@Max33Verstappen records 16th-victory of the season at #MexicoGP. #F1 #MexicanGP #F1ESTA
Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB19 celebrates after scoring his 51st-career victory at the Formula 1 Gran Premio De La Ciudad De Mexico 2023, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City, Mexico. Image credit to Mark Thompson/Getty Images. Verstappen Mexico GP Victory, 2023 Mexico GP Results, F1 Mexico GP Results, 2023 Mexican GP Results, 2023 Formula 1 Mexico City GP Results. 2023 Brazilian GP Preview, 2023 Brazil GP Preview, Brazilian Grand Prix Preview.
Verstappen Mexico GP Victory – Newly-crowned three-time world champion Max Verstappen recorded his 16th victory of the season in a dominant display at the Mexico GP and finished 13.875 seconds clear of Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three.
Verstappen also equalled legendary four-time world champion Alain Prost’s record of 51 wins on the all-time Grand Prix winners list.
When the 71-lap Mexico GP began, polesitter Leclerc and team-mate Carlos Sainz got an equal getaway together off the line and Verstappen slip-streamed the second Ferrari and pulls alongside. But home favourite Sergio Perez came in slipstreaming the Ferrari’s, and suddenly it was Verstappen, Leclerc and Perez side by side into the opening corner. Three into one didn’t work as Leclerc was sandwiched and Perez tangled with the Ferrari and Perez was launched into the air and off the track into turn one.
Leclerc continued on with a damaged front wing end-plate as Perez slowly toured back to the pits.
At the end of the opening tour, Verstappen held a 1.419 second lead over Leclerc with Sainz third, AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo fourth and Mercedes Lewis Hamilton completing the top five.
Perez made his way back to the pits and after sustaining suspension damage and retired from his home Grand Prix as the Mexican left his car frustrated.
On the third tour, Leclerc’s front wing end-plate flew off the car helping him to avoid receiving a black-and-orange flag.
On the fifth lap, the VSC was called to remove the debris from Leclerc’s SF-23 which ended up on the track as the Monegasque driver is under investigation for driving in an unsafe condition.
When the VSC ended a lap later, Verstappen held a two-second gap over Leclerc with Sainz a further two seconds behind his team-mate in third meanwhile the battle for fourth intensified between Ricciardo and Hamilton.
On lap eight, Hamilton had a look at Ricciardo into turn one, but the AlphaTauri covered the Mercedes as the Australian made his AT04 racer as wide as possible.
The second Silver Arrow of George Russell also was pushing the McLaren of Oscar Piastri hard in the battle for sixth.
Lap 11 saw Hamilton get within the slipstream of Ricciardo and using DRS assistance breezed his way into fourth place before entering turn one.
The 12th lap saw race leader Verstappen 3.117 seconds in-front of the damaged Ferrari of Leclerc with Sainz third, Hamilton fourth as Ricciardo completed the top five.
In the fight for eighth place on lap 14, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in ninth place was told by his team that Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg was beginning to struggle with tyres.
Verstappen’s lead on lap 15 was up to over four seconds of Leclerc and was on course to be out of undercut range.
Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon climbed into tenth place overtaking Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa on lap 16.
On lap 17 in the battler for third place, Hamilton was told to “keep his powder dry for a couple of laps.” meaning the Briton had to potentially back-off and manage his tyres meanwhile Leclerc will be investigated by the stewards after the race for driving in an unsafe manner.
On the 20th lap, Verstappen pitted from the lead for a fresh set of hards and emerged in seventh place behind Russell whilst Hamilton was all over the back of Sainz’s Ferrari in the battle for second.
Lap 22nd saw race leader Leclerc 5.765 seconds clear of Ferrari team-mate Sainz with Hamilton closely behind the Spaniard in third, Ricciardo fourth as Piastri rounded up the top five.
Meanwhile newly-crowned three-time world champion Verstappen breezed his way on his fresh rubber to overtake Russell into turn one.
A tour later, Verstappen also with DRS assistance got into the slipstream of the McLaren on Piastri passing him on the inside before reaching turn one to take fifth place as Ferrari told Sainz that a one-stop strategy is the right choice.
On lap 24, Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg stopped from eighth to put on a set of hards and came out in 16th.
On the 25th tour, Hamilton and Mercedes attempted to go for the undercut and pitted from third for a fresh set of hards and emerged in seventh behind his team-mate Russell as Verstappen passed his former team-mate Ricciardo for third.
McLaren’s Piastri made his stop on lap 26 and came out in tenth behind Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas.
Lap 27 saw Russell stop from fifth for a fresh set of hards and emerged in tenth place behind Piastri’s MCL60 racer meanwhile the latter made his way ahead of Bottas for eighth at the end of sector one.
A tour later, Ricciardo pitted from fourth for a fresh set of hards and came out in sixth place behind Gasly’s A523 entry.
Lap 29 saw Verstappen breeze his way passed the Ferrari of Sainz with a solid slipstream and DRS assistance to take second place meanwhile Russell followed suit to overtake Albon for seventh.
On lap 30, the yet-to-pit Leclerc held 7.359 second gap over Verstappen who held the fastest lap, with Sainz third, Hamilton fourth as Ricciardo rounded out the top five.
The 31st lap saw Sainz pit from second place to switch to a fresh set of hards and came out in fourth behind Hamilton meanwhile McLaren’s Lando Norris was up into eighth passing Albon.
Leclerc pitted from the lead on lap 32 to put on his fresh set of the white side-walled C3 hards and emerged into second place and 16.759 seconds behind Verstappen.
On lap 33, Haas F1 Team’s Magnussen suffered a heavy shunt down after his rear suspension broke at turn nine bringing out the safety car as Verstappen took advantage for a free pit-stop.
A tour later, a red flag was brought out due to the scattered debris of Magnussen’s damaged VF-23 and the barriers being out of place.
The order on lap 35 was Verstappen from Leclerc and Hamilton, Sainz fourth from Ricciardo and Piastri as Russell, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Hulkenberg and Norris rounded out the top ten.
When the race resumed with a standing start after a 30-minute delay as Magnussen’s VF-23 was removed, debris cleared and the barriers back into place, Verstappen got a brilliant lead into turn one as Leclerc covers Hamilton for second meanwhile Sainz kept the second Mercedes of Russell at bay.
At the beginning of lap 36, Verstappen’s lead was 1.349 seconds over Leclerc with Hamilton third, Sainz fourth, Russell fifth and Ricciardo sixth.
In the battle for second, Hamilton was right on the tail of Leclerc’s Ferrari with DRS assistance and managed to cover him off both at turns one and four meanwhile Sainz kept Russell at bay.
On lap 39 with DRS assistance, Hamilton was right into the slipstream of Leclerc on the main-straight and went to the right, dipping his right wheels onto the grass and passed the SF-23 on the inside before turn one and made the move stick into turn four to grab second place.
A lap later, Russell was still in DRS range of Sainz in the battle for fourth place and further back Tsunoda was all over Piastri’s tail in the fight for seventh.
Lap 44 saw Ferrari tell Leclerc to try and drop back to help give Sainz a tow to defend from Russell and encouraging the Monegasque driver said that in five tours the harder compound will be faster than the medium.
On the 47th lap, Verstappen’s lead increased to 6.141 seconds over Hamilton with Leclerc third, and Sainz holding Russell closely behind in the fight for fourth place with Ricciardo sixth.
Meanwhile on lap 48, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was forced to retire the car being the third casualty of the Grand Prix.
A tour later, in the battle for seventh, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda got into the slipstream of Piastri and went around the outside of the Australian into turn one and the two clipped each with the former spinning out and falling back into 16th.
With 20 laps remaining, Verstappen’s lead was up to 8.358 seconds over Hamilton with Leclerc third, Sainz fourth, Russell fifth and the two Australians Ricciardo and Piastri in sixth and seventh respectively.
On lap 54 in the battle for the final points place, Ocon was up into the slipstream of Hulkenberg, but the German covered the A523 into turn one meanwhile Norris was closing down his team-mate Piastri in the fight for seventh place.
Two laps later, Piastri suffered a lock-up into turn one with team-mate Norris tucked right behind and after reporting to Piastri on the radio to potentially let Norris through to go and push to fight Ricciardo, the Australian let him through into turn four.
Lap 59 saw Norris charging in on former team-mate Ricciardo in the battle for sixth.
And on lap 60 Verstappen’s lead increased to 12.190 seconds over Hamilton with Leclerc a further 5.474 behind the Briton in third, Sainz fourth and dropping Russell who was fifth as Norris passed the AT04 of Ricciardo around the outside into turns four and five to take sixth.
Lap 63 saw the battle for the final points place heat up as Ocon was right behind the VF-23 of Hulkenberg and was even closer into turn one, but the German held off the Frenchman once more.
A lap later, Norris was reeling in the Mercedes of Russell in the fight for fifth place taking 1.2 seconds out of his fellow British-compatriot on his last tour.
On lap 66 Norris was right within DRS range and had a look at Russell into turn one, but the Mercedes covered the McLaren into turn one and likewise done the same into the fourth corner.
Meanwhile Ocon overtook Hulkenberg around the outside to take tenth place from the Haas well before the braking point into turn one.
A tour later, Norris jumped passed Russell around the inside of the Silver Arrow into turn six to take fifth place as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was the fourth retiree from the race following his collision with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas in the stadium section.
On the penultimate lap, the AlphaTauri of Ricciardo was drew ever closer to Russell in the battle for sixth place and could not get by into turn one.
Verstappen crossed the line to score his 51st-career victory at the Mexico GP as Hamilton came home with the fastest lap bonus point and Leclerc completed the top three.
Sainz finished the Grand Prix a distant fourth place and ahead of McLaren’s Norris who was fifth as Russell kept the fast-charging Australian of Ricciardo behind at the line to take sixth.
The other McLaren MCL60 racer of Piastri settled for eighth and in-front of Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon who came ninth as Alpine’s Ocon rounded out the final points place.
The second A523 entry of Gasly finished 11th and ahead of AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda who was on course for a points finish, but tangled with Piastri in the latter stages, recovered to 12th and Haas’s Hulkenberg who ended the race 13th.
The Alfa Romeo’s of Bottas and Zhou were the final runners to finish in 14th and 15th respectively.
Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant was the fifth retirement of the race after suffering damage with Stroll.
Leclerc is currently under investigation by the stewards for driving in an unsafe manner following his lap one collision with home favourite Perez.
2023 Mexico GP – The Top Three
2023 Mexico GP Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB19:
“The crowd have been amazing, it’s been incredible. We are experiencing an incredible season, the pace of the car was very, very good. We tried to do a different strategy to everyone else but thanks to the red flag we couldn’t show it.”
2nd Place – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W14, +13.875s:
“A big thank you to this incredible crowd, I love coming to this city. This is a great result considering we started sixth, it’s been a difficult couple of weeks and to bounce back from last week – well done to the team. I thought [the medium] wouldn’t last!”
3rd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-23, +23.124s:
“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, of course I’m disappointed but I didn’t do it on purpose, and I had nowhere to go. We struggled a bit with the hard at the restart, [Mercedes] were just better today, that’s life.”
Formula 1 Gran Premio De La Ciudad De Mexico 2023 Race Results Classification (71 Laps)
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 71 | 49:23.531 | 25 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 71 | +13.875s | 19 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 71 | +23.124s | 15 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 71 | +27.154s | 12 |
| 5 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 71 | +33.266s | 10 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 71 | +41.020s | 8 |
| 7 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT | 71 | +41.570s | 6 |
| 8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 71 | +43.104s | 4 |
| 9 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 71 | +48.573s | 2 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 71 | +62.879s | 1 |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 71 | +66.208s | 0 |
| 12 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT | 71 | +78.982s | 0 |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 71 | +80.309s | 0 |
| 14 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | ALFA ROMEO FERRARI | 71 | +80.597s | 0 |
| 15 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | ALFA ROMEO FERRARI | 71 | +81.676s | 0 |
| 16 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 70 | DNF | 0 |
| 17 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 66 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 47 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 31 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1 | DNF | 0 |
* Provisional results. Note – Hamilton scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1223/mexico/race-result.html
Round 21 of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship heads straight to the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos) in Sao Paulo, Brazil for the Formula 1 Rolex Grande Gremio De Sao Paulo 2023 from Friday November 3-Sunday November 5 ending the triple header of back-to-back-to-back weekends.
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