Mexico City has given us many good racing moments in the past but today’s race was anything but ordinary. Fans and spectators alike were blessed with one of the most action-packed, nerve-wracking races of the season. Lando Norris gave us complete domination from start to finish, and behind him were insane battles for track position.
Wheel-to-Wheel Chaos on Lap 1
Lights out and it was Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton who got great launches off the line. Driving down to turn 1, we saw both Ferraris battling into the corner resulting in Charles Leclerc taking to the grass. Max Verstappen also locked-up into turn 1, running very wide off the racing line.
Throughout the whole of the first lap, the battles for track position persisted. Leclerc rejoined the circuit ahead of the pack so was forced to give the position back, as was Verstappen. This left the Red Bull fighting the Mercedes of George Russell who retained P5 in the chaos.
At McLaren, their drivers had very different starts. Norris was clean off the line and took off without a problem. Piastri on the other hand had a slower launch and fell down 3 places to P11. The Aussie was able to regain some composure and move back up to P9, but it was a less than ideal start for him.
Investigations from the race directors
Controversy began on again on lap 6 after Max went wide in the first sector, making way for a hungry Ollie Bearman. Prior to that, Verstappen and Hamilton were having a fierce battle. Slight contact and a lock-up into turn 4 forced the Ferrari off the track and to the run-off.
Analysis of the battles between Hamilton and Verstappen resulted in a 10-second penalty being handed to Hamilton. This was due to him gaining a time advantage when he rejoined the circuit. Verstappen was also investigated for gaining an advantage and also for causing a collision, but was dismissed. No further investigation for him. Hamilton served his penalty during his first pit stop, which dropped him down to P14.
Also under investigation was Carlos Sainz who was penalised for speeding in the pit lane. A 5-second penalty was given to the Williams driver. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of his troubles, as he was later handed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane one again.
Piastri Vs Mercedes
Oscar Piastri had one mission today – recovery. After a poor qualifying, his championship chances rested on a good finish in today’s race. Never being one to back down, Piastri spent the entire Mexico City Grand Prix fighting back against the grid. In his way however, were both Mercedes cars.
Having made his way up the order, Piastri found himself within the DRS range of George Russell. Lap after lap, attempts to overtake ended in frustrating failure as the McLaren battled between track position and tyre life. Piastri’s soft tyres were pretty tired, having battled hard past many cars already. By the time he got to Russell, he was severely lacking the grip.
McLaren decided that Piastri would be the first to pit, but unfortunately, the stop was slower than expected, 3.6s. At the same time, Mercedes brought Russell in from that battle to pit as well. A near-perfect stop from the team meant that their planned undercut went perfectly. Russell remained ahead of Piastri for the time being.
Ollie Bearman: Best of the rest
Lando Norris was having one of the his most comfortable races ever, sitting 30 seconds ahead of the grid. Behind him, the battle for 4th, 5th and 6th was heating up. Both Mercedes drivers were now under pressure from a hungry Oscar Piastri and with Kimi Antonelli struggling to keep within DRS of Ollie Bearman, George Russell was in danger from behind. Russell came onto the radio numerous times asking for a driver swap to get out of the danger from Piastri and attack Bearman.
It took the team 5 laps to give the orders, but Russell was able to keep Piastri at bay with some solid defending. By lap 48, Antonelli, Piastri and Hamilton all entered the pits for a new set of tyres. Mercedes’ pit stop was less than ideal, which allowed the McLaren to pass him in the pit lane.
The 2 stop strategy was looking favourable as the majority of the top 10 runners at this point had stopped a second time. Ollie Bearman in his HAAS was running in P4 after a tremendous race so far. While he was not able to fend off Max Verstappen, he was charging ahead of the Mercedes’. He placed himself perfectly to take advantage of the chaos of lap 1 and the tense on track battles between Verstappen and Hamilton. Bearman was getting ever closer to his best finish in Formula 1.
Three Retirements in Mexico
Liam Lawson became the first victim of the Mexico City Grand Prix. He suffered wing damage during the opening moments of the race, which ended up being worse than the team initially thought. The Racing Bull came into the pits to change his wing but was later forced to retire the car.
Next to stop early in the race was the green Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg. During the formation lap, Hulkenberg came onto his radio to report power issues. Unfortunately, the team were not able to resolve these during the race. He lasted until lap 28.
Fernando Alonso’s string of bad luck followed him to Mexico, with the Spaniard having his third consecutive DNF at this circuit. In the past three years, Alonso has not reached the chequered flag at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Final Lap brings out a Virtual Safety Car
Tyre life was a key factor in today’s race strategies. In the closing stages of this race, this became key. While Lando Norris had enough room behind him to change his tyres comfortably if needed, Charles Leclerc did not have that same luxury. Ferrari decided he would go to the end of the race on his dying Medium tyres, but Verstappen was on fresh softs and gaining fast.
The battle for p4 was forming at the same time, as Piastri was closing in on Bearman. Piastri’s championship lead rode on those two extra points he would have gained finishing 4th, so he wasn’t about to back down. It seemed like both drivers would claim their respective positions despite their best efforts to defend. This was completely shattered by a penultimate lap issue from Carlos Sainz, who stopped his Williams off track in the stadium section.
A virtual safety car was called, forcing Verstappen to back off of Leclerc and the McLaren off the HAAS – Luck was truly on their side. Much to the entertainment of spectators, the race did not end under safety car conditions, as Sainz’ car was cleared to a safe place off track. This gave the duos a half-lap sprint to the finish line and a last hope at an overtake.
Fans were on the edge of their seats and the team garages were tense but in the end, they both managed to keep Verstappen and Piastri behind them. As Lando took his most triumphant victory of the season, Piastri only managed to finish P5, meaning that Lando Norris now leads the championship by a single point!
Ollie Bearman picked up Driver Of The Day with about 40% of the public vote. It was no surprise after his incredible weekend. George Russell finished P7 having given his teammate back his original position, but retained the fastest lap of the race.
So much great action happened in today’s race, it leaves us all very excited for the São Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil in 2 weeks time!