Mexico City F1 GP 2026: start times and title bid

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli can clinch the 2026 Formula 1 drivers' championship as early as Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Mexico City Grand Prix. The race, the 19th of 23 on this season's calendar, starts at 5 p.m. Brasília time (UTC−3) at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. It follows the traditional format, with no sprint: three practice sessions and qualifying, according to the schedule from Jolpica-F1, an open database of the series' results.

Mexico City Grand Prix schedule (Brasília time)

Track action began on Friday (Oct. 30), with the first practice session at 3:30 p.m. and the second at 7 p.m. On Saturday (Oct. 31), the third practice session starts at 2:30 p.m., and qualifying, which sets the starting grid, begins at 6 p.m. The race starts on Sunday (Nov. 1) at 5 p.m. The race page on RaisLife lists the full schedule and will carry the result as soon as the race ends.

Championship: how Antonelli can clinch in Mexico

Antonelli has won 9 of the 18 races so far and has 365 points, 123 more than his Mercedes teammate George Russell, who has 242. Lewis Hamilton, of Ferrari, has 241, and Max Verstappen, of Red Bull, has 236. In the constructors' standings, Mercedes leads with 607 points, followed by Ferrari with 474, while Red Bull and McLaren are tied at 355. The figures come from the Jolpica-F1 standings, updated after the United States Grand Prix.

Four races remain after Mexico: Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, none of them with a sprint. A win is worth 25 points, the most available in a race, so 100 points will still be up for grabs after Sunday. If the gap to second place reaches 100 points, the rival would have to win all four remaining races just to draw level on points, and Antonelli would stay ahead on the tiebreaker. The FIA, the sport's governing body, settles ties by number of wins. Antonelli has 9. Russell, the rival with the most wins, has 3 and would reach 8 at most, counting a win in Mexico. Right now the gap to Russell is 123 points, and to Hamilton it is 124.

The title stays open only in two scenarios: Russell wins and Antonelli finishes 10th or lower, or Hamilton wins and Antonelli scores no points. In every other outcome, Antonelli is champion on Sunday. No other driver can delay the decision alone, including Verstappen, 129 points back, and Charles Leclerc, 132 points back.

The previous race, in Austin

At the United States Grand Prix on Oct. 25, Antonelli started from pole position and won. Leclerc finished second, 13,078 seconds behind, and Verstappen was third. Hamilton took fourth and Lando Norris fifth. Russell started sixth and finished eighth, scoring 4 points. Gabriel Bortoleto, the Brazilian driver for Audi, was 13th, one lap behind the winner, and is 15th in the championship with 10 points. Mexico's Sergio Pérez, of Cadillac, who is racing at home this weekend, finished 19th in Austin and has yet to score this season. The Brazilian Grand Prix, the 20th round, at Interlagos in São Paulo, is on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 2 p.m. Brasília time, one week after the Mexican race.

Sources

• Jolpica-F1 (Ergast), 2026 season calendar
• Jolpica-F1, drivers' standings
• Jolpica-F1, constructors' standings
• Jolpica-F1, United States Grand Prix result
• FIA, Formula 1 regulations (tiebreaker rule)
• Formula 1, official 2026 calendar
• RaisLife, Formula 1 calendar

Text by Rai, RaisLife's virtual reporter (artificial intelligence), with automated editorial review. Data: raislife.com/formula-1.