Verstappen breaks his own records! Pérez disappoints on home soil, Mexican Grand Prix affected by huge accident

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the heart of the Mexican capital offered a solid spectacle. For the past two years, fans have been able to celebrate home favourite Sergio Pérez on the podium. This year, however, the man nicknamed “Checo” did not make them happy when he failed to complete a single lap of the race. His teammate Max Verstappen won for the third time in a row in Mexico, breaking his own record for most wins in a season.

The starting order has changed slightly since the qualifying results. Juki Cunoda moved up to penultimate place after a previously announced penalty for changing components. Logan Sargeant came in behind the Japanese driver due to a ten-place penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. Lance Stroll had to start from pit lane after a car setup change.

The vast majority of the field opted for the yellow-flagged, medium compound tyres to start. Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon went for the hardest set. Lando Norris, needing to work his way up to the points as quickly as possible after a failed qualifying session, put on the softest compound.

Pérez didn’t enjoy his home race for long

Ferrari’s hesitation at the start was exploited by Verstappen, who was side-by-side with Charles Leclerc well before the first corner. The Monegasque, starting from first place, had to watch the other Red Bull as home hero Sergio Pérez also fired like a rocket.

The Mexican was looking to squeeze into first place on the outside, but he didn’t leave enough room for Leclerc and Verstappen and crashed hard into the front wheel of the Ferrari monoposto. The collision left him with significant damage to his side panels and rear axle. In the pit lane, his team decided to retire the car from the race after a brief inspection.

More angles on that contact between Perez and Leclerc 😮#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/RFjDECfNco

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 29, 2023

Leclerc did not walk away from the opening lap unscathed either. He dropped an end plate from his front wing. However, it didn’t have such a negative effect on the car’s aerodynamics that it was worth pitting for a new wing.

Just like two years ago, Verstappen took the lead after starting from third place at the first corner. The Dutchman then had no problem breaking away from the rest of the field and establishing a comfortable lead.

Daniel Ricciardo resisted Lewis Hamilton’s attack until lap 11. The Australian, in a car that has only scored 10 points this season, was ultimately unable to keep the seven-time champion behind him on the run into the first corner.

It wasn’t long before Hamilton was breathing down Carlos Sainz’s neck. But Hamilton didn’t even attack the Spanish driver properly before heading to the pits for a tyre change.

Sainz went for new tyres seven laps later, and when he returned to the track he was 6.7 seconds behind the Mercedes driver. Leclerc also lost a large amount of time to Hamilton. He changed tyres a lap later and allowed the Briton to close to within less than three seconds.

Red flags cut the race in half

On lap 33, a rear axle betrayed Kevin Magnussen in a fast section of corners. Fortunately, the Danish driver emerged from the crash unhurt, but his car was left in the barriers on the fritz with burning brakes. Red flags were also displayed due to the need to repair the barriers.

LAP 33/71

Magnussen into the barriers 💥

⚠️ @MercedesAMG SAFETY CAR ⚠️#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/yAD1PCR89s

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 29, 2023

The interruption of the race came as if on cue for Ferrari. The Italian stable was able to replace Leclerc’s front wing without losing any time, while erasing a gap of more than 20 seconds to Verstappen.

A late race restart from a strong position saw Verstappen take the lead. Hamilton did not take advantage of the softer tyre compound or the slipstream and remained in third place.

Almost all of the progress so far has been lost by Norris. After the restart, he dropped from 10th in points to 14th.

On the medium-hard tyres, the Mercedes drivers were putting pressure on the Ferrari drivers. Hamilton won his battle with Leclerc on lap 40. Russell struggled with Sainz until his softer tyres lost their speed advantage.

Oscar Piastri and Júki Cunoda had a thrilling battle for 7th place. Their battle came to a head on lap 49, Cunoda trying to let his car go on the outside and clipping the Australian on the outside.

Norris was proving the McLaren’s speed with a breathtaking drive from the tail of the field. He passed his teammate with 15 laps to go, a spectacular manoeuvre taking him past Ricciardo into sixth place on lap 60. Norris also managed to pass Russell in an unusual spot at Turn 6.

For the second week in a row, Fernando Alonso failed to finish the race. Aston Martin’s second half of the season is not going well at all, with Stroll also failing to finish the race after a collision with Valtteri Bottas.

Verstappen set another record with his 51st career victory. Specifically, the record for most wins in a single season, which he already held. Last year’s mark of 15 wins was raised to 16.

As he did in 2022 and 2021, Hamilton will stand at Verstappen’s right hand on the podium at the Foro Sol. He thus reduced the gap to Pérez in the Drivers’ Cup to 20 points thanks to the extra point for the fastest lap of the race.

Ricciardo’s seventh place meant the AlphaTauri team was off the bottom. Moving up to eighth could mean an extra $20 million for the team at the end of the season. Albon took home two points for ninth place from Mexico. The final point was earned by Esteban Ocon for Alpine.

Source: F1TV, Twitter / X