Answer in brief
The race is on Sunday 1 November 2026 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, lights out at 14:00 local time, 20:00 UTC. Before it Kimi Antonelli leads Mercedes team-mate George Russell by 123 points, 365 to 242. Formula 1 says a top-nine finish would confirm his title. Nothing is decided until Sunday, and this story does not predict the result.
Round 19 of 23: when the Mexico Grand Prix 2026 starts
The Mexico Grand Prix 2026, run under the official name Mexico City Grand Prix, is round 19 of 23 in this year’s Formula 1 season. Formula 1’s own timetable gives the race date as Sunday 1 November 2026 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. The lights go out at 14:00 local time, which is 20:00 UTC. The distance is 71 laps or 120 minutes, whichever comes first.
Wikipedia’s page on the event, last edited on 30 October 2026, puts the lap at 4.304 km and the full race distance at 305.584 km. It adds that this is the sixth edition under the Mexico City Grand Prix name and the 26th Formula 1 event at the circuit. The weekend is a standard one: the official timetable lists three practice sessions, one qualifying session and the race, with no sprint. That detail matters for the title arithmetic below, because points are handed out only on Sunday.
The weekend timetable in local time and in UTC
Formula 1’s timetable says Mexico City is six hours behind UTC, so the UTC time is the local time plus six hours. On Friday 30 October first practice runs from 12:30 to 13:30 local time (18:30 to 19:30 UTC) and second practice from 16:00 to 17:00 (22:00 to 23:00 UTC). On Saturday 31 October third practice is from 11:30 to 12:30 (17:30 to 18:30 UTC), and qualifying from 15:00 to 16:00 (21:00 to 22:00 UTC).
On Sunday 1 November the drivers’ parade is listed for 12:00 to 12:30 local time, the national anthem for 13:44 and the Grand Prix for 14:00 to 16:00 (20:00 to 22:00 UTC). Readers elsewhere can do the sum from the UTC column. In Central European time, one hour ahead of UTC on that date, the race starts at 21:00 and qualifying at 22:00 on Saturday.
The same page also lists the support programme: Formula 4 NACAM, GTM Super Copa and Masters Historic sessions and races across all three days, a car presentation on Friday at 11:00 local time and a teams’ press conference at 14:30. Only the Formula 1 sessions count towards the world championship, and only the race scores points.
Drivers’ standings after Austin: 365 points and a 123-point lead
The latest points table is the one after the United States Grand Prix in Austin on 25 October. Crash.net published it that day, and the standings page on formula1.com shows the same totals when read on 30 October. Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes leads on 365 points. Behind him are George Russell of Mercedes on 242, Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari on 241, Max Verstappen of Red Bull on 236, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari on 233 and Lando Norris of McLaren on 211.
Antonelli is therefore 123 points ahead of Russell and 124 ahead of Hamilton. Between second and fifth place the spread is small: from Russell’s 242 down to Leclerc’s 233 is nine points, so the order behind the leader can still change on Sunday. Wikipedia’s page on the race counts 125 points left to win across the five remaining rounds, and its page on points systems lists 25 points for a win, 18 for second and 15 for third.
In Austin, Crash.net reports, Antonelli won and Leclerc was second. Formula 1’s race-week preview, published on 28 October, adds that Hamilton finished fourth and Russell eighth. Nothing in this table changes before the race: practice and qualifying carry no points at a weekend without a sprint.
How Antonelli could clinch the title on Sunday
Formula 1 wrote on 28 October that a top-nine finish in Mexico City would confirm Antonelli as world champion, and that it would make him the youngest champion in the history of the sport. Wikipedia’s page on the race sets out the same conditions as cases. If neither Russell nor Hamilton wins the race, Antonelli is champion whatever the rest of the field does. If one of them wins, he needs to finish in the top nine.
The line at ninth place can be reconstructed from the published numbers. Ninth is worth 2 points. If a rival wins and takes 25, Antonelli’s lead of 123 becomes 100, which is the most that can still be collected over the four rounds after Mexico City at 25 points each. This sum is a reading of the sources’ figures, not a separate claim, and the official regulations decide how any tie would be settled.
These are scenarios, not forecasts. The sources describe what would be mathematically enough, and they do not say what will happen on the track. If the title is not settled in Mexico City, the championship moves on to the next round in São Paulo, and the maths is recalculated with the new table.
Constructors’ table: Mercedes 607, Ferrari 474 and a tie for third
The constructors’ table after Austin, as printed by Crash.net on 25 October, has Mercedes first with 607 points and Ferrari second with 474. Red Bull and McLaren are level on 355, with Red Bull listed ahead. Formula 1’s race-week preview explains the order: Red Bull have more second-place finishes.
Wikipedia’s page on the Mexico City race says 215 constructor points remain in the season. It states that Mercedes can clinch the constructors’ title in Mexico City if they outscore Ferrari by 39 points over the weekend. The gap before the race is 133 points, from 607 to 474. As with the drivers’ title, this is a condition and not an expectation, and the order of the other teams is not at stake in the same way.
Altitude, thin air and the shape of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
Formula 1’s race-week preview calls the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez the highest circuit on the calendar, at 2,200 metres above sea level. Wikipedia’s article on the circuit gives a more exact figure of about 2,238 metres. For comparison, the preview puts Interlagos, the next race, at 800 metres.
The reason is the air. According to Formula 1, the cars run Monaco-level downforce here but respond as if they had a Monza-spec package, because the thin air weakens the aerodynamic effect. Cooling is also a challenge, the same preview says. Pirelli adds in its tyre preview that altitude reduces aerodynamic efficiency and can make heavy braking harder to manage, with the long run to Turn 1 raising the risk of lock-ups, especially early in the weekend.
Wikipedia’s article lists the layout as 4.304 km with 17 turns and a front straight of about 1.2 km that leads out of the Peraltada, the final corner. The same article records the lap record as 1:17.774, set by Valtteri Bottas in a Mercedes in 2021.
New asphalt, Pirelli’s tyre choice and the storylines to watch
Pirelli has brought its C3 as the hard tyre, C4 as the medium and C5 as the soft, according to a Formula 1 article of 28 October. Last year the hard tyre was the harder C2. Each driver gets two sets of hard, three of medium and eight of soft, plus one extra set of soft for those who reach the final part of qualifying. If the race is dry, every driver must use at least two different slick compounds.
The same article says a large part of the circuit was resurfaced, from Turn 16 to Turn 1 and from Turn 7 to Turn 16, and that only the first sector is largely unchanged. Pirelli expects the new surface to bring more grip and less roughness, but says its real behaviour has to be checked early in the weekend. Pirelli notes the circuit is traditionally gentle on tyres, which could favour a one-stop race.
Several storylines come from the 28 October preview. Sergio Pérez will make his 300th Formula 1 start at his home race, and he has agreed a contract extension with Cadillac until at least 2029. Verstappen has six consecutive top-three finishes. Nikola Tsolov at Racing Bulls and Freddie Slater at Audi make their practice debuts in first practice, alongside other young drivers who take cars from the regular line-up. Wikipedia’s page on the 2025 race records that Norris won last year ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen.
After the chequered flag: dates to follow and where results appear
Official results and the updated tables appear on the results and standings pages of formula1.com, and the fastest way to see what happened in practice is the same site’s session reports. The figures in this story are those published before the first session of the weekend, and they will be out of date by Sunday evening.
The calendar on Wikipedia’s page for the 2026 season lists the remaining rounds: São Paulo on 8 November, Las Vegas on 21 November, Qatar on 29 November and Abu Dhabi on 6 December. The page lists Singapore on 11 October as the last sprint weekend, so each of the four remaining races is worth at most 25 points to a winner. If the drivers’ title is still open after Mexico City, it will be decided in one of those four.
Readers planning to watch should check their own broadcaster’s listing, because local start times depend on the time zone and on the channel’s coverage. Rules, tables and entry lists change, so when a number here differs from the official page, the official page is right.
Practical checklist
- Convert 20:00 UTC on Sunday 1 November to your own time zone and add qualifying at 21:00 UTC on Saturday.
- Open the standings page on formula1.com after the race and compare it with the 365-242-241 table here.
- Note the top-nine rule: Formula 1 says ninth place or better would confirm Antonelli as champion.
- Read the Pirelli tyre notes of 28 October before qualifying to follow the strategy talk.
- Mark São Paulo on 8 November as the next round if the title is not settled in Mexico City.
Questions and answers
What time does the Mexico City Grand Prix start?
The race is on Sunday 1 November 2026 at 14:00 local time in Mexico City, which Formula 1’s timetable converts to 20:00 UTC. Qualifying is on Saturday at 15:00 local time, 21:00 UTC. Add your own offset to the UTC times to get your local start.
Can Antonelli win the 2026 world championship in Mexico City?
Formula 1 and Wikipedia both say it is possible. The race-week preview of 28 October says a top-nine finish would confirm the title, and Wikipedia adds that if neither Russell nor Hamilton wins, he is champion regardless of his own result.
How many points does a win in Formula 1 give?
Wikipedia’s page on the points system lists 25 points for a win, then 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 down to tenth place. It also says the fastest-lap point no longer exists in 2025 and 2026.
Why is the Mexico City circuit so different for the cars?
Because of its height. Formula 1 calls it the highest circuit on the calendar, at 2,200 metres, where thin air weakens aerodynamic effect and makes cooling harder, so teams set up the cars differently from other tracks.
Who won the Mexico City Grand Prix last year?
Lando Norris won the 2025 race in a McLaren, according to Wikipedia’s page on the event. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was second and Max Verstappen of Red Bull third. Last year’s order says nothing about the result this year.