Four races to go and the Formula One circus touches down in Mexico City for the Mexican Grand Prix. With no Sprint race this weekend, drivers were back to their usual three practice sessions before qualifying and the race. And, although Free Practice Three was nothing more than a nightmare for Ferrari, the team from Maranello took a shock front row lockout during qualifying on the Saturday with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz starting the race in first and second, respectively. Red Bull and Max Verstappen completed the top three. However, all eyes were to be focused on home-hero, Sergio Perez. But, after showing promise earlier on in the weekend, it was a lonely fifth where he'd be starting.
Race day, and with a sell-out crowd, all twenty drivers are ready to put on a show. As nineteen of them slot into their grid boxes after the formation lap, Lance Stroll trundles in his Aston Martin down to the exit of the pitlane where he'll be starting. With everyone in position, the lights go green in Mexico.
It's a tough get away for the Ferrari duo who find themselves being engulfed by the faster starting Red Bulls. Verstappen takes the inside of Leclerc going into turn one, whereas Perez attempts a move around the outside. Disaster. As the trio attempt turn one together, Perez goes slightly airbourne after making contact with Leclerc. Despite obvious front wing damage, Leclerc carries on in second. Perez, in desperate need of a good weekend, falls to the back of the field, eventually returning to the pits where he retires. At the end of lap one, it's normal precedings with Verstappen out front. Leclerc, with his damaged wing, sits in second, his teammate behind in third.
With debris on the track at turn one, the Virtual Safety Car is deployed. But, as quick as it came out, it goes back in. Lando Norris, who started towards the back of the grid, is out on soft tyres, trying to make up lost ground. He gets past the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso for fifteenth with the help of DRS. Towards the front of the field, Lewis Hamilton is starting to put pressure on Daniel Ricciardo, who had a brilliant qualifying session the day before. He has a look into turn one but decides against making the move before telling his race engineer: "the car is running hot." Elsewhere, Leclerc is noted for driving in an unsafe condition, thanks to the damage on his front wing.
There is another brief yellow flag with Yuki Tsunoda taking a trip across the grass as he attempts an overtake on Logan Sargeant. He subsequently falls behind Alonso before diving into the pits for new rubber. Back with the Hamilton/Ricciardo battle and the former finally makes his move on lap eleven. Norris, who was the only driver to start on softs, comes in for his first stop. He returns to the track in eighteenth, wearing the medium boots.
Verstappen, still leading, has put nearly four seconds between himself and Leclerc, who is managing to cling on for second. Red Bull tell Verstappen to "watch the kerb at turn three." Both Ferrari's are assured that they are still on Plan A. Down at Aston Martin, Alonso let's his teammate through for fifteenth. He's also been advised to lift and coast in order to cool the car. Tsunoda sets the fastest lap of the race. A 1:22.501.
There is movement for the final point paying positions as Alexander Albon passes Zhou Guanyu. Next up for the Williams is the Alpine of Pierre Gasly. But it's Verstappen that's struggling on his current tyres. He pits at the end of lap nineteen, throwing on the hards. Norris, who has already stopped, is flying through the field. He passes Ocon and Alonso to make it back up into fifteenth.
The Mercedes pit crew is out in the pitlane but both Hamilton and George Russell stay out. A potential dummy to force the Ferrari's in? One team, however, do bring their drivers in. Both Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen pit for Haas with a double stack. On lap twenty five, Hamilton finally comes in. At Ferrari, instead of reacting to Hamilton's stop, they decide to stay out, telling Sainz: "Our best bet is to extend and go optimal one-stop." Their driver agrees. Mclaren's Oscar Piastri also pits, with Russell following him in a lap later. Russell comes out behind Albon and is disgruntled by this. His team tell him they needed to cover Norris. Out front, both Ferraris come in.
Zhou, who is running in the midfield, reports that he can smell burning in the car. Alfa Romeo look into what the issue could be. Not long after, the yellow flag is back out. Magnussen has had a heavy crash going into turn nine which results in the Safety Car being deployed. Driver is out of the car and ok. Many drivers take the opportunity to pit for new rubber, including race leader; Verstappen. Flames start to appear from the rear of the Haas as marshals take their time to attend the incident. Eventually they get there. The red flag is thrown and drivers make their way back to the pits.
The race will resume with a standing start, however, Leclerc is concerned. "A standing start with a hard tyre is going to be a huge mess," with most drivers restarting on cold, hard tyres. Hamilton is the only front runner restarting on the softer, medium compound.
The race resumes and the run up to the first turn is clean. Verstappen holds his lead in front of Leclerc and Hamilton. With the latter two fighting it out for position, Verstappen manages to create a 1.3 second gap by the end of the restart lap.
However, it wasn't a perfect restart for everyone. Both Zhou and Norris find themselves falling back through the field, with the latter experiencing awful wheelspin at the restart. Sainz, who is now in fourth, is having to defend hard from Russell who is on mediums. Russell isn't too impressed with Sainz's defending though, complaining that the Ferrari is moving all over the place. As for Hamilton, he is through on Leclerc. It wasn't an easy feat but Ferrari reassure their driver; "We believe that in about five laps the hard will be faster than the medium."
Alpha Tauri seem to be having their best race in a long time, with both Ricciardo and Tsunoda in the top ten. The latter is fighting Piastri for seventh place. Tsunoda challenges the McLaren into turn one through into turn two, tapping Piastri's left rear. Both get through unscathed but in their original positions. The Alpha Tauri driver tries again the next time around but looses it, spinning into the run off and falling out of the points. Piastri's teammate, Norris, is on yet another comeback, taking advantage of Tsunoda's woes and moving into eighth.
Esteban Ocon, who has had a relatively quiet race, tells his engineer: "You can say to Haas that I'm going to go for it so they had better be ready." He attempts THE move on Hulkenberg but fails to find a way past. Norris, who is still on a mission, catches the back of his teammate. Piastri is asked to let Norris through, which he does. He goes after Ricciardo.
At the back of the field, there is a near miss between Sargeant and Stroll. "What is this guy doing?", Sargeant says over teamradio. Back with Norris and he's making a move on Ricciardo, diving around the outside at turn four, somewhere you don't usually see an overtake. But, what about Verstappen? He's still out there, his lead over twelve seconds.
After passing Ricciardo, Norris quickly catches Russell. His team tell him to be patient. But, he does it, taking fifth from the second Mercedes. Remember Ocon's move on Hulkenberg? He finally does it, taking his teammate through with him. There are more brief yellow flags as Valtteri Bottas clips Stroll, sending the Aston Martin into a spin. The Canadian dives straight into the pits to retire the car.
Onto the final lap and Verstappen crosses the finish line to win the Mexican Grand Prix, for a third consecutive year, breaking his own record for most races won over the course of a season. Hamilton comes homes second with Leclerc rounding out the podium places. Then comes Sainz and Norris in fourth and fifth, followed by Russell, Ricciardo, Piastri, Albon and Ocon.
Join me again next week for the Brazilian Grand Prix, in the last of this triple header.
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