🇲🇽 Audi F1 R:19.2026 Gran Premio de la Ciudad de México (Sunday)

Audi’s Mexican Grand Prix ended with four points for Gabriel Bortoleto after post-race penalties lifted the Brazilian from 11th to eighth. Nico Hülkenberg moved from 16th to 14th in the final classification, bringing a difficult weekend at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez to a close with both cars reaching the finish.

Bortoleto’s recovery followed a disrupted practice programme that left him with limited information on setup and tyre management. The race’s red flag brought him back into contention, helping him finish within reach of the points before the subsequent penalties changed the result. Hülkenberg had been in the fight earlier, but the interruption worked against his strategy. Temperature management also complicated his afternoon, while contact with Oliver Bearman at Turn 4 after the restart added to his difficulties. Audi now heads directly to Interlagos for Bortoleto’s home race.

POST-RACE PENALTIES CHANGE AUDI’S RESULT

Oscar Piastri initially finished seventh but received a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad. Attempting to pass around the outside of Turn 1, Piastri made contact with Lindblad’s left-rear tyre, sending him into the barriers. The stewards determined that Piastri had never been fully alongside and could have avoided the collision by moving farther left after the corner. That penalty initially promoted Bortoleto into the points.

Separate yellow-flag infringements then cost Alpine both of its points finishes. Franco Colapinto received a 10-second penalty for failing to slow sufficiently under a single yellow flag, while Pierre Gasly received a post-race stop-and-go penalty for a double-yellow infringement. Once all three penalties were applied, Bortoleto was classified eighth and Hülkenberg 14th. Piastri finished 13th, Colapinto 15th and Gasly 17th.

ANTONELLI CLAIMS FIRST DRIVERS’ TITLE

At the front, Max Verstappen held off Lewis Hamilton to win by 0.799 seconds, but third place belonged to the afternoon’s new world champion. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli arrived needing only ninth to guarantee the title and secured it with a podium. At 20, the Italian became Formula 1’s youngest Drivers’ World Champion and the first Italian to claim the championship since Alberto Ascari in 1953. Starting fourth, Antonelli negotiated the red flag and restart before passing Charles Leclerc and following Verstappen and Hamilton to the finish.

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GRAND PRIX RESULTS

FULL RESULTS | WATCH BROADCAST

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME/GAP	LAPS	POINTS
1	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	2:20:28.772	71	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.799	71	18
3	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+4.006	71	15
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+10.707	71	12
5	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	+11.778	71	10
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+12.263	71	8
7	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+20.899	71	6
8	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+22.041	71	4
9	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	+22.503	71	2
10	50	Ryo Hirakawa	Haas	+25.373	71	1
–	–	–	–	–	–	–
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+29.977	71	0

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DRIVER STANDINGS (TOP 10)

POS.	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	TEAM	PTS.
1	Kimi Anotonelli🥇	🇮🇹 ITA	Mercedes	380
2	Max Verstappen	🇳🇱 NED	Red Bull	261
3	Lewis Hamilton	🇬🇧 GBR	Ferrari	259
5	Charles Leclerc	🇲🇨 MON	Ferrari	245
6	Lando Norris	🇬🇧 GBR	McLaren	221
7	Oscar Piastri	🇦🇺 AUS	McLaren	144
8	Isack Hadjar	🇫🇷 FR	Red Bull	107
9	Liam Lawson	🇳🇿 NZL	Racing Bulls	83
10	Pierre Gasly	🇫🇷 FR	Alpine	42
–	–	–	–	–
14	Gabriel Bortoleto	🇧🇷 BRA	Audi	14
14	Nico Hulkenberg	🇩🇪 GER	Audi	13

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TEAM STANDINGS

POS.	TEAM	PTS.
1	Mercedes	630
2	Ferrari	504
3	Red Bull	382
4	McLaren	365
5	Racing Bulls	108
6	Alpine	69
7	Haas	31
8	Audi	27
9	Williams	12
10	Aston Martin	7
11	Cadillac	0

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PIRELLI TIRE REPORT

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TEAM QUOTES

Allan McNish, Racing Director
“First of all, congratulations to Kimi Antonelli for securing the world championship. It’s a remarkable performance at such young age. For us, it has been a challenging weekend overall here in Mexico City. The altitude places particular demands on the cars, and the whole team worked extremely hard to make sure we had both cars running reliably and able to fight for points at the end. In reality, it was a race of two halves. Nico was in contention throughout, but unfortunately the red flag came at the wrong moment for him to make his strategy work. On the other side, it brought Gabi back into the fight, and he made the most of that opportunity. Although he ultimately finished just outside the points in P11, it was a very strong performance, particularly given the limited running he had in free practice sessions. There is plenty to learn from this weekend, but also credit due to everyone for pulling together through some difficult circumstances. Now we head straight to Brazil, Gabi’s home race.”

Nico Hulkenberg, Car #27
Race result: 16^th
Fastest lap: 1:20.732 (Lap 70)
Strategy & Pit Stops: Start (New Medium) – Lap 31 (New Soft) – Lap 45 (Used Soft) – Lap 59 (Used Soft)

“It was a tough afternoon for us. We struggled with temperatures throughout, which made it difficult to really get into a position to fight. At the second start, I got a bit too close to Ollie into Turn 4, lost some front downforce and couldn’t stop the car in time. Obviously not intentional, apologies to him and the Haas team. 

“All in all, not the smoothest weekend for us as a team. A few things to look into and understand, but with Brazil just around the corner, we’ll take what we can from this one, reset and go again. 

“Finally, a massive congratulations to Kimi [Antonelli] on becoming world champion. A huge achievement and very well deserved.”

Gabriel Bortoleto, Car #5
Race result: 11^th
Fastest lap: 1:20.872 (Lap 55)
Start (New Medium) – Lap 38 (New Soft) – Lap 45 (Used Soft)

“I think all in all, we had a decent race, which was encouraging, especially considering we had almost no data after the issues we had throughout the practice sessions. That also meant we were going in a bit blind when it came to tyre management and setup, so overall, P11 is an okay result, even if it is obviously a little frustrating to finish just outside the points.

“Now we head to my home race in Brazil, which I am really looking forward to. Interlagos should suit our car, and if we can put together a clean weekend, unlike the one we had here, hopefully we can fight for some good points in front of my home crowd. That would be a positive way to wrap up these three weeks on the road.”

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