Andrea Kimi Antonelli came dangerously close to retiring from the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix just four laps before securing his maiden Formula 1 world championship, Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord has revealed. A cracked oil sump caused the Mercedes power unit to struggle during the closing stages of the race, with the full extent of the problem only becoming apparent when the team inspected the car after the chequered flag.
The Italian ultimately finished third behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, securing the Drivers’ World Championship in only his second Formula 1 season. However, a mechanical failure in the final laps could have prevented him from celebrating the title on the podium in Mexico City, potentially pushing the championship battle into the following round at Interlagos.
Kimi Antonelli almost retired from Mexico GP before securing F1 world title
Andrea Kimi Antonelli wrote an important chapter in Italian sporting history by winning the Formula 1 World Championship in his second season. The Bologna-born Mercedes driver secured the title with a third-place finish in Mexico City, completing a memorable podium alongside Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
The result carried particular symbolic importance, bringing together three generations of Formula 1 talent and confirming Italy’s first Drivers’ World Championship in 73 years.
Yet the celebrations came remarkably close to being delayed. During the final four laps of the Mexican Grand Prix, Andrea Kimi Antonelli began experiencing problems with the Mercedes power unit, bringing him dangerously close to retirement.
Had the Italian failed to finish and Lewis Hamilton managed to overtake Max Verstappen for victory, the championship would have remained mathematically undecided, with the title fight continuing at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Mercedes reveals cracked oil sump behind Kimi Antonelli’s late engine scare
The seriousness of the problem only became clear after the race, when Mercedes mechanics recovered Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s car and began inspecting it. Bradley Lord, the team’s deputy principal, revealed that the underside of the W17 was covered in oil when the floor was removed.
“We got the car back after the race and, once we’d removed the floor, we found it covered in oil,” Bradley Lord admitted.
The Mercedes official explained that the problem originated from a crack in the oil sump, which had begun affecting the engine’s operation as the race approached its conclusion.
“The oil sump had cracked, and Kimi said that, with about four laps remaining, he had started to feel the engine struggling. He was right on the verge of retiring from that race, yet the car held together.”
The revelation highlights how close Andrea Kimi Antonelli came to losing the result that allowed him to celebrate his first world championship at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Despite the mechanical problem, the Mercedes survived long enough for the Italian to cross the finish line and complete his title-winning race.
Why an Antonelli retirement could have delayed the F1 championship celebrations
Andrea Kimi Antonelli therefore narrowly avoided a particularly frustrating outcome at the most important moment of his young Formula 1 career. Instead of retiring with just a handful of laps remaining, he completed the race and was able to celebrate his championship success immediately.
Even if Lewis Hamilton had won in Mexico City, the Ferrari driver would have remained 99 points behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli with 100 points still available over the remaining races, according to the championship scenario outlined after the Grand Prix.
That meant any delay would have been unlikely to change the eventual championship outcome, although it could have had a significant psychological impact. The Italian would have been forced to wait for another opportunity to secure the title mathematically rather than celebrating alongside Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in Mexico.
Instead, the Mercedes power unit survived the final laps, allowing Andrea Kimi Antonelli to secure the result he needed. The Italian was subsequently able to celebrate his emotional Formula 1 world championship triumph, unaware of just how close the car had come to bringing his race to a premature end.
What appeared to be a straightforward third-place finish was therefore far more precarious than it seemed, with a cracked oil sump almost turning an historic afternoon for Mercedes into a dramatic late retirement.
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