Mexico Grand Prix: Editors’ Tops/Flops
The Mexican Grand Prix was once again dominated by Max Verstappen. The Central American round highlighted some minor achievements, but also a lot of failures. This is what the editorial team thinks about it.

Tops
1. Ricciardo hasn’t lost any of his driving skills!
We wonder what the AlphaTauri number 3 could have eaten for breakfast!
Daniel Ricciardo, back from injury since Austin, reminded everyone of his skills by securing a magnificent 4th place in qualifying.
Of course, it would have taken madness to see him maintain this position alongside the Ferraris, Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton. But his entire weekend was clean, thanks to a car that regained a lot of pace. Just ask Yuki Tsunoda…
The Australian proves to be more than ever the right pick for AlphaTauri and unquestionably joins the race for the second Red Bull.
The contrast is even greater with Sergio Perez as the former Renault and McLaren driver beat the Mexican in qualifying and he found himself out of the race at the first turn. The rest of the story promises to be interesting…
2. Norris: a nice comeback with a weird taste
An elimination from Q1 on Saturday, with a McLaren that had a very good pace. Lando Norris’s impressive comeback would actually be a half-top: what an idea to mess up to this extent in qualifying!
Going beyond the Top 15 doesn’t really help when it comes to climbing back up the leaderboard. But the gods of F1 came to his rescue when Kevin Magnussen’s accident caused a red flag.
And seeing him come back with fantastic overtakes brought the necessary spectacle to a Grand Prix that was frankly not that great…
But if he wants to win his first victory in Formula 1, it’s up to him to do the same… by not missing his qualifications!
And that’s a bit of the problem in this 2023 season: this championship is largely composed of Dutch teams and drivers who take great pleasure in sabotaging themselves when great things are possible.
3. Hamilton teaches courses to Russell.
Since Georges Russell arrived at Mercedes, a large majority of observers thought that he was going to deal a fatal blow to the motivation of his seven-time world champion teammate.
On this Mexican Grand Prix, the demonstration was completely different: even though the pace on a fast lap wasn’t sufficient, the race management was simply impeccable.
Lewis Hamilton’s second place, after using his experience and guts, is worthy of applause.
It is true that during his period of absolute domination, the Briton didn’t have much to fight for. But when you see his audacity in overtaking Charles Leclerc, even if it means putting two wheels in the grass: it’s delightful!
“Flops” in English can have different meanings depending on the context. Here are the translations for the most common uses:
1. As a noun meaning a failure or something unsuccessful:
– “Échecs” (noun) or “Failures” (noun)
2. As a noun meaning a type of open-toed sandal:
– “Tongs” (noun) or “Flip-flops” (noun)
3. As a verb meaning to fail or to be unsuccessful:
– “Échouer” (verb) or “To fail” (verb)
Please provide further context if you have a different use in mind.
Perez. Simply.
Since the beginning, Sergio Perez has sometimes shown his bad sides. But we can remember his incredible 2012 season, behind the wheel of the Sauber, which could have even earned him a victory in Malaysia.
To achieve such great feats with cars not made for winning, it could only be a good sign if he joined the sacred Red Bull. At first it worked, but then disaster struck.
This season, the Mexican has made far too many mistakes while driving and is unrecognizable since Monaco. It’s known that if you don’t have the driving skills of a Max Verstappen at Red Bull, life is going to be very difficult.
His collision with Charles Leclerc at the start, in front of his fans, shows that he is desperately trying to redeem himself. And even if his seat is saved until 2024, according to Christian Horner, this kind of mistake means his days are numbered. Especially when Daniel Ricciardo outperforms him with his AlphaTauri.
Everyone wanted to believe in Sergio Perez’s lucky star in front of his home crowd. But all the thoughts, even the most hopeful ones in the world, are not always of great help.
2. Aston Martin: embarrassing
The British stable had made a sensation at the beginning of the season and seemed to promise a breath of fresh air to a Formula 1 lacking suspense.
At the beginning of the season, one could say that their day would come. At the very least for Fernando Alonso, as Lance Stroll hasn’t been in contention for a podium even once this season.
And this weekend in Mexico, Aston Martin came away with a zero score. There simply wasn’t any pace, and both cars ended up retiring.
The only thing one can hope for them is that lessons about car development are learned by 2024. Otherwise, a long and difficult path awaits them.
3. Ferrari without any tricks at the start.
The two Ferraris on the front row: it foreshadowed a race that, for a change, would be fiercely contested.
But in Formula 1 today, politically correctness urges us not to play too rough. We are not savages, after all (irony)!
That’s why, even with two cars in the front row, we categorically refuse to hold back the opponents from behind.
Because if Max Verstappen had been in the role of the pole sitter, no one would have passed. And it’s high time to be inspired by him, because seeing open doors in this way has absolutely nothing to do with the heroic maneuvers of the past.
Verstappen’s domination can make some people grind their teeth. But if we explicitly decide not to resist him, we might as well say it straight away.