Mexico City GP 2023: Verstappen wins, Hamilton beats Ferrari

Max Verstappen won the 2023 Mexico City GP for Red Bull. He started from 3rd place and was already in front after the first corner. Lewis Hamilton finished second in the Mercedes, with polesitter Charles Leclerc third in the Ferrari. The race was decided twice: at the start, when Verstappen passed both Ferraris, and by the red flag after lap 34. All drivers were allowed to change tyres during the stoppage, and Mercedes opted for the better compound.

On our race page for the 2023 Mexico City GP you can relive the whole race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in 3D.

The Ferraris locked out the front row, with Leclerc in P1 and Carlos Sainz in P2. Verstappen used the slipstream on the long start/finish straight and braked his way into the lead at Turn 1. Behind him, things got tight. Sergio Pérez started from 5th place and attacked around the outside. Leclerc was caught between the two Red Bulls, and Pérez collided with the Ferrari. The Red Bull was damaged, and Pérez retired in front of his home crowd after just one lap. He called it a calculated risk. Of Leclerc, he said: “I wasn't expecting Charles to brake as late as he did” (formula1.com).

The stewards looked at the start incident at Turn 1 and decided on lap 4 that no further investigation was necessary. Leclerc continued with a damaged front wing. The loose endplate later fell off, which briefly brought out the Virtual Safety Car on lap 5.

Almost all the front-runners started on mediums. Red Bull brought Verstappen in on lap 19, the first of the leading group to switch to hards. Three laps later he was sixth. Leclerc took the lead on lap 20 and stayed out on his mediums until lap 31. Ferrari were evidently going for an overcut. It didn't work: after Leclerc's stop, Verstappen was back in front from lap 32, with Leclerc only second. It was a similar story for Sainz: he pitted on lap 30 and dropped from 3rd to 4th place.

Mercedes moved earlier. Hamilton pitted on lap 24, slipped from 3rd to 5th place and was back in 3rd once the others had stopped. George Russell pitted on lap 26.

The key decision, however, only came at the red flag. Kevin Magnussen had a heavy crash, which brought out the Safety Car on lap 33 and the red flag on lap 34. The cars sat in the pit lane for a good 20 minutes, during which everyone was allowed to change tyres. Mercedes gave Hamilton and Russell used mediums, while Ferrari kept Leclerc and Sainz on used hards. It paid off for Mercedes: Hamilton passed Leclerc at Turn 1 on lap 40 and later set the fastest lap. Russell was 5th at the restart and finished sixth.

Those who had started on hards gained the most from the stoppage. Esteban Ocon had not yet pitted, so he effectively got his mandatory stop for free and moved up from 14th to 11th place. He went on to score points. Alexander Albon in the Williams switched from hards to mediums under the Safety Car, held on to 9th place and finished there.

At the restart Verstappen defended the lead without any trouble and did not give it up again through to lap 71. It was his 16th win of the season and a record for the most wins in a single year (formula1.com).

The best driver in the midfield was Lando Norris. The McLaren driver started only from 17th place, ran softs initially and switched to hards as early as lap 11. Under the Safety Car he took on mediums. After the restart he was only fourteenth. From there he picked off car after car, including Russell and Daniel Ricciardo, and crossed the line fifth. His 12 places gained were the best of the day.

Ricciardo had a strong weekend for AlphaTauri and started from 4th place. After the restart he stayed on hards that were already 7 laps old, which left him unable to hold off Russell and Norris on mediums. Seventh place and 6 points were still a big result for AlphaTauri. Oscar Piastri finished eighth, Albon ninth, and Ocon took the final point for Alpine.

• Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), lap 1: Collision with Leclerc at Turn 1, after which the Red Bull was too badly damaged to continue.
• Kevin Magnussen (Haas), after 31 laps: The rear-left suspension failed and Magnussen hit the barrier hard at Turn 8. The car caught fire. According to team principal Guenther Steiner, the cause was probably heat. Magnussen climbed out unhurt. His crash brought out first the Safety Car and then the red flag.
• Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), after 47 laps: By his own account, he apparently picked up debris from the chaos at the start on the first lap, which damaged the car. Aston Martin eventually retired the car.
• Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), after 66 laps: Stroll had started from the pit lane. He retired after a collision with Valtteri Bottas in the stadium section.
• Logan Sargeant (Williams), after 70 laps: A fuel pump problem forced him to stop on the final lap. Sargeant was still classified sixteenth.

Leclerc and the loose front wing: After the race, the stewards investigated whether Leclerc had been driving an unsafe car. Outcome: no further action. Ferrari had judged the wing to be stable. In addition, according to the FIA, a procedure agreed with the teams means that a detaching endplate is not classed as unsafe.

Yuki Tsunoda vs Piastri: From lap 49 the two made contact twice. Tsunoda spun and dropped back, while Piastri was left with damage to his car. The stewards investigated both incidents and took no further action. It was a bitter outcome for Tsunoda: he had started from 18th place and was running as high as eighth at times after the red flag. In the end he finished twelfth.

Bottas vs Stroll: Bottas ran wide on the exit of the corner. As he tried to rejoin the racing line, he hit Stroll, who was ahead of him. The stewards judged Bottas predominantly to blame and handed him a time penalty and penalty points after the race. That dropped Bottas behind his team-mate Guanyu Zhou to 15th place. Bottas himself said there was not room for two cars at Turn 14.

Race Control also noted Alonso for speeding in the pit lane on lap 1. No penalty is recorded for it.

Winners: Norris with 12 places gained. Hamilton, who went from 6th to 2nd place and took the fastest lap. Tsunoda with 6 places gained. Albon and Ocon, who scored points from grid positions 14 and 15.

Losers: Pérez lost all hope in his home race after one lap. Ferrari had the front row but only finished 3rd and 4th. Bottas lost 6 places, Zhou 4. Nico Hülkenberg was still eighth before his stop on lap 23 and finished thirteenth. Pierre Gasly was in 6th place before his stop and ended up eleventh, out of the points.

Championship implications: In the 2023 standings, Verstappen now has 491 points. Pérez remains second on 240 points, but Hamilton, on 220, is now just 20 points behind him. Sainz, on 183 points, moved ahead of Alonso, who also has 183, and is now fourth. Norris (169) stays ahead of Leclerc (166). In the constructors' standings Red Bull lead with 731 points. In the fight for 2nd place the gap is unchanged: Mercedes have 371 points, Ferrari 349. McLaren, on 256 points, are ahead of Aston Martin on 236.