The Mexico Grand Prix Review

The 2023 Mexican Grand Prix around Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, lived up to the drama Formula 1 delivers. From the Turn 1 incident that wiped out home favourite, Sergio Perez to the incredible charge of McLaren’s Lando Norris to the 16^th win for Max Verstappen of the Formula 1 2023 season; Mexico City was not shy of the action on track.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest highlights:

Turn 1 Collision: LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO! The 800-metre drag race to Turn 1 created adrenaline alone. Both Red Bulls overtaking the Ferrari’s showed the power of the slipstream and for a second Red Bull were in front. Until Sergio Perez became too ambitious attempting to overtake Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen on the outside but hitting Charles’s front left tyre, catapulting the Mexican driver to the run-off area.

Much to the dismay of the fans and the anger from home favourite, Sergio Perez who had to retire. For the Monegasque driver, Leclerc escaped the collision with front wing damage which didn’t affect his performance throughout the race.

"Sergio rolled the dice a little bit. He instinctively thought he was on the racing line, he would brake later, had a lot of momentum, those on the inside, the dirtier part of the track and more acute angle into the first corner might brake a little bit earlier." - Martin Brundle (Sky Sports F1)

The Papaya’s Charge: Starting 17^th on the grid, the young driver from Bristol had it all to play for, starting on the Soft Tyre, McLaren thought they could overtake some of the slower cars in the early phase of the race. However, McLaren’s ambitions were wrong and Lando couldn't keep up with his tyres degrading so stopping for the hard tyres was the safest option to challenge his rival's to claim points.

Slowly climbing up the field, Norris's aspirations for achieving points had increased, as Kevin Magnussen suffered from suspension failure, crashing into the techno barrier and bringing out the Red Flag. For Norris it was chance to put on a fresh set of medium tyres to challenge the front runners from 10^th place.

Even though Norris fell to 14^th at the end of the first lap of the standing restart, Lando did not hide his sheer grit and determination, overtaking car after car until he reached his fellow British driver George Russell to take fifth place and crossed the line to take 10 points home for McLaren and nominated Driver of the Day with 29% of the vote.

Alpha Tauri’s Hopes Brighten: Just his second’s race returning from a broken hand, Daniel Riccardo returned with a strong performance all weekend as the Australian driver qualified fourth for the race and finished seventh in the Grand Prix on Sunday. While it was a surprise for the fans in Mexico and watching live, the honey badger bought home six points for Alpha Tauri taking them out of the bottom spot into eighth place in the constructor’s championship as they are tied on points with Alfa Romeo.

But does the might of Ricciardo and Tsunoda have the strength to hold onto eighth or will Alfa Romeo have a little more in the tank to take a bigger cash prize?

The Dutchman Strikes Again: A record-breaking victory by Max Verstappen in the 16th race of the 2023 season sets a new record for the world champion after he came from third on the grid to claim his 51^st career victory. After avoiding the first lap crash at Turn 1, Verstappen was able to control the pace.

Following a red flag triggered by Haas' Kevin Magnussen crashing into the barriers in the middle of the race, Verstappen made another perfect getaway during a standing restart and with no threat from anyone behind him, the young dutchman was able to take the chequered flag over 13 seconds clear of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

With three races left, can Verstappen go above and beyond to win more races and create an unbreakable record?

Aaron Teasdale