by Linus O'Howell
Max Verstappen made it a record-breaking 16 Wins in the 2023 Formula 1 Season as he dominated the Mexico City Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The Most Notable Moments
Max Verstappen got a terrific launch at the start to get past Carlos Sainz and alongside Charles Leclerc, but home hero Sergio Perez got an even better start to make it 3-wide into Turn 1. Unfortunately for Checo, he ended up getting spun around after contact with Leclerc which ultimately saw the Mexican superstar retire after just 1 lap. I feel really sorry for Perez and I felt he was quite unlucky. However, having said that, I don’t think Leclerc did anything wrong either.
📸 Perez never made it past turn 1 after this moment.
As the race went on, Verstappen continued to build his lead whilst Lewis Hamilton was able to undercut Sainz for P3. Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda, two drivers that both pitted pretty early, ended up finding themselves in 8th and 9th respectively after the first round of pitstops.
Then, the second big moment of the Race happened as Kevin Magnussen suffered a big crash which forced red flag to be brought out. In fairness to Magnussen the rear suspension on his car broke, but it doesn’t change the fact that we wouldn't be seeing that Haas car again.
📸 Magnussen got the all clear from the medical team after his scary suspension failure.
When the race got back underway, Verstappen was able to keep the lead down into Turn 1 whilst George Russell was able to clear Daniel Ricciardo for P5. Norris also had a terrible start which dropped him down to P14, but he was able to quickly pass the slower cars.
📸 P17 to P5 in an incredible mid race turn around for Norris.
Back at the front, Hamilton pulled off a good move to overtake Leclerc for P2 whilst Tsunoda, who was having a terrific race, collided with Oscar Piastri at Turn 1 which ultimately saw the Alpha Tauri drop out of the points completely.
📸 Tsunoda ended up out of the points after a failed attempt to get past Piastri.
The main action for the rest of the Mexico City Grand Prix then came from Norris as he pulled off move after move to eventually end up in a brilliant 5th position whilst Russell was just able to hold off Ricciardo for P6.
Drivers who impressed
There were four drivers that impressed me the most in the Mexico City Grand Prix and the first one is obviously Max Verstappen. Max is simply unbeatable right now and I’d be stunned if he didn’t win the remaining three rounds of the season.
The second driver that super impressed me was Lewis Hamilton as I felt like he got the maximum out of his Mercedes.
📸 7 time world champion Hamilton closed the gap to Perez for P2 in the championship standings with another solid performance.
The third driver that I was very impressed by was Lando Norris and the reason for that is not only did he pull of a terrific recovery drive, but he also seemed to be the only driver that could actually make an overtake.
The final driver deserves a massive load of praise is Daniel Ricciardo because I felt like he had a super day and he was also a little bit unlucky with the red flag.
📸 Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost said pre-weekend that Ricciardo was back to best and the Aussie proved it on track in Mexico as he battled with Russell, Norris and Piastri for points.
I was also impressed by Charles Leclerc who had a great day to end up on the podium whilst Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon also scored good points respectively.
📸 Alex Albon picked up more points for the Williams team.
Drivers who struggled
There were two drivers that really didn’t impress me in the Mexico City Grand Prix and the first one is Valtteri Bottas. Bottas spun round Lance Stroll for no reason near the end of the Grand Prix and his post-race penalty meant he ended up finishing last of the running cars which tells you everything you need to know. The other driver that I really wasn’t impressed by was Fernando Alonso and the reason for this is Fernando was incredibly slow and I find it a bit baffling. I also thought both Zhou Guanyu and Kevin Magnussen had poor days (even though I’m letting Magnussen off a bit because I don’t think the crash was fully his fault).
📸 Alfa Romeo found themselves P14 and P15 at the flag.
Overall Race Results
1) Max Verstappen: Winner 2) Lewis Hamilton: +13.875 3) Charles Leclerc: +23.124 4) Carlos Sainz: +27.154 5) Lando Norris: +33.266 6) George Russell: +41.020 7) Daniel Ricciardo: +41.570 8) Oscar Piastri: +43.104 9) Alex Albon: +48.573 10) Esteban Ocon: +62.879 11) Pierre Gasly: +66.208 12) Yuki Tsunoda: +78.982 13) Nico Hulkenberg: +80.309 14) Zhou Guanyu: +81.676 15) Valtteri Bottas: +85.597 (5 second penalty)
DNF: Logan Sargeant (fuel pump), Lance Stroll (Collison), Fernando Alonso (Issue), Kevin Magnussen (suspension failure/crash), Sergio Perez (Collision)
📸 Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited, McLaren Racing, Williams Racing, Red Bull Content Pool, Alfa Romeo Stake F1 Team.
コメント