World Champion at 20, Ferrari Fallout & Nico Being Messy | Mexico GP

PS: THIS WAS RECORDED RIGHT AFTER THE RACE SOOO... I did not know about Oscars penalty at the time of recording. SORRY!!!!

Kimi Antonelli is Formula 1 world champion at just 20, Lewis Hamilton is furious with Charles Leclerc, and Nico Rosberg somehow finds himself perfectly positioned for the drama.

In this episode of Paddock 43, Elle Baillieu breaks down the three biggest stories from the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix: Antonelli’s historic championship, Ferrari’s opening-lap controversy and Valtteri Bottas’s frightening crash.

We discuss the photograph of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton lifting Kimi on the podium, with 12 drivers’ world championships between them, Mercedes backing its young driver, and the significance of number 12 and Ayrton Senna.

Then it’s into the Ferrari debate. Was Charles’s five-second penalty enough? How much responsibility did Lewis have for the incident? And why did Nico’s commentary and post-race interview make the whole situation even more entertaining?

Plus, how can suspension fail under braking? We explain the forces involved and compare Bottas’s apparent front-left failure with Kevin Magnussen’s 2023 Mexico crash, while separating the known details from the causes still to be established.

And to put Kimi’s age into perspective: 20 things that happened in F1 in 2006, the year he was born. Alonso was winning his second championship, Lewis was racing in GP2 and Nico Rosberg was making his F1 debut.

Who do you side with in the Ferrari debate? Let me know in the comments.

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