Mexico City GP Preview: Antonelli Arrives with 123-Point Cushion

Andrea Kimi Antonelli enters the Mexico City Grand Prix holding a 123-point championship lead over George Russell, putting the Mercedes driver in a dominant position as round 19 gets underway at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. With 365 points already accumulated and nine victories to his name in 2026, Antonelli has built an advantage that leaves his pursuers needing near-flawless weekends.

Russell leads the chase on 242 points, but Lewis Hamilton sits just one point further back on 241 for Ferrari. Max Verstappen remains in striking distance on 236 points, with Charles Leclerc close behind on 233. In the constructors’ championship, Mercedes enjoy a 133-point margin over Ferrari, an advantage that looks increasingly difficult to overhaul with only four rounds remaining after this weekend.

Verstappen’s Past Success and a Crowded Front Pack

Although Antonelli has set the benchmark in 2026, six different drivers have claimed race victories across the season. Russell has taken three wins, Verstappen and Lando Norris have collected two each, and Hamilton and Leclerc have both stood on the top step once. Norris comes into Mexico sitting sixth in the standings on 211 points, followed by Oscar Piastri on 144, Isack Hadjar on 105, Liam Lawson on 77, and Pierre Gasly on 42.

History suggests Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez can deliver varied outcomes, even if Red Bull have enjoyed particular strength here. Verstappen has won three of the last six races held at the circuit, stringing together victories in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Since then, Carlos Sainz won for Ferrari in 2024 and Norris took the flag for McLaren in 2025, while Hamilton also won here in 2019. It looks like an event where several teams have the tools to compete at the front.

With only four rounds left once Sunday’s race concludes, the scramble behind Antonelli carries high stakes. Russell, Hamilton, Verstappen, and Leclerc are separated by just nine points between second and fifth, meaning any blip this weekend could dramatically reshuffle the order.

Benign High-Altitude Weather for All Five Sessions

Teams arriving in Mexico City will face very little interference from the weather, with consistent temperatures predicted throughout the track running:

• Practice 1 (Friday 18:30 UTC): 24°C, mostly clear, wind 7 km/h.
• Practice 2 (Friday 22:00 UTC): 25°C, partly cloudy, wind 13 km/h.
• Practice 3 (Saturday 17:30 UTC): 24°C, clear, wind 2 km/h, with 0.1 mm of rain expected over the six hours from the start.
• Qualifying (Saturday 21:00 UTC): 24°C, mostly clear, wind 10 km/h.
• Grand Prix (Sunday 20:00 UTC): 24°C, clear, wind 1 km/h.

Apart from that trace of 0.1 mm around Saturday morning, the forecast is dry for the rest of the weekend, leaving engineers with predictable track conditions to dial in cooling and aerodynamic setups.

Cars hit the circuit next for Practice 1 on Friday 30 October at 18:30 UTC.

Timing data: Jolpica-F1. Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Charts and results card by Slip Stream GP.

This report was written automatically with the help of AI (Google Gemini), from public timing data. Every number in the tables and charts comes straight from the data. Spotted a mistake? Tell me.

Published by

Pasindu Senavirathna

Data

Jolpica-F1, OpenF1, Wikidata and Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and MET Norway

Last updated

28 Oct 2026, 21:21