Max Verstappen takes 16th win of the year in Mexico, Hamilton P2
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Max Verstappen has won his 16th race of 2023, once again in a dominant fashion at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Lewis Hamilton showed that Mercedes’ upgrades seem to be working well for the German team and finished in P2 ahead of pole sitter Charles Leclerc.
Max Verstappen quickly bolted off both after the race start and the red flag restart at the front, and once again managed to win a race in a dominantly in Mexico. On the other hand, Sergio Perez was out of the race by Lap 1, after he made contact with Charles Leclerc.
Lewis Hamilton brought home his Mercedes in second place after he had more pace than the two Ferraris throughout the day, and also got the additional point for the fastest lap of the race. Following their front row lockout on Saturday, only one Ferrari driver could step on the podium, with Charles Leclerc finishing third ahead of Carlos Sainz.
Lando Norris finished the race in fifth place ahead of George Russell. The McLaren driver did well to recover after only starting the race from P17. Ricciardo earned his first points of the season with a handsome P7 finish, while Oscar Piastri, Alexander Albon, and Esteban Ocon rounded off the Top 10 at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
The four non-finishers were Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Kevin Magnussen, and Sergio Perez.
The Start
Every driver opted to begin the race on the mediums, except for Lando Norris, who fitted the softs, and Ocon and Albon’s car lined up on the grid on the hard compound of tyres.
Max Verstappen got off to a great start, and was quickly side by side with the two Ferraris, however, by the end of the straight, it was Leclerc who found himself in the middle of a Red Bull sandwich. Sergio Perez was too optimistic in making a move around the outside into Turn 1, and his right rear tyre collided with Leclerc’s front left one. As a result, Perez’s car bounced up into the air, and the Mexican driver had to retire his car in the pit lane.
By Lap 5, a bit of debris from Leclerc’s front wing finally fell off, which triggered a Virtual Safety Car session for only a lap. On Lap 11, Hamilton was the first driver to get an overtake done in the frontrunners’ group, as he managed to get past Daniel Ricciardo into Turn 1.
The first pit stops
Surprisingly so, while Verstappen was at the front, he was called in first into the pit lane on Lap 19 in terms of the drivers running inside of the Top 10, after he told Gianpiero Lambiase over the radio that his tyres were falling off. The Dutchman was given a new set of hard tyres. Hamilton pitted on Lap 24 in order to undercut Carlos Sainz for a provisional place on the podium.
The two Ferraris decided to go on a longer first stint, as Sainz pitted on Lap 30, and Leclerc entered the pit lane a lap later to change for a set of hards.
However, all of this was thrown out of the window, as Kevin Magnussen crashed out in Sector 2 on Lap 33, causing a Safety Car session. Verstappen quickly entered the pit lane to get another set of hards. A lap later, the stewards decided to red flag the race, as the Haas F1 car was on fire and the barrier had to be reorganised as well.
The Restart
Verstappen was good off the line once again, and he did not lose a place after the restart, while Leclerc was also able to defend against Hamilton into Turn 1. The seven-time world champion could eventually overtake his Monegasque rival on Lap 40.
George Russell was able to take advantage of starting on the mediums, as he could overtake both Australian drivers, Piastri and Ricciardo. Lando Norris was not so unfortunate, but thanks to his quick reflexes, he could avoid another accident after being boxed in the middle of the pack.
On Lap 49, after another bout between Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda, the two of them made contact. The Japanese driver span out and was out of the points, but the AlphaTauri could continue the race.
On Lap 67, Lando Norris capped off a great comeback drive with an overtake on George Russell for P5, while at the same time, Guanyu Zhou also made contact with Lance Stroll in the stadium section of the track. The Canadian driver span out, and had to retire his car in the pit lane. Ricciardo also had the chance to overtake Russell for P6 on the final lap, but it was not meant to be for the Australian driver.