Kimi Antonelli, 20, Becomes the Youngest Champion in Formula 1 History at the Mexico City Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli won his first Formula 1 championship on Sunday to become the youngest champion in the series' history, finishing third at the Mexico City Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, according to the USA TODAY report read in full by this desk and cross-checked against Reuters coverage read this run. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver started fourth, had been battling illness and exhaustion leading up to the race, and needed only to finish ninth or higher to clinch the title outright, according to the report.

Max Verstappen won the race, extending his record for most wins at the Mexico competition to six, and Lewis Hamilton finished second after taking his 105th career pole position in qualifying, according to USA TODAY. Antonelli surpassed Sebastian Vettel, who won his first title in 2010 at age 23 with Red Bull, for the youngest-champion record, and he joins Hamilton, Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Manuel Fangio as only the fourth driver in F1 history to win the title in his second season, the report said. Heading into Mexico City, Antonelli had 365 points and nine wins this year, including five consecutive victories toward the start of the season, according to the report.

Reuters reported that Antonelli's teammate George Russell, his closest rival before Sunday at 123 points behind, was excused from post-race media duties, with team boss Toto Wolff saying the driver was distraught after finishing sixth; Russell also collected a 10-second penalty for a collision with Red Bull's Isack Hadjar and was fined through the team, according to Reuters. Reuters also reported that outgoing champion Lando Norris said Antonelli deserves more credit for the achievement, and that the title makes Antonelli Italy's first champion in 73 years. The championship was decided with four races left on the calendar, according to the reports.