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2023 F1 Mexico GP results: Verstappen wins after Magnussen shunt

Verstappen grabbed the lead from third on the grid after powering past the Ferraris that had locked out the front row. His team-mate Sergio Perez tried to follow him around the outside of the first corner, but bounced off Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and was forced out of the race.

Verstappen was dominating the race before Magnussen suffered a big crash when his Haas’s rear suspension appeared to break at Turn 8 and he shunted heavily into the wall.

That effectively split the race in two, but Verstappen resumed his domination after the restart, as MercedesLewis Hamilton worked his way past the Ferraris to finish a distant second, ahead of Leclerc.

2023 F1 Mexico Grand Prix results

Cla Driver  Car / Engine   Laps   Time 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 71 -
44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 -13.875
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 -23.124
55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 71 -27.154
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 71 -33.266
63 George Russell Mercedes 71 -41.020
3 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 71 -41.570
81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 71 -43.104
23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 71 -48.573
10  31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 71 -1'02.879
11  10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 71 -1'06.208
12  22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 71 -1'18.982
13  27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 71 -1'20.309
14  77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 71 -1'20.597
15  24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 71 -1'21.676
16  2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 70 -
17  18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 66 -
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 47 -
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 31 -
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1 -

How the 2023 F1 Mexico Grand Prix unfolded

Polesitter Leclerc led the charge to Turn 1 but a fast-starting Verstappen drove between the Ferraris that had locked out the front row.

The second Red Bull of home hero Perez surged alongside the leaders on the outside line, to make it three-wide, but hit Leclerc as he turned in at Turn 1 and flew into the air. Perez made it back to the pits, but his car was too badly damaged to continue.

Verstappen led the opening lap from Leclerc, who had front wing endplate damage, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri), Hamilton, Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and George Russell (Mercedes). Leclerc’s endplate flew off at Turn 1, causing a brief virtual safety car on lap five.

Hamilton passed Ricciardo for fourth on lap 11, while Alex Albon (Williams) passed Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) for the final points-paying place on lap 15.

Verstappen pitted from P1 on lap 20, rejoining on hard tyres, allowing Leclerc to lead from Sainz and the close-following Hamilton.

Hamilton pitted for hards on lap 25, while Verstappen eased past Sainz to take second on lap 29. Sainz stopped two laps later, rejoining well behind Hamilton, while Leclerc went a lap later and rejoined in second but 16s behind Verstappen.

Magnussen then suffered a huge crash at Turn 8 on lap 35, as his rear suspension appeared to fail, which caused a safety car and sent Verstappen into the pits for fresh hards – just before the race was red flagged.

The grid reformed, with most of the leaders on hard tyres, in the order Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton (on mediums), Sainz, Ricciardo, Piastri (mediums) and Russell (mediums). Verstappen aced the getaway at the restart and sprinted clear, with the only mover near the front of the field being Russell, who passed Piastri and Ricciardo to grab fifth.

Hamilton passed Leclerc with a brave move on the run towards Turn 1 with 21 laps to go, by which time Verstappen was 2.6s ahead and pulling away – even though he was on the harder rubber.

Verstappen extended his lead to beat Hamilton (who set fastest lap on the final tour) to the chequered flag by over 13s, as Leclerc finished a distant third from Sainz.

Further back, Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) clashed twice over seventh in successive laps at Turn 1, their second contact ending with Tsunoda spinning down to 16th.

McLaren’s Lando Norris started from 17th on soft tyres and was up to 10th by the restart but lost four spots in that. He battled back up to eighth and McLaren switched places with Piastri in an attempt to catch Ricciardo.

Norris did that and nipped ahead of Ricciardo around the outside of Turn 4. He then chased down Russell and passed him at Turn 6 with five laps remaining in a sparkling drive that netted him fifth.

Russell just held off Ricciardo, ahead of Piastri, Alex Albon (Williams) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine) rounded out the points scorers.

2023 F1 Mexico Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla Driver  Car / Engine   Time   Delay   Km/h 
44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'21.334   190.503
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'21.644 0.310 189.780
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'21.944 0.610 189.085
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'22.332 0.998 188.194
22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'22.501 1.167 187.808
55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'22.539 1.205 187.722
3 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'22.679 1.345 187.404
81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'22.760 1.426 187.220
23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'22.773 1.439 187.191
10  63 George Russell Mercedes 1'22.780 1.446 187.175
11  31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'22.976 1.642 186.733
12  2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1'23.003 1.669 186.672
13  20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'23.146 1.812 186.351
14  77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'23.166 1.832 186.306
15  27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'23.222 1.888 186.181
16  10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'23.230 1.896 186.163
17  18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'23.257 1.923 186.103
18  14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'23.531 2.197 185.492
19  24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'23.567 2.233 185.412

 

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