Max Verstappen won the race and the new world champion finished third: this year’s championship-deciding race resembled last year’s, though the similarity was superficial.
There may have been three drivers still in contention but this wasn’t a down-to-the-wire nail-biter: Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s coronation was virtually assured before he even set foot in Mexico.Third place ensured Antonelli succeeds Lando Norris as F1’s second new world champion in as many years. That hasn’t happened since 2010 when Sebastian Vettel became the fourth new world champion in a row, following Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
Norris’s reign as world champion therefore lasted less than a calendar year. At 329 days, this is the sixth-shortest individual duration as champion. However others who had short spells as champion won the title more than once, giving them longer reigns:
Shortest reigns as world champion (days)
*Died before winning the championship
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Antonelli’s championship success produced several notable statistics which were previously covered here:
Lewis Hamilton became the oldest driver to claim pole position for a grand prix in his lifetime. At 41 years and 297 days old he is the most senior pole-winner since another Ferrari driver, Mario Andretti, took pole position for the 1982 Italian Grand Prix. Hamilton is the fifth-oldest driver ever to claim a pole position in F1.
| Driver | Race | Track | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giuseppe Farina | 1954 Argentinian Grand Prix | Buenos Aires | 47y, 78d |
| Juan Manuel Fangio | 1958 Argentinian Grand Prix | Buenos Aires | 46y, 208d |
| Jack Brabham | 1970 Spanish Grand Prix | Jarama | 44y, 16d |
| Mario Andretti | 1982 Italian Grand Prix | Monza | 42y, 195d |
| Lewis Hamilton | 2026 Mexican Grand Prix | Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez | 41y, 297d |
Hamilton’s pole position was his first for over three years. That’s well short of the longest spell between consecutive pole positions: Raikkonen went 3,262 days (over eight years) between his pole positions in the 2008 French Grand Prix and 2017 Monaco Grand Prix.
That record-extending 105th pole position for Hamilton was a close thing: he beat George Russell by just nine-thousandths of a second. But that was three times the scale of his last pole-winning margin. Hamilton beat Verstappen to pole by just three thousandths of a second in Hungary three years ago.
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Unexpectedly, 17 places behind Hamilton on the grid was Ryo Hirakawa, who arrived in Mexico only expecting to take part in the first practice session. However Haas’s shock decision to replace Esteban Ocon after Friday’s running handed Hirakawa his grand prix debut at the age of 32 years and 239 days. That made him the oldest debutant since Andre Lotterer made his one-off appearance for Caterham in the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix – he was older by 39 days.
But it is very unusual to see a healthy driver begin a race weekend with a team and then be replaced someone else. The last time something akin to Ocon’s substitution happened was when Ensign attempted to run Ricardo Londono-Bridge in the 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix.
The race moved to Jacarepagua that year and the Colombian driver took part in the then-customary pre-event acclimatisation session for the new circuit on Wednesday. However the FIA refused to grant him a superlicence, so Ensign replaced him with Marc Surer.
Hirakawa’s surprising weekend continued as he scored a point despite originally taking the chequered flag in 13th place. Penalties for Oscar Piastri and both Alpine drivers meant Hirakawa, like Arvid Lindblad earlier this year, finished his first grand prix inside the points.
As it stands, Hirakawa will not take part in any more races – Rafael Camara will take over in Brazil. F1’s rules only allow Haas to use a total of four drivers all season, unless they get a dispensation, and the team has an obvious reason to keep Camara in the season as he will drive for them next year.
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Hirakawa therefore stands to join the tiny group of drivers who scored a point in their only start. Just six drivers can claim this unusual feat, and only one – Neville Lederle – did it driving solo in a race run to Formula 1 regulations:
Single-start points-scorers
| Driver | Race | Position | Points | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joie (George) Chitwood | 1950 Indianapolis 500 | 5th | 1 | Shared car with Tony Bettenhausen |
| Dorino Serafini | 1950 Italian Grand Prix | 2nd | 3 | Shared car with Alberto Ascari |
| Eric Thompson | 1952 British Grand Prix | 5th | 2 | Formula 2 regulations |
| Oscar Galvez | 1953 Argentinian Grand Prix | 5th | 2 | Formula 2 regulations |
| George Amick | 1958 Indianapolis 500 | 2nd | 6 | |
| Neville Lederle | 1962 South African Grand Prix | 6th | 1 |
It remains to be seen whether Ocon will return to start another race. At the beginning of the season the Mexican Grand Prix was due to be his 200th career start. Without him, the number of race-winning drivers on the grid has fallen to 12.
Finally, Verstappen’s sixth win at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez makes it the venue he’s scored the most wins at. He could equal that with a sixth win at Yas Marina next month – if the race takes place.
Over to you
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Mexican Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
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