POWER RANKINGS: Who impressed our judges at the Mexico City Grand Prix?

Kimi Antonelli rewrote the history books when he was crowned the 2026 World Champion after his third-place finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix. But who else impressed our Power Rankings judges? Check out the latest scores and overall leaderboard below…

How it works

• Our five-judge panel assess each driver after every Grand Prix and score them out of 10 according to their performance across the weekend – taking machinery out of the equation
• Our experts’ scores are then averaged out to produce a race score – with those scores then tallied up across the season on our overall Power Rankings Leaderboard (at the bottom of the page)

If anyone can deliver under pressure, it's Max Verstappen, and this weekend was no exception. After his "clumsy" incident with Liam Lawson in FP2, the Red Bull racer charged from fifth to second on the opening lap, capitalising on another tense moment between Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. He subsequently inherited the lead following Leclerc's penalty and went on to confidently control two restarts as Hamilton persistently challenged him, with shades of their 2021 contest flashing all the way to the chequered flag.

Antonelli wasn't the only one breaking records in Mexico City. Hamilton took his 105th pole position, and first for Ferrari, with a stunning lap to deny George Russell by just 0.009s. However, an early scrap with his team mate saw him lose ground to Verstappen, leaving his chances of victory hanging in the balance. Despite piling on the pressure after the final restart, the seven-time champion ultimately had to settle for second, finishing just 0.799s behind the Red Bull.

It may not have been a race win, but Antonelli's improvement from P4 to P3 via a fearless pass on Charles Leclerc gave him the points he needed to seal the Drivers' Championship. His season had already demonstrated just how much he's improved since his rookie campaign, but another mature drive to the podium in Mexico City made him a more than worthy victor in the standings.

With his seat still unconfirmed for 2027, Liam Lawson's mission to prove he deserves a spot on the grid got a boost in Mexico City, albeit only after he was disqualified from Qualifying for a technical breach. Combined with the FP2 contact with Verstappen, it unnecessarily put him on the back foot, but his charge from the pit lane to P7, helped by some post-race penalties for others, was mightily impressive.

Although McLaren flew in final practice to drag themselves into pole contention, it wasn't to be for Lando Norris as he struggled to repeat the "magical" lap that saw him top the Q2 times. He therefore qualified sixth and was hindered by the squad's insufficient pace advantage, which left him stuck behind Russell and Leclerc over two separate stints before finishing fifth.

After a challenging run of races, Arvid Lindblad rediscovered his confidence in Mexico City, reaching Q3 and qualifying ninth as Racing Bulls emerged as the pick of the midfield. The rookie carried that promising pace into Sunday, making a strong start and running comfortably inside the points while managing his tyres. He was battling Oscar Piastri for seventh when contact between the pair sent him into the barriers, bringing a premature end to what had otherwise been an impressive weekend.

While jumping into an F1 car midway through a weekend is a somewhat unique challenge, Ryo Hirakawa took it in his stride and relied on his years of motorsport experience to keep it clean. After being knocked out in Q1, he stayed out of trouble and got stuck into some battles en route to P10, giving Haas their sole point of the round as Ollie Bearman retired with damage.

Sergio Perez's 300th Grand Prix may not have delivered the home result he had hoped for, but the Cadillac driver still gave the Mexican fans plenty to cheer about. After missing FP3 and qualifying towards the back of the grid, Perez made an encouraging start and climbed as high as P13, holding his own against faster machinery. Unfortunately, a slow pit stop and a subsequent penalty for speeding in the pit lane compromised his afternoon, leaving him to finish P16 despite a spirited performance.

Ollie Bearman looked set to add another points finish to his tally in Mexico City before his race came to an abrupt end through no fault of his own. Having recovered from a difficult final practice session to qualify 15th, the Haas driver made an impressive start and worked his way into the points fight. However, after overtaking Nico Hulkenberg at the red flag restart, he was struck from behind by the Audi driver at Turn 4, sustaining damage that forced him into retirement.

Reliability troubles threatened to derail Gabriel Bortoleto's Mexico City weekend, with the Audi driver missing valuable running in practice and heading into Qualifying on the back foot. Despite starting 13th, the Brazilian kept himself in contention during a chaotic race, making the most of the opportunities that came his way to cross the line in P11. A series of post-race penalties subsequently promoted him to eighth, providing a welcome points finish after a challenging weekend for the team.

Missing out

Just missing out on this week's Power Rankings list are Williams' Alex Albon, who finished 12th, and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, whose hopes of a podium were dashed by a five-second time penalty. Alpine's Franco Colapinto also narrowly missed the cut after another solid performance in Mexico City.