Mexican Grand Prix: Max Verstappen strikes again, Lewis Hamilton climbs back to the podium

Almost all the cars are fitted with new medium tyres for the start of the Mexican Grand Prix. Only Lando Norris is using the soft ones, while Albon and Ocon have opted for the hard compound. The Ferraris are leading the way at the front of the grid, with Charles Leclerc taking pole position, followed by Max Verstappen in third, and Daniel Ricciardo, who was the surprise of Saturday night, in fourth. Sergio Perez, who is surrounded by rumors of being replaced next year, starts in fifth.

As soon as the lights go out, Verstappen gains the advantage over Carlos Sainz and positions himself to the right of Charles Leclerc, already leading the race. Sergio Perez, who also made a good start, tries to sneak in on the left of Charles Leclerc and take the lead… but the two cars collide, as Perez, Leclerc, and Verstappen go three-wide into the first corner. The Mexican’s Red Bull is lifted off the ground and sent off the track, abruptly ending his race. He returned to the pits to try to continue, but the car seemed too damaged. On the other hand, the Monegasque driver suffers damage to his front wing, but Ferrari tells him to stay on track, as it is not serious at the moment.

At lap 5, the FIA decides to initiate a virtual safety car due to debris from the cars on the track. It quickly comes to an end. Meanwhile, Lando Norris has managed to overtake Fernando Alonso, despite starting from 18th place due to an error in Q1. On the other hand, the Aston Martin Spanish driver is under investigation for speeding in the pit lane from where he started the race following changes to his car under Parc Fermé conditions. He will receive a fine of 100 euros.

Lewis Hamilton in great shape

On lap 7, it was quite surprising that Lewis Hamilton completed the fastest lap. The seven-time champion increased his pace to overtake Daniel Ricciardo, but the latter did not give up so easily… Until lap 11. Hamilton therefore positioned himself in 4th place, behind the Ferraris. Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda went off the track while trying to overtake Logan Sargeant, which caused him to drop behind Alonso.

At the front, Verstappen is slowly increasing the gap with Leclerc, over 3 seconds ahead on lap 14. However, his engineer advises the Dutchman to be careful with the curb at turn 3. Hamilton then closes in on Sainz and is now less than a second behind the Spaniard. He informs his engineer that his “balance is excellent.” It is likely that he will soon attempt an attack on the Ferrari. On lap 19, Verstappen reports that his tires are starting to degrade, so he enters the pits a few seconds later. The three-time world champion switches to the hard compound tires. At the same time, Hamilton increases his pace to take second place from Sainz. Ferrari’s strategy for Sainz is headed towards a single pit stop. Meanwhile, the Dutchman is making his way up the grid and has already overtaken Russell to secure 7th place. In just two laps, he is already in third position.

George Russell makes a pit stop on lap 27 and comes out quite poorly, 10th between Piastri and Norris. But the British driver complains on the radio and asks why they chose to bring him into the pits, causing him to fall so far back, behind Albon. He would have preferred to stay on track to attempt an overcut on the Thai driver. He is told that he was under threat from Norris.

As we approach the halfway point of the race, Leclerc informs his team that everything is going well for him at the moment. However, Verstappen has overtaken Sainz and is now six seconds behind him. It is at this moment that the Spaniard makes his only pit stop of the race. He comes out in 4th place, behind Hamilton. In fact, Leclerc also eventually goes to the pits on the next lap, even though his pace seemed so good… Like the rest of the top 9, he switches to the hard tires and comes out 16 seconds behind Verstappen.

Red flag after Magnussen’s crash.

We were almost starting to doze off, but Kevin Magnussen jolts us out of our drowsiness as he violently crashes at turn 8, on lap 33. His car is smoking and seriously damaged, but the Danish driver is not injured. It even catches fire as Magnussen awaits someone to bring an extinguisher. This triggers the deployment of the safety car, and Verstappen naturally takes advantage of it to pit. Drama unfolds on lap 34: the red flag is finally waved due to this accident. It appears that the left rear wheel of the Haas came loose, causing Magnussen’s crash.

The race will restart more than 20 minutes later, with a standing start from lap 36. Leclerc is dreading a total chaos for this restart as many are on hard tires. Verstappen and Hamilton make a good start, but Leclerc manages to hold onto his third position. However, the British driver doesn’t give him any breathing space and puts a lot of pressure on him, even though the Monegasque defends his position well. Hamilton will overtake him on lap 40, even though he went off the track to make the move. On the other hand, Lando Norris had a terrible start and dropped to 14th position.

Russell is trying to pull off the same move as his teammate, targeting Sainz in this case. He needs to increase his pace a bit to gain the advantage over the Ferrari, while Ricciardo, behind him, isn’t too far behind either. The frustrated Briton complains that Sainz moves a lot on the track when he brakes.

Meanwhile, Tsunoda is making things difficult for Piastri, with the Japanese driver not giving up. The two drivers even make contact, but there doesn’t seem to be any visible damage. Alonso has to retire his car from the race on lap 48… It’s the second consecutive retirement after the United States Grand Prix. He may have suffered damages due to debris on the track. The altercation between the Japanese and Australian drivers results in another brush, which sends Tsunoda spinning at turn 1… Same place as Pérez. The incident is being investigated by the stewards. A bit further ahead, Gasly is having a battle with Bottas to hold onto his 12th place. In a burst of confidence, Ocon informs his team that he is about to attack Hülkenberg’s Haas, in an attempt to get into the points. He will need a few more laps to make good on his threat.

One can only applaud the remontada of Norris, now in eighth position with 16 laps to go, and ready to overtake his teammate. McLaren informs Piastri that if he doesn’t improve his pace, he will have to let the Brit pass. The Australian obeys and lets him through. At the front, Verstappen dominates with over 11 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who has a 5-second lead over Leclerc. Later on, we witness a battle between former teammates: Ricciardo and Norris, with the latter easily taking the advantage over the AlphaTauri for sixth place. The Brit is hungry and now sets off in pursuit of Russell, successfully overtaking him from the inside on lap 67. We can thank him for the spectacle in this race. And that’s it: so it’s Max Verstappen who once again wins this Mexican Grand Prix, followed by a delighted Lewis Hamilton back on the podium, and Charles Leclerc in third position.

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