Mexico Starting behind the Ferrari duo, Max Verstappen still quickly took the lead and easily won the Mexican Grand Prix in the early morning of October 30.
Verstappen started late, but managed to overtake Leclerc to gain an advantage and then win the Mexican Grand Prix. Photo: F1
The Red Bull ace's 16th win in 19 races saw him surpass his 2022 record to extend his record for most wins in a single season. The result in Mexico was all the more impressive as it came in a race where Verstappen started third, behind Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Despite the disadvantage, after qualifying, Verstappen was still confident of his ability to make a comeback. And he put that belief into action right after the start. The RB19 quickly accelerated and squeezed between the two SF23s. The long starting straight allowed the cars to build up speed before Turn 1. Sainz fell behind before the first corner, while Sergio Perez's RB19 also broke away from fifth to close in on the left of Leclerc's car.
The Monaco driver was now sandwiched between two RB19s. The tightness of the three cars entering Turn 1 caused Perez and Leclerc to collide. The home driver's RB19 was thrown off the track and crashed, forcing Perez to retire early due to severe damage to his right flank, much to the dismay of tens of thousands of Mexican spectators. Leclerc's SF23 had to cut through Turn 1 and damaged its front wing, but was still able to continue racing.
The early clash saw Verstappen quickly take first place ahead of the Ferrari duo. Behind him, Hamilton started sixth, but quickly beat Daniel Ricciardo on lap 11 and took advantage of Perez’s retirement to move up to fourth and put the pressure on Sainz’s car.
Perez's RB 19 was thrown off the track by Leclerc and crashed straight out of Turn 1 of the first lap of the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix. Photo: F1
The W14 was right behind the Ferrari until it was called in early on lap 24. The Mercedes plan was to leapfrog Carlos Sainz and hold the position before defending late in the race. And as the Germans had expected, by the time the Ferrari had completed Sainz’s first tyre change on lap 31, the W14 was six seconds ahead.
Up ahead, Leclerc also tried to make a late pit stop to regain the lead from Verstappen - who had come in early for tyres on lap 19. However, events on the track upset Ferrari's plans. Just as Leclerc finished changing tyres on lap 31, on the next lap, Kevin Magnussen's (Haas) accident caused the red flags to be raised and the drivers were asked to take their cars to the pits for a break.
Before the red flag came out, Verstappen was 16 seconds behind Leclerc, while the RB19, which was using a two-stop strategy, would have had to stop again for tyres. The red flag was raised, allowing Verstappen to stop without losing any time. Ferrari’s ambitious strategy was soon ruined.
When the race was restarted on the main straight on lap 36, Verstappen was theoretically in danger of losing more. But the power of the RB19 helped the Dutchman overcome any pressure and quickly create a safe gap to cruise to the finish line.
By mid-race, the front six were Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Sainz, Russell and Ricciardo. The battle behind now took centre stage as Hamilton took the onus from Mercedes to fight between the two Ferraris. The Briton restarted on the intermediates while his rival Leclerc opted for the safe option of the hards. The tyre advantage allowed the W14 to attack and stay close to the Ferrari.
On lap 41, Hamilton succeeded in a fierce attack, with nearly half the car running on the grass at Turn 1, to overtake Leclerc and move into second. Despite the early success, Mercedes faced the problem of whether the medium tyres on Hamilton's W14 would be durable enough to fight his rival in the remaining 30 laps.
Hamilton on track for the Mexican Grand Prix, where he started sixth, but came through to finish second. Photo: X/@PET_Motorsports
However, contrary to Mercedes' concerns, Leclerc's SF23 also had problems with tyre temperature, so he could not attack second place. Hamilton set another fastest-lap on the final lap, and gained an important point in the individual race with Sergio Perez, as well as the Mercedes-Ferrari collective race, with teammate George Russell having not been in good form of late.
Hamilton is now 20 points behind Perez with three races left in the season and a Sprint Cup. In the championship, Mercedes is still 22 points ahead of Ferrari.
Mexican Grand Prix Results
Rank on one's own | Racer | Team | Location start | Number of tire changes | Fastest individual lap | Achievements | Point |
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 3 | 3 | 1 minute 21.644 seconds | 2 hours 02 minutes 30.814 seconds | 25 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 6 | 2 | 1:21,334 | +13.875 seconds | 19 |
3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1 | 2 | 1:22,332 | +23,124 | 15 |
4 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 2 | 2 | 1:22,539 | +27,154 | 12 |
5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 17 | 3 | 1:21,944 | +33,266 | 10 |
6 | George Russell | Mercedes | 8 | 2 | 1:22,780 | +41,020 | 8 |
7 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | 4 | 2 | 1:22,679 | +41,570 | 6 |
8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 7 | 2 | 1:22,760 | +43,104 | 4 |
9 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 14 | 2 | 1:22,773 | +48,573 | 2 |
10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 15 | 1 | 1:22,976 | +62,879 | 1 |
11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 11 | 2 | 1:23,230 | +66,208 | |
12 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 18 | 2 | 1:22,501 | +78,982 | |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 12 | 2 | 1:23,222 | +80,309 | |
14 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 10 | 2 | 1:23,567 | +81,676 | |
15 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 9 | 2 | 1:23,166 | +85,597 | |
16 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 19 | 2 | 1:23,003 | Abandon the race | |
17 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 20 | 3 | 1:23,257 | Abandon the race | |
18 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 13 | 3 | 1:23,531 | Abandon the race | |
19 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 16 | 1 | 1:23,146 | Abandon the race | |
20 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 5 | 1 | - | Abandon the race |
+) Fastest-lap: 1 minute 21.334 seconds set by Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) at lap 71.
Individual rankings after 19 stages
Rank on one's own | Racer | Team | Point |
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 491 |
2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 240 |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 220 |
4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 183 |
5 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 183 |
6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 169 |
7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 166 |
8 | George Russell | Mercedes | 151 |
9 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 87 |
10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 56 |
11 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 53 |
12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 45 |
13 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 27 |
14 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 10 |
15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 9 |
16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 8 |
17 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | 6 |
18 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 6 |
19 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 3 |
20 | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | 2 |
21 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1 |
22 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri |
Team scorecard after 19 races
Rank on one's own | Team | Point |
1 | Red Bull | 731 |
2 | Mercedes | 371 |
3 | Ferrari | 349 |
4 | McLaren | 256 |
5 | Aston Martin | 236 |
6 | Alpine | 101 |
7 | Williams | 28 |
8 | Alfa Romeo | 16 |
9 | AlphaTauri | 16 |
10 | Haas | 12 |
Minh Phuong
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