Third place was enough
Kimi Antonelli needed to finish ninth or better in Mexico City to settle the championship with four races still to run. He finished third. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver crossed the line, was told the title was his over the radio, and sobbed into his helmet before climbing out of the car.
He had arrived with 365 points and nine wins, five of them in a row at the start of the season. He raced while ill and short of sleep, telling reporters before the weekend that he would bombard himself with melatonin to manage it.
A record that stood since 2010
Sebastian Vettel had held the record since 2010, when he won his first title with Red Bull at 23. Antonelli takes it at 20. He is only the fourth driver to win the championship in his second season, joining Lewis Hamilton, Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Manuel Fangio. He is also the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953, a gap of 73 years.
He joined Mercedes' development programme as an 11-year-old karting driver. Alongside George Russell he has taken the team to the edge of a ninth constructors' championship in a season of new technical regulations.
The podium around him
Max Verstappen won the race, his sixth in Mexico, extending his own record there. Hamilton finished second after taking his 105th career pole position on Saturday, his first with Ferrari. Between them the podium carried 12 championships: seven for Hamilton, four for Verstappen and now one for Antonelli.
Both men lifted the new champion onto their shoulders on the podium. Verstappen said winning a title at that age was really impressive. Hamilton, who won six of his titles with Mercedes, called it phenomenal and said he was glad to be in the race to see it. Vettel recorded a message in English and Italian.
Antonelli, holding an Italian flag, thanked the team and his family, then kissed the nose of his car. Mercedes can seal the constructors' title in the remaining races, starting in Brazil.