmula 4 NACAM also run at the same circuit across the three days.
With information from Formula 1, the FIA, Infobae, El Financiero and TV Azteca.
