Charles Leclerc led the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday after an opening-lap tangle between the two Ferraris reshuffled the front of the field, according to live coverage from La Gazzetta dello Sport. Lewis Hamilton had initially taken the lead at the start, but Leclerc passed George Russell and then moved ahead of his teammate as the pair ran wide, with Hamilton losing momentum. Max Verstappen slotted in behind Leclerc, with Hamilton third.
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Hamilton complained over the radio about his teammate's conduct, saying he had been pushed off the track by his fellow Ferrari driver. The Italian outlet also reported that Russell was placed under investigation for a separate contact with Isack Hadjar.
Why it matters
The race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is the 19th round of the 2026 season, and it is the weekend in which Kimi Antonelli can mathematically secure his first drivers' title. The Mercedes driver arrived in Mexico City needing just two more points to become the youngest champion in Formula 1 history, per La Gazzetta dello Sport. A ninth-place finish or better would settle the championship regardless of what his rivals do; even a pointless afternoon would be enough if neither Russell nor Hamilton wins.
That makes the early Ferrari swap more than a scrap for one race. Leclerc's move to the front, and Hamilton's drop to third, shape how quickly Antonelli's coronation could arrive.
Leclerc's lead holds through the stops in the live timings
La Gazzetta dello Sport's lap-by-lap updates traced a lead that fluctuated but never changed hands after the first lap. Leclerc pulled a couple of seconds clear of Verstappen following the restart, then the gap narrowed again as the Red Bull driver responded. At one stage the margin was down to 1.1 seconds, with Hamilton a further second back and Antonelli running fourth, ahead of Russell.
The order behind the leaders, as reported by the outlet, read Antonelli and Russell, then Lando Norris, Arvid Lindblad and Oscar Piastri. Leclerc later set a fastest lap while Verstappen stabilised the gap at around 2.8 seconds, with Hamilton roughly four seconds off the lead.
Antonelli, who started fourth, had spoken to Sky Sport in the paddock shortly before the start about the importance of the opening moments. The Mercedes driver said he would do his best to carry the Italian flag high and described the start as the point where the race could be decided, adding that he had slept well the night before. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported his comments.
A milestone day for Pérez as the title maths close in
The weekend also marks Sergio Pérez's 300th Grand Prix start, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. The Mexican driver debuted at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix with Sauber, finishing seventh on the road before being disqualified over a rear-wing infringement. He spent two seasons with the Swiss team across 37 starts, taking his first three podiums, then had a single year at McLaren in 2013 before joining Force India.
With the Anglo-Indian outfit he made 99 starts and added five more podiums, and he stayed on through its rebranding as Racing Point for 36 races, winning for the first time at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix in his penultimate appearance for the team. He moved to Red Bull for 2021, where he took five wins and 29 podiums across 90 starts, and after a year away from the sport he returned this season with Cadillac.
The circuit itself carries a deep record book. Jim Clark holds the most pole positions in Mexico, having started first in 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1967, per the outlet. Verstappen's five wins make him the most successful driver at the venue, with victories in 2017 and 2018 and three in a row from 2021 to 2023, all for Red Bull. That run also makes Red Bull the most successful team there, one win clear of McLaren; Lotus, Williams, Mercedes and Ferrari follow with three apiece. McLaren and Ferrari are the only teams to have won across all three eras of the circuit.
This is the sixth running of the race under the Mexico City Grand Prix name, which was first used in 2021. Before that, 20 world championship Mexican Grands Prix were held on the same site in its various guises, beginning in 1963 when it was known as Magdalena Mixhuca, returning from 1986 to 1992 as the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, and resuming in 2015 with the sole interruption in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the constructors' standings, Mercedes lead on 607 points, with Ferrari second on 474. Red Bull have moved up to third on 355, level with McLaren but ahead on countback. Antonelli's advantage over Russell in the drivers' table stands at 123 points.
The altitude of the Mexico City circuit shapes the engineering challenge, La Gazzetta dello Sport noted: thin air makes it harder to generate downforce, so teams run wing levels similar to those used at high-downforce tracks such as Monaco yet end up with loads closer to those seen at fast, low-downforce venues.
What to watch
With Leclerc holding the lead and Antonelli running fourth, the title maths remain live: a ninth-place finish or better would confirm the Italian as champion. Watch whether Hamilton can recover from the first-lap contact and whether the stewards act on the Russell–Hadjar investigation.
