01 · Racing

Racing: Kimi Antonelli Is F1’s Youngest Champion Ever

He needed ninth. He finished third, and that was more than enough. Here’s how a huge week of racing played out.

F1: Antonelli clinches, Verstappen wins in Mexico (Nov 1)

Kimi Antonelli took third in the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and wrapped up the 2026 world championship with three rounds to spare. At 20, the Mercedes driver is the youngest F1 champion in history.

The race itself was chaos. Max Verstappen won from fifth on the grid, holding off Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari by 0.799 seconds, with Antonelli 4.0 seconds back. Charles Leclerc took the lead on lap 1 by cutting across the grass and got a five-second penalty for it, and George Russell picked up 10 seconds for spinning Isack Hadjar. Valtteri Bottas crashed his Cadillac hard at Turn 1 after a front suspension failure, which brought out a red flag for barrier repairs; he was checked at the medical center as a precaution. Penalties after the restart reshuffled the back half of the top 10.

After Mexico, Antonelli has 380 points to Verstappen’s 261 and Hamilton’s 259, and Mercedes leads the constructors’ table by 126 points over Ferrari.

On Saturday (Nov 7) at Interlagos, Lando Norris took pole for the São Paulo Grand Prix in a rain-hit session, 0.204 seconds ahead of Russell. Russell and Leclerc take grid penalties for power unit parts, and Verstappen starts 21st after a 30-place penalty.

NASCAR: Byron dominates Martinsville, Larson waits (Nov 1)

William Byron led 362 laps and won the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville by 2.049 seconds over teammate Chase Elliott. Kyle Larson finished ninth, so he didn’t clinch, but he goes into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series finale at Homestead 67 points ahead of Christopher Bell and 70 ahead of Denny Hamlin.

MotoGP: Márquez wins in Malaysia, then the Qatar sprint

With Jorge Martín out injured, Marc Márquez won the Malaysian Grand Prix on November 1 by 4.172 seconds over Pedro Acosta, then won Saturday’s Qatar sprint (Nov 7) by 0.862 seconds. Unofficial standings put him 49 points ahead of Martín with Sunday’s Qatar race and two more rounds left.

Supercars: Kostecki books his Adelaide spot (Nov 7)

Brodie Kostecki won Saturday’s Sandown 500 race by 5.4 seconds over Matt Payne, which puts him in the four-driver Grand Final in Adelaide. It’s tight behind him: Broc Feeney holds the last Supercars Championship finals spot by a single point over Cam Waters, with Sunday’s race still to come.

Endurance: Ferrari on pole at home

The WEC season finale moved to Monza this year, and Antonio Fuoco put the No. 50 Ferrari on Hypercar pole on Saturday. The No. 7 Toyota needs a top-two finish on Sunday to steal the drivers’ title from the No. 8 car, and it starts 17th.

Our take: Antonelli didn’t back into this title. He won nine races and simply outscored everyone, and he did it in his second season. Verstappen winning in Mexico was a reminder he’s still the benchmark on a good day, but 2026 belongs to the kid from Bologna. Over in NASCAR, Larson’s 67-point cushion means Homestead is his to lose.

03 · Business

Business: Toyota Raises Its Forecast, BMW Cuts Again, and Hybrids Carry October

The last big round of quarterly results told two very different stories, and the October sales numbers explained a lot of it: if you sell hybrids, you’re doing fine.

A 2023 Toyota Sequoia Capstone. The 2027 Sequoia, with a new front end and a Trailhunter package, got its US pricing this week.

Toyota beats and raises (Nov 5)

Toyota made ¥1.13 trillion of operating income in the July-September quarter, up about 34%, and raised its full-year operating profit forecast to ¥3.9 trillion from ¥3.4 trillion. It credited hybrids, lower tariff costs and a weaker yen, which more than made up for falling sales in China. It also announced a plan to return up to ¥14 trillion (about US$89 billion) to shareholders by March 2031, and its shares jumped by double digits.

Toyota also named Mark Templin as the next president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, taking over from Ted Ogawa on January 1, 2027.

BMW cuts its outlook again (Nov 4)

BMW revenue fell 5.8% to €30.45 billion and operating profit dropped 29.7% to €1.59 billion, with deliveries down 6.3% to 551,075 cars. China was the weak spot again; Europe and the US both grew a little. BMW cut its 2026 car margin forecast to between -0.5% and +0.5%, from 1-3%, because of one-off restructuring costs in the fourth quarter, and said it’s speeding up management job cuts.

Ferrari keeps printing money (Nov 3)

Ferrari shipped 3,368 cars, slightly fewer than a year ago, but revenue rose 7% to €1.896 billion and net profit rose 13% to €431 million. It nudged its 2026 revenue forecast up to about €7.65 billion. Fewer cars, more money: personalization and pricier models do the work.

October sales: hybrids keep the US afloat (Nov 3-4)

US buyers took home about 1.3 million new vehicles in October, up 3-4%, but that’s partly thanks to an extra selling day. The seasonally adjusted pace slipped to about 15.5-15.6 million, the slowest since January. EVs made up about 7% of sales, down more than a point from last year, while hybrids grew to about 18.6% of retail sales.

Kia (80,008, up 16%) and Hyundai (73,452, up 4.8%) both set October records. Toyota brand sales rose 5.7% to 188,392, about 60% of them hybrids, Honda was up 9.1% and Mazda jumped 25%. Ford was about flat: F-Series grew 8.2%, but its EV sales fell 71%. The average new vehicle sold for $52,370.

In Canada, DesRosiers Automotive Consultants estimates October sales at about 162,000, up 1.8% for a fifth straight monthly gain.

Our take: Toyota’s bet on hybrids instead of going all-in on EVs looks smarter every quarter, and you can see it in the sales charts too. BMW’s problem is mostly China, where local brands are eating the German luxury makers alive. If you’re shopping, those rising incentives (about $3,300 on average, up 13%) are a sign dealers want to deal before year-end.

05 · SEMA

SEMA 2026: Dodge Is Going Back to NASCAR, and Ford Built a 1,200-HP Bronco

Last week we covered the cars automakers previewed early. Here’s what was new once the doors opened in Las Vegas:

A custom build outside the SEMA Show in Las Vegas in 2013. This year’s show ran November 3-6.

• Dodge returns to NASCAR2027 Daytona 500The biggest news of the show wasn’t a car. Stellantis’ Tim Kuniskis announced that Dodge is coming back to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027 for the first time since 2012, with Kaulig Racing as its factory team. The car will be revealed on December 4.
• Jeep Wrangler Scrambler SRT concept6.4L Hemi V8The first Jeep with an SRT badge, a Wrangler-based pickup study with a V8. No power figure, and no production plan.
• Ford Bronco Frostwarden1,200+ hpAn Arctic rescue-themed Ford build with the Megazilla 2.0: a 7.3-liter V8 with a 3.0-liter Whipple supercharger, quoted at more than 1,200 hp and 1,000 lb-ft on race fuel, on 42-inch tires and portal axles. It’s not for sale.
• Nissan Frontier Ronin, Pathfinder XE-V6 and Armada Jungle PatrolShow carsNissan brought a twin-turbo Frontier with a track 12 inches (30 cm) wider, a retro Pathfinder for its 40th birthday, and a roofless Armada with a roll cage and 37-inch tires. None are planned for production.
• Acura NSX parts3,000+ partsAcura is bringing back more than 3,000 new parts for the original NSX, which is great news if you own one.

Our take: Dodge in NASCAR is the one that matters. Since coming back to run Dodge, Kuniskis has been busy reconnecting the brand with its muscle-car fans, and Cup racing is the biggest stage in America to do it. Just don’t expect race-winning pace right away from a brand-new car and a team stepping up to factory status.

07 · Policy and Tech

Policy and Tech: Europe Softens Its 2035 Rule, and China’s Market Cools

EU committee votes to soften the 2035 target

The European Parliament’s environment committee voted 48-30 this week to cut the 2035 CO2 target for new cars from 100% to 87.5%, or up to 95% with green-steel credits. Cars that run only on renewable fuels would count as zero-emission, and small EU-built EVs would get extra credit. It isn’t law yet: the full Parliament votes in December, then negotiates with member states.

The US midterms (Nov 3)

Democrats won Congress. Analysts expect more oversight of tariffs, fuel economy rules and EV policy, but few outright reversals while the president holds a veto. No new EPA or NHTSA vehicle rules came out this week.

China watch: sales slump, rare earths and chips

China’s passenger car retail sales fell 25% in October to about 1.69 million as trade-in subsidies and tax breaks wind down, according to the CPCA, though plug-ins hit a record 67.8% share. BYD sold 490,168 new-energy vehicles, up 11%, including 170,194 overseas. China’s one-year pause on rare-earth export controls formally expires November 10; the US says a broader truce runs to January 10, but Beijing hasn’t published a renewal. And on November 3, chipmaker Nexperia’s Dutch arm sued its Chinese parent Wingtech for more than $2 billion, a reminder that last year’s auto chip crunch hasn’t fully gone away.

BMW adds free IONNA charging (Nov 5)

Buyers of 2027 BMW i5, i7 and iX3 models get $500 of charging credit, $200 of it at IONNA stations, plus a free year of IONNA membership with 25% off charging.

Why you should care Europe’s 2035 rule was the strictest EV mandate among the big markets, and it’s being softened before it even kicks in. That gives automakers room to keep hybrids around longer, which, judging by October’s US sales, is exactly what a lot of buyers want anyway.

09 · Quick Hits

Quick Hits

• Stellantis shuffled its North American leadership. Pablo Di Si became chief operating officer for North America and the American brands on November 4, taking over from CEO Antonio Filosa, who had covered the role.
• Schaeffler is closing five sites. The German parts giant is cutting 3,460 more jobs in Europe, about 2,660 of them in Germany, as its unions pushed back this week.
• BMW’s China joint venture is shedding jobs. Chinese media reported that BMW Brilliance began cutting about 1,800 jobs in Shenyang from November 2. BMW hasn’t commented.
• Mercedes may delay its Alabama GLC. Automotive News reported that US production of the GLC in Vance, Alabama could slip to 2030. Mercedes hasn’t confirmed it and says its US investment plans are unchanged.

That’s the week. See you next Sunday for another Week in Reverse.