Daily Motorsport Briefing, Nov. 2: Antonelli Crowned, Ferrari Fallout

Kimi Antonelli is Formula 1’s champion, and the clean headline is hiding a messier Sunday behind it. Here is what the official series sources confirm as of Monday, Nov. 2, with results and schedules checked against Formula 1, NASCAR and MotoGP.

The storyline that matters: Antonelli is champion, and Ferrari owns the mess

Antonelli only needed ninth place in Mexico City. He finished on the podium, third behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, and at 20 became the youngest World Champion in F1 history and the first Italian since Alberto Ascari in 1953. He leads Verstappen by 119 points with four rounds left. The race itself was a lesson in how a red flag resets everything: Mercedes left him out hoping for a Safety Car that arrived one lap after he had already pitted, then a barrier repair turned it into a red flag and a standing restart from fourth. He passed Leclerc at Turn 1 and spent the rest of the afternoon shadowing the leaders. Our earlier look at how Mercedes could win both titles in Mexico City set up this scenario, and the earlier worry about his illness in Mexico City never materialised on track.

Ferrari is the story that will outlast the trophy. Hamilton took his first pole for the Scuderia and led down to Turn 1 before Leclerc went around the outside. Both ran off at Turn 4, Leclerc rejoined first, and Hamilton slipped behind Verstappen. Leclerc was given a five-second penalty, served it at the same stop as Verstappen, and lost the lead to him there. Hamilton finished second, 0.7 seconds behind. Leclerc has said he deserved the penalty, and team principal Frédéric Vasseur said Ferrari will sort the matter out internally.

Verstappen’s sixth Mexico City win was his third victory in the last four Grands Prix, and it moves him to second in the championship on 261 points, two clear of Hamilton on 259. George Russell’s sixth place drops him to fourth on 250. With the title settled, the fight for runner-up is the live one.

Close-up of the front of a racing car on track — Photo by Amir Abbaspoor on Unsplash

Results worth knowing

In NASCAR, William Byron led 362 of 500 laps, swept both stages and won the Cup Series race at Martinsville by 2.049 seconds over Chase Elliott, his first win of 2026. The title picture is lopsided: Kyle Larson was ninth and now leads Christopher Bell by 67 points and Denny Hamlin by 70, with only those three still mathematically alive. Larson needs a finish of 28th or better, or simply nine points gained, at Homestead. Our Martinsville clinching preview laid out why a win was the only way to clinch there. Hamlin’s no-stop strategy in stage one cost him track position he never got back.

In MotoGP, Marc Márquez won the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, with Pedro Acosta and Alex Márquez completing the podium after Alex took pole. The official MotoGP site calls the win a “match point” for his 2026 title. Jorge Martín, his main rival, was declared fit to race and then withdrew on Oct. 31. For the bigger picture on next year’s bikes and riders, see how MotoGP’s 2027 grid filled up.

Penalties and stewards’ decisions

Formula 1: Leclerc received five seconds for the lap-one clash with Hamilton, and Russell ten seconds for tapping Isack Hadjar at Turn 6. Oscar Piastri was handed ten seconds after the race for contact with Arvid Lindblad at Turn 1 and fell from seventh to 15th, leaving Mexico with no points.
Formula 1, yellow flags: Pierre Gasly (stop-and-go, two penalty points) and Franco Colapinto (ten seconds, one penalty point) lost their P10 and P8 finishes for failing to slow enough under yellows. The stewards were not convinced by Colapinto’s telemetry in a single-yellow sector but cleared him on the double-yellow sector because of doubt over his warning. From seventh down, the final points scorers were Liam Lawson (P7), Gabriel Bortoleto (P8), Hadjar (P9) and Ryo Hirakawa (P10).
NASCAR: Bell was penalized for speeding on pit exit at Martinsville, dropping from what would have been the lead to 14th on the restart. Post-race inspection was clean, confirming Byron’s win.
MotoGP: The official site reports no penalties from the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Driver changes

Haas replaced Esteban Ocon with Ryo Hirakawa after second practice in Mexico City, handing the Japanese driver his Grand Prix debut. He qualified 19th, finished 13th on the road and was promoted to tenth by the post-race penalties, scoring on debut. Teammate Oliver Bearman retired with damage after Nico Hülkenberg hit him from behind, and Hülkenberg was penalized. Valtteri Bottas’s Cadillac suffered a suspension failure and crashed, which brought out the red flag. In MotoGP, Raúl Fernández was ruled out of the rest of the Malaysian Grand Prix with a finger injury from Lombok, and Martín’s withdrawal left Márquez without his closest rival.

Motorcyclists race on a track during a competition — Photo by Ken So on Unsplash

Official announcements

NASCAR has confirmed the Cup Series Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway for next Sunday. MotoGP’s official news page also carries its 2027 calendar of 22 Grands Prix with Valencia as the finale and a new weekend format with Sprint qualifying from 2027. Formula 1 has no new regulatory announcements today beyond the stewards’ decisions above.

Race and session schedule

Formula 1, São Paulo Grand Prix (Interlagos, Nov. 6–8): Practice 1 Friday 15:30–16:30, Practice 2 Friday 19:00–20:00, Practice 3 Saturday 14:30–15:30, Qualifying Saturday 18:00–19:00, Race Sunday 17:00. It is not a sprint weekend. Times are as listed on formula1.com, so use the site’s time-zone toggle for your local time.
NASCAR Cup Series, Championship Race (Homestead-Miami Speedway): Sunday, Nov. 8, 3 p.m. ET on NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
MotoGP: Qatar Nov. 6–8, then Portugal Nov. 20–22 and Valencia Nov. 27–29.