Here’s Giles Richards’ race report.
And the world champion drivers’ standings:
1) Max Verstappen - 491pts
2. Sergio Perez - 240
3. Lewis Hamilton 220
4. Carlos Sainz - 183
5. Fernando Alonso - 183
6. Lando Norris - 169
7. Charles Leclerc - 166
8. George Russell - 151
9. Oscar Piastri - 87
10. Pierre Gasly - 56
Charles Leclerc, who was smashed into by Sergio Perez: “A lot of booing. Guys, I had nowhere to go. I was between the two Red Bulls and unfortunately I touched Checo but I had nowhere to go, It’s life. It damaged my car and it ended the the race of Checo.
“Of course I didn’t mean to end of the race of Checo like that, but I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Lewis Hamilton, in second, spoke to Jenson Button: “I got to say a big thank you to this incredible crowd. Mexico, they’ve been giving us great races every year. I genuinely love coming to this city, the food is fantastic and the people are beautiful. Thank you all.
“I feel fresh, we weren’t having to push crazy hard out there. It was a great result considering we started sixth. I’m really proud of the team. It’s been a difficult couple of weeks and to bounce back from last weekend with the end result.”
Max Verstappen speaks: “It’s been incredible, Unfortunately Checo retired on Lap one but the crowd stayed and they have been amazing. We are experiencing an incredible season. Again the pace of the car was very good. We tried to do a different strategy from anyone else but unfortunately with the red flag we couldn’t show it. But nevertheless the hard tyres at the end were very strong.”
Max does seem to like this place, and the headwear, too.
Charles Leclerc was booed by the home crowd for making contact with Sergio Perez in that decisive prang,
Here’s the top 10
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
5. Lando Norris (McLaren)
6. George Russell (Mercedes)
7. Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri)
8. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
9. Alex Albon (Williams
10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
11. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
12. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)
13. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
14. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
15. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
16. Logan Sargeant (Williams)
DNF. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
DNF. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
DNF. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
DNF. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
Updated
Max Verstappen wins the Mexican GP
Three in a row, his fifth win in Mexico, his 16th win this season, and dominant from the star. Hamilton is second, Leclerc in third. Sainz is fourth. Norris takes fifth and Russell hangs on valiantly to hold off Ricciardo. Hamilton set a fastst lap at the end.
Updated
70/71 Verstappen might have been out of sight, but Hamilton is the same for Leclerc. Keeping the engine cool has been a problem for most of the drivers. Russell meanwhile is forced to fight off a late challenge from Ricciardo.
69/71 Big cheers in the McLaren garage. Less so in the Aston Martin garage where Stroll joins Alonso in giving up the ghost.
68/71 Norris, with some class, sneaks past Russell, who can no longer defend himself
67/71 Hulkenberg has given up his precious 10th place. Ocon – finally – takes it from him.
66/71 Norris looks for some DRS action. but can’t make the pass. Russell is defending doggedly.
65/71 Norris is desperate to chase down Russell. It’s a gap under two seconds.
64/71 The gap between Verstappen and Hamilton is fully 13 seconds.
63/71 Hulkenberg hanging on grimly….for now.
62/71 Ocon is chasing down Hulkenberg for the last point available and 10th place.
61/71 Norris has been the best, most exciting driver out there, aside from dropping those places at the restart.
Updated
60/71 Norris is all over the back of Ricciardo in the battle for sixth, with constructors’ points up from grabs, too. Norris makes it, to even more cheers.
59/71 Norris gives chase to Ricciardo. And maybe Russell up ahead too. This is not an easy track to overtake on.
58/71 Christian Horner puts a conciliatory arm around Sergio Perez, who has spent the last two hours moping around and apologising.
57/71 Verstappen is 11 seconds clear, and Hamilton’s pace is slowing up, with Leclerc on the harder tyres.
56/71 Piastri is told to let Norris go if he can’t find the speed. Ricciardo, in sixth, is in their sights. Norris is let through. “Thank you,” says Norris.
55/71 Norris and Piastri, the McLaren lads, are up against each other in seventh and eighth.
54/71 “I don’t need any information”, says an angry Tsunoda to his team in his Alpha-Tauri. Hulkenberg is going for a first point since Australia, and is in 10th. He’s after Alex Albon.
Updated
53/71 Tsunoda remains in 16th, after his cry of pain after coming off the side. The stewards are looking into it. He lost eight places in that crash.
52/71 Hamilton hasn’t been able to land a glove on Verstappen. He now has to hope his fading tyres don’t let in the Ferraris.
51/71 Norris and Piastri, in 8th and 7th, are pushing against the front six.
50/71 No safety car, as Piastri skates on in seventh and Tsunoda drops to second-last.
Another crash!
49/71 Tsunoda and Piastri clash, the Aussie not letting go of his position and the Japanese driver spinning off.
Updated
48/71 Piastri and Tsunado clash, with the Australian held back. It’s Alonso’s time to retire; it’s been a bad time for the veteran.
47/71 Russell uses DRS but Sainz and him both have to brake and the Merc remains behind. Norris is now up to 10th.
46/71 Russell is chasing Sainz once more. Lando Norris, after that restart disaster, is flying and up to 11th.
45/71 Hamilton is being asked to do 37 laps on his tyres. The gap to Verstappen is five seconds now.
44/71 Leclerc is told that his hard tyres will soon be faster than the medium tyres Hamilton is using.
43/71 “A long way to go on this tyre,” says Hamilton, who seems to want to concentrate on holding off the Ferrari pair.
42/71 “Let’s keep at it,” the Merc garage tells Hamilton. “It’s going to be a tough stint,” says Hammo.
41/71 Hamilton is on the medium tyres. Can they be decisive? This was the race he thought he could put it up to Verstappen.
40/71 Cheers as Hamilton takes Leclerc, having gone wide. The dust was flying. Now for Verstappen?
39/71 Hamilton goes for the inside line, but Leclerc comes across him. The other Merc, Russell, is giving chase to the other Ferrari, Sainz.
38/71 Norris is back to 14th while Hamilton chases Leclerc. DRS will soon be allowed back on.
37/71 Sainz went off at the side, and Russell is in fifth. Verstappen goes well clear, that Red Bull pace taking hold. Lando Norris managed to lose four places in the chase, it looked very dusty out there.
Here goes the restart!
Half a GP to go and away we go. Verstappen goes clear. A fine start. Hamilton is on the tail of Leclerc, and he gives chase to the man from Monaco.
The race will resume as a standing start. Half the crowd has gone home in disappointment that Perez crashed out. Around five minutes until they go off. Plenty of tyres chicanery will have gone on back in the pits.
Perez speaks, having crashed in the first lap: “I had a tremendous start. I just went for it. I wasn’t expecting Charles to be there. There was no room for three cars. It was a total race incident. I went totally for it. I am really sad. I gave it my all. I have no doubts I will be back for Sao Paulo.”
Leclerc is getting his front wing repaired after that early prang with Perez.
Looks like this will take a while. Verstappen doesn’t seem too happy the race was stopped. The Haas is in a terrible state. The revs dropped and it just went off the track.
The cars make their way to the pits. Chance now for everyone to get some running repairs.
Red flag!
While the barriers are tested, and while Magnussen’s Haas is shovelled away, that’s that for the moment.
34/71 There’s flames coming out of the stricken Haas car. Looks like the suspension went. Magnussen got out fine.
33/71 Sounds like Hamilton will be staying out for the race…uh oh, a crash. Kevin Magnussen has had a big crash. Into a barrier. The Haas car has taken a terrible bang, and there’s a safety car.
32/71 Leclerc pits now, and manages to do so and keep Hamilton at bay to retain third. That places Verstappen at the front.
31/71 The Ferrari garage is asking Sainz to pit, and Hamilton goes up to third.
30/71 Sad scenes as Sergio Perez is discussing his exit from the race with local media.
29/71 Verstappen goes past Sainz with ease. Ferrari still yet to pit. Russell has overtaken Albon and is in seventh.
28/71 Russell not happy he ends up coming in behind Bottas. He’s beyond Bottas and Albon is ahead.
27/71 Russell comes in for a 2.6 second penalty. Hamilton is in fifth, on the tail of Ricciardo. Verstappen is setting fastest laps.
26/71 Ferrari have decided they don’t want to pit just yet, and will stay out front for a one-stop strategy,
25/71 Hamilton pits, and ends up behind Russell in seventh. He’s on the harder tyres now. Verstappen is now in third, having overtaken Ricciardo.
24/71 Hamilton’s not so close to the Ferraris now. He seems to be biding his time and keeping his car cool in the process.
23/71 Verstappen goes past Piastri and is in fifth. He’s heading towards the front of the field without mercy.
22/71 Verstappen, on those fresh tyres, blazes past Russell to take sixth.
21 /71 Leclerc, Sainz and Hamilton are the three leaders but none of them has pitted. Will Verstappen try and go the full distance on one stop. Fuel may be an issue. He’s dropped to seventh, and was told to take things easy.
20/71 Sainz is within half a second of Sainz, and Verstappen, who has been complaining about his tyres, wants to pit. Verstappen drops to fifth in pitting and changing to harder tyres.
19/71 News of Perez is that the floor of his car was ruined. His departure has robbed this race of plenty of interest.
18/71 Hamilton is told to ease off a little and make sure the grading on his tyres doesn’t become too much of a problem.
17/71 Hamilton has been told about grading on his tyre but he’s the man most likely to make things happen up at the front.
The crowd enjoyed that one! 😃#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/tfAs9XLFCV
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 29, 2023
16/71 Hamilton is chasing Sainz. He has the two Ferraris between him and Verstappen. And Hamilton gives the seal of approval on his car’s performance.
15/71 Tsunoda, having pitted, has set the fastest lap, from being second-bottom in the race.
14/71 Sainz, in third, is told “we’re on Plan A”, and is dutifully following teammate Leclerc.
13/71 Verstappen is being asked to mind a kerb at turn three. All the teams are telling their drivers to be aware of the heat in their cars.
12/71 Verstappen is 3.2 seconds clear, getting plenty of fresh air out in front. Lando Norris pits Russell and Piastri is the latest chase.
11/71 Hamilton bided his time well, and eventually went past Ricciardo, having preserved his battery energy. Behind him, teammate Russell is chasing Piastri.
10/71 Hamilton is looking for cooler air, worrying about his car overheating and so dropping back. Ricciardo will have fourth for now.
9/71 Looks like Tsunoda used the grass to overtake Magnussen and the dirt from the grass is likely to drag him back.
8/71 Hamilton thinks about passing again but once more the gap is closed down. Verstappen has a lead of around two seconds.
7/71 It’s a quick, tight track, this one. Hamilton chases down Ricciardo’s Alpha but is blocked off. It’s tough to pass.
6/71 Verstappen is setting fastest laps. Red Bull have still not confirmed that Perez is done. He’s out of the car now, and looking desolate. It’s surely over. It was over from the opening seconds.
5/71 Red Bull are still trying to get Perez out and about while already a few laps down. There’s a virtual safety car as that piece of Leclerc’s wing is still out on track. It’s finally collected. Will Leclerc be proved over driving around in a damage car?
4/71 Leclerc has lost the damaged bit of his front wing. That’s probably a good thing. He and Sainz are chasing Verstappen, with Ricciardo and Hamilton together.
3/71 As Perez escaped off the side, there’s no safety car on. Instead, Verstappen speeds on.
2/71 Perez slams his steering wheel, and the crowd groans. He’s out of the car, and the Red Bull driver is out, and perhaps out of Red Bull as his disappointments continue. The gamble did not pay off at all. It looks like it was all his own fault.
And away we go...
Lance Stroll starts from the pit lane..but as the lights go out, there’s a crash, and Perez, the home hero flies off. Charles Leclerc, on pole has crashed into him. Verstappen leads. Hamilton gives chase to Ricciardo. Disaster for Perez, he went spinning off into the gravel. Russell and Piastri just about stayed out of trouble. Verstappen leads Leclerc, whose car carries danger. Perez heads to the garage.
Updated
We are at altitude here, of course, making the conditions harder for the drivers. Though so many of the tracks these days ask such questions of them. The formation lap takes place.
Here’s the Mexican national anthem, as all rise. It’s sung by schoolchildren, and the camera focuses on Sergio Perez. The rest of the drivers are sheltering under parasols in the heat. As national anthems go, it’s mid-length. As is customary, it is followed by some Queen, just as at the Rugby World Cup final. Freddie Mercury has to be heard.
It looks hot in Mexico City, and the concern is that the track may present difficulties to the drivers, with a low grip. Max Verstappen has plans, though: “It’s not won or lost at the start, it’s such a long race. There’s no need to be super risky in turn one and risk a shunt or whatever.
The teams are going through their final touches after what turned out to be a pretty odd qualifying, with a change in conditions landing Leclerc on pole. The cars have been on test laps and Lewis Hamilton looked a little uneasy with his Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton had high hopes ahead of this weekend.
Definitely we have taken a step forwards. Over these next four races, I can’t predict which one we’re going to be closer, which one we may or may not be further away. We were close here last year. So hopefully we will be a little bit closer maybe this weekend. If we get the strategy right this weekend maybe we can really take the fight to them.
“You have people like Lewis [Hamilton] or Fernando with 15, 20 years of experience and when you start racing against guys you grew up watching on TV it can be a little bit daunting,” he says. “But at the same time it is pretty special to be able to race against those guys and to be able to fight against them is a nice reassurance that they are not alien.”
One striking element about Piastri’s debut season has been is how swiftly he has adapted, even in the rarefied air of world champions, an achievement of which he is rightly proud.
Preamble
Mexico City, where Max Verstappen is going for his fifth win, to extend one of the many records he continues to break. This time, he will have to do it from third on the grid, with two Ferraris ahead of him as he seeks to continue his sequence of having won every race but three this season. Lewis Hamilton fancies a win, too. It’s been too long since he enjoyed one in his Mercedes and he was close last time, before being disqualified for a technical issue. His problem is that he has traffic to get through, including Sergio Perez, the home hero whose distant relationship with Verstappen has made him unpopular with the Mexican tifosi.
Grid positions
1) Charles Leclerc
2) Carlos Sainz
3) Max Verstappen
4) Daniel Ricciardo
5) Sergio Perez
6) Lewis Hamilton
7) Oscar Piastri
8) George Russell
9) Valtteri Bottas
10) Zhou Guanyu
11) Pierre Gasly
12) Nico Hulkenberg
13) Fernando Alonso
14) Alex Albon
15) Esteban Ocon
16) Kevin Magnussen
17) Lance Stroll
18) Lando Norris
19) Logan Sargeant
20) Yuki Tsunoda*
