F1 2026: Antonelli Is Champion, and Five Drivers Still Want Second
Welcome to the Happy Hour Racing Formula 1 Race Preview. There is no Grand Prix this weekend, so this is a between-races feature on the fights that are still live with three rounds to go.
The Short Version
The 2026 Formula 1 season already has its champion. Andrea Kimi Antonelli clinched the drivers title at the Mexico City Grand Prix on November 1, and Mercedes wrapped up the constructors title a week later in Brazil. That is both trophies gone with three races still on the calendar. What is left is better than it sounds: five drivers are covered by 33 points in the fight for second, and there are 75 points on the table. Las Vegas on Saturday, November 21 is where that fight restarts.
How the Title Ended Three Races Early
Antonelli finished third in Mexico City and that was that. He was 20 years and 68 days old, which makes him the youngest world champion Formula 1 has ever had. The old record belonged to Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 years and 134 days when he took the 2010 title. Antonelli did not edge that record, he took more than three years off it.
He is also the first Italian world champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953, ending a 73-year wait, and he did it in his second season in the car. Nine wins from 20 races and 390 points is not a lucky run. Mercedes then sealed its ninth constructors crown at Interlagos, completing the double.
The Real Fight: Five Drivers, 33 Points
Here is where the season is still worth your Saturday night. Second place in the drivers championship is genuinely open, and the five drivers involved do not like each other much.
Thirty-three points covers all five. One bad Saturday or one safety car reshuffles the whole order. And because none of the remaining three rounds is a sprint weekend, every point has to be taken on Sunday, or in the case of Las Vegas, late on Saturday night.
Kimi. Max. Lando. That's three different in the last three Grands Prix
- Formula 1 (@F1) November 14, 2026
Mercedes Has Nothing Left to Lose
This is the part that could get spicy. Mercedes already has both titles in the cabinet, which means the team has no reason to play it safe for the rest of the year. Toto Wolff has said out loud that he is weighing how far to go to get George Russell into second place.
Wolff put it this way: "We absolutely want him to score the maximum and hopefully finish second, and we need to think about what we're going to do about it, but it could be a possibility that we're giving it all the force."
Russell needs the help. Over the last five Grands Prix he has scored 26 points while Verstappen has scored 116, a 90-point swing in the wrong direction. Power unit trouble, crashes, an engine penalty and deployment problems all played a part. He is only 17 points behind, but the recent form says he is the one being chased, not the one chasing.
The interesting question is what that help looks like, and whether a brand-new world champion gets asked to move over for his teammate. Antonelli has nothing left to race for in the standings. That is exactly the kind of situation that makes radio messages famous.
Ferrari's Private War
Ferrari has its own version of this, and the team has shown no interest in picking a side. Hamilton sits on 261 points, Leclerc on 249. They have one win each, Hamilton in Barcelona and Leclerc at Silverstone, and 12 points between them.
The trend is not kind to Hamilton. Leclerc has finished ahead of him in seven of the last ten races, which is a hard way to spend your first season in red. Hamilton came to Ferrari to chase an eighth title. Finishing the year behind his teammate would be a very different headline, and both drivers know it.
What Is Actually Left to Watch
Three races, three very different tests. Las Vegas runs late on Saturday, November 21, with lights out at 11:00 PM ET on the Strip circuit. Qatar follows on November 29, and the season ends at Abu Dhabi on December 6. No sprints, so no cheap points.
Watch Verstappen most of all. He went 15 races without a win this year, which was his longest drought since 2017, and then won at Sepang, Singapore and Mexico City. A driver who spent half a season losing and is now winning again is the last person you want closing on you in a points fight.
Watch Norris too. Three wins and sixth in the standings is the strangest line on the sheet, and Brazil showed the pace is still there when the weather turns.
One week remaining... Who will hold this trophy aloft in Las Vegas?
- Formula 1 (@F1) November 14, 2026
The Fan Debate
Here is the one worth arguing about: should Mercedes order Antonelli to help Russell finish second? One side says the kid is champion, he owes the team everything, and second place is worth real money and real pride. The other side says you do not ask a world champion to pull over in his title year, and Russell should take it on merit or not at all. There is no clean answer, which is why it will be the loudest conversation in Las Vegas.
The Bottom Line
Antonelli already rewrote the record book, so the headline race of 2026 is over. The one nobody planned for is the scrap behind him, where a resurgent Verstappen, a frustrated Russell, two Ferrari teammates who will not yield and a McLaren driver with three wins are all separated by less than one and a half race wins. Three races, 75 points, and a team principal openly thinking about team orders. That is a better November than the standings suggested.
Shop Formula 1 Gear
Picking a side in the fight for second is half the fun. Here is in-stock gear for the drivers in it:
- Scuderia Ferrari Garage Crew Las Vegas Special Edition T-Shirt - Ferrari kit with a Vegas badge, fitting for the next round
- F1 Red Bull Racing Special Edition Austin GP Bucket Hat - for the Verstappen side of the argument
- Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 George Russell 1:2 Scale Helmet - a display piece for the Russell camp
- McLaren F1 Lifestyle New Era 9Fifty Camo Baseball Hat - Norris colors
- Red Bull Racing F1 Special Edition Austria Spielberg GP T-Shirt - a lighter Red Bull option
More caps and team kit are in the Formula 1 collection.
