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Max Verstappen took victory from fifth on the grid at the Mexican Grand Prix, with Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton second and Kimi Antonelli sealing his first world championship in third.
From the Red Bull driver’s ruthlessness to a debutant making his chance count with a debut point, there is a lot to unpack throughout the field. Here are PlanetF1.com’s driver ratings from Mexico…
Qualified: 5th | Race: 1st
Verstappen’s move through to 3rd by the first corner put him in the box seat to capitalise from Ferrari’s unforced error, and the fact he started on the less-favoured medium tyres meant he was always favourite to win from there.
He gamely defended at the restart, and always did just enough through the stadium section to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay on the pit straight in the closing stages.
It was those moments that helped set up his victory, but he was as clinical as ever in seeing it through.
It leaves one to wonder might have been had Red Bull hit the ground running in 2026.
Qualified: 1st | Race: 2nd
Let Hamilton’s race rating not be a reflection on the stunning qualifying lap he put together, but more of how he and Ferrari managed to, for want of a better phrase, screw up their chances of a likely race victory.
Starting from pole is never a guarantee of a win in Mexico, primarily because of the first lap alone.
The fact Hamilton ran deep into Turn 4 himself while defending against Leclerc left him without the regulatory advantage that would likely have seen his teammate have to drop behind him on track.
He ultimately righted that perceived ‘wrong’ by making the move stick at the restart, but he’ll know the win should have been his.
Qualified: 4th | Race: 3rd
Antonelli showed no signs of wanting to sit back and relax knowing that the title race would likely go his way regardless of what happened in Mexico City, attacking on the front foot when he had the chance – making a decisive pass on Leclerc to put himself up into the podium places a lap after the restart.
He did what he had to do, but his emotions bursting out at the flag was probably a sign of how ‘in the moment’ he was – not allowing himself to think too far ahead.
That quality will bode well for him in future.
Qualified: 3rd | Race: 4th
Leclerc was ultimately handed a penalty for overtaking Hamilton off track on Lap 1, and that cost him the crucial time that left him vulnerable at the restart, going again from the dirtier side of the grid.
He drove gamely to try and build up as much of a gap to Verstappen to try and minimise the damage in the first stint, but an enormous lock-up at the restart did him no favours whatsoever.
The internal investigation at Ferrari will surely start as the chance of a win, and likely double podium, went begging.
Qualified: 6th | Race: 5th
Lando Norris was all over the back of Charles Leclerc in the closing stages after his lock-up, but as Leclerc pointed out himself before the race, the lack of overtaking opportunities in the 2026-spec cars around Mexico City showed prominently as he could follow closely, but never quite make the move stick.
Norris was critical of McLaren’s package through the weekend, but got what he could from it.
Qualified: 2nd | Race: 6th
George Russell looked like he was reversing down to the first corner, with an apparent battery issue seeing him swamped by others after a front-row start, before getting a penalty for punting Isack Hadjar around.
Russell’s race epitomised his season in a way.
The overall Mercedes package has been there, but through a combination of bad luck and being unable to recover lost ground himself, his teammate has now been crowned world champion.
Qualified: 8th [Pit lane start] | Race: 7th
Liam Lawson played a patient game in Mexico, picking off those in front when retirements happened, but the restart saw him jump up from 15th to 11th, which was vital to putting himself into contention.
After two cars collided ahead of him, his teammate retired and a time penalty elsewhere later, he got a strong points finish out of it.
Yes, luck came his way, but most drivers on the grid will have taken a P7 finish from a pit lane start.
Qualified: 14th (started 13th) | Race: 8th
Bortoleto was annoyed at having been knocked out in Q2 on Saturday, believing he had the pace underneath him to be able to make headway into Q3.
Like Lawson, he was the beneficiary of some late penalties and retirements to bring points back for Audi, but he drove an otherwise clean race to make it happen.
Qualified: 7th | Race: 9th
Hadjar was blameless as Russell sent him into a spin on the first lap, which put any plans he had for his race out of the window.
Red Bull did what it could to try and rescue the situation, and he too was able to benefit from midfield carnage ahead to get back into the points.
He may feel disappointed at not being able to rise back through the field as quickly, however.
Qualified: 19th (started 18th) | Race: 10th
Ryo Hirakawa won the reserve driver lottery every third driver unwittingly plays throughout the paddock, travelling around the world, for the most part, to be involved in meetings and simply be there ‘just in case’.
Well, his time came and he scored a point on debut. Can’t argue too much with that.
Key to it was a brilliant late move on Alex Albon, which is well worth finding – absolutely sending one around the outside at Turn 1 which, once penalties were applied elsewhere, proved vital to him scoring a point.
Qualified: 17th (started 16th) | Race: 11th
Albon suffered another Q1 exit but flew right up the order at the restart, gaining five places to put himself what would prove to be prime position for a first point since Monaco.
He didn’t know at the time how costly that move from Hirakawa would be, but a net gain is still a positive showing from the Williams driver.
Qualified: 16th (started 15th) | Race: 12th
Sainz was not expecting miracles from Williams this weekend, but he was in the thick of the midfield battle for much of the race and looked to do what he could.
Ultimately, it wasn’t enough for points.
Qualified: 13th (started 12th) | Race: 13th
Piastri’s race looks somewhat standard by qualifying and finishing in the same place, but causing what was a clumsy collision with Arvid Lindblad saw him drop from 7th down and out of the points.
He had good getaways and made up solid ground early in the race to get back to Lando Norris’s tail, but his position was largely defined by this late penalty, with not enough of his car being alongside meaning a clash of wheels with the Racing Bulls car.
Qualified: 11th (started 10th) | Race: 14th
Like Piastri, a clumsy piece of driving saw Hulkenberg punt Ollie Bearman out of proceedings at the red flag restart, and he fell right down the field himself as a result.
Never managed to recover from there, but he and Audi showed solid midfield pace otherwise.
Qualified: 12th (started 11th) | Race: 15th
Franco Colapinto crossed the line well inside the points for Alpine after a solid run from both drivers, but that came undone after being found to have failed to slow for a yellow flag.
A costly error in the constructors’ fight, with Racing Bulls now even further ahead.
Qualified: 21st (started 20th) | Race: 16th
Perez was the last of the finishers across the line, but he put on something of a show at his home race.
He leapt up six places at the start and, rather than being passed by quicker cars behind, was able to hold onto his position throughout his first stint, and repeated his moves by getting back up to 14th at the restart, before falling away.
Qualified: 10th (started 9th) | Race: 17th
Much like his Alpine teammate, Gasly will rue his luck after a late time penalty saw him plummet down the order.
He had driven well enough up to that stage, with a double points finish turning into no return at all for the Enstone squad.
Qualified: 9th (started 8th) | Race: DNF
Arvid Lindblad looked on it from the word go all weekend, showing pace through every practice and qualifying session, and planted himself firmly as ‘best of the rest’ in the race.
A stout defence against Oscar Piastri at Turn 1 saw him continue that towards Turn 2, but a clash of wheels saw him fly out of the race.
An unfortunate end to one of his strongest weekends of the season so far.
Qualified: 15th (started 14th) | Race: DNF
Bearman had been travelling comfortably in the midfield through much of the race, having been annoyed at himself for not qualifying further up on Saturday.
He had been threatening the outer reaches of the points in battle with both Audi drivers, but held no blame after a shunt from Hulkenberg ended his afternoon.
Qualified: 22nd (started 21st) | Race: DNF
It was another day where Bottas had actually lacked pace compared to his teammate for two-thirds of the race, sitting fairly comfortably behind Perez on the road after being outqualified on Saturday.
This rating absolutely does not reflect the nature of his crash, however, which was both frightening and through no fault of his own.
The main thing is that he was able to climb out safely and unaided.
Qualified: 18th (started 17th) | Race: DNF
Oh, what to say about Aston Martin’s weekend?
Alonso did well enough to still outqualify his teammate before his power unit packed up in qualifying, and it’s tough to hand him a race rating as he was the first driver out after only a few laps.
Qualified: 18th (started pit lane) | Race: 15th
Like Alonso, it would feel unfair to hand Stroll a rating after a retirement through no fault of his own so soon in proceedings.
An early stop for both drivers did not help things, and retirement came shortly afterwards.
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