2023 Mexican Grand Prix | 6 talking points | GRR

1. Pain for Pérez

Amid speculation about his future, which he’d attempted to bat away with a firm hand, Sergio Pérez really needed a big performance in Mexico City, especially in front of his adoring public. And he really is loved in this city, with a fervour that probably exceeds any that his rivals experience at any of their own home races. That’s why what happened at Turn 1 after the start was just so painful to witness.

Pérez had been embarrassed to be out-qualified by the man who some think might replace him, Daniel Ricciardo lining up a place ahead of ‘Checo’ in his AlphaTauri. But the second Red Bull scorched off the line from fifth and made a glory bid for the lead on the long run down to Turn 1. As Verstappen sliced through the middle of the front row-starting Ferraris, Pérez went for the outside, but on the brakes pinched Charles Leclerc’s red car, leaving the pole position starter with nowhere to go between the two Red Bulls. Pérez was launched by contact with Leclerc’s front-left wheel and wing and skidded with heavy damage up the escape road. He made it back to the pits and the team did all they could to get him back out, but it was clearly over. He was left to sadly reflect on his self-induced fate, to his credit didn’t try to pin the blame on Leclerc, and waved in sorry to his public – many of whom chose to leave the scene long before the chequered flag. Whatever next for him?

2. Verstappen’s two-stopper

Hopes for a proper battle up front were dashed by Verstappen’s great start as he established a lead in the early laps. But there was still some intrigue in a potential duel with Leclerc – that wasn’t given the chance to play out. Somewhat miraculously, Leclerc had got away with the Pérez contact, and the loss of a front wing endplate didn’t appear to slow him as he led team-mate Carlos Sainz and conserved his medium Pirellis to take them as far into the race as he could manage. One stop was the accepted best strategy here, but when Verstappen came in for hard-compound tyres as early as lap 19 it became clear he and his team had the confidence and belief to try something different.

Sainz and Leclerc successfully nursed their yellow-walled rubber to laps 31 and 32 respectively, leaving Leclerc just 16 seconds behind Verstappen with the Red Bull still to make its second stop. Such was the Dutchman’s latent pace, there’s little reason to doubt he would have beaten Leclerc anyway, but it would have been interesting to see it play out. Instead a red flag interruption made the strategic variety entirely academic.

3. Magnussen crash triggers ‘second Mexican GP’

This became a race in two separate halves after Kevin Magnussen crashed his Haas heavily on lap 33 of 71. An apparent rear suspension failure pitched the Dane into a heavy side-on impact at Turn 9, with the race stopped to allow for necessary extensive repairs to the Tecpro barriers that had taken so much energy out of the big impact.

Verstappen would have to negotiate another standing start to take his 16^th win of 2023. After what had happened to his team-mate first time around it clearly added unwanted jeopardy – but only if he made a poor getaway. Which he didn’t.

4. Hamilton’s fine drive

As Verstappen drove away from the second start all eyes were on Lewis Hamilton’s black Mercedes. The seven-time champion had already climbed from sixth on the grid to split the Ferraris in third, undercutting Sainz for track position. Now restarting on another set of medium tyres he had plenty of pace, but also concern to make them last for the remaining 35 laps.

A brilliantly committed move on Leclerc on lap 40, Hamilton grazing the grass on the run to Turn 1, took him up to second. But would the Ferrari come back at him later in the race? No. Leclerc had to lift and coast and couldn’t push to the maximum, leaving Hamilton to finish 13.8sec down on Verstappen, but well clear of the two Ferraris which again couldn’t match their one-lap qualifying pace to sustained race performance. A delighted Hamilton nabbed the fastest lap for good measure, expelling his Austin disqualification to distant memory and leaving him just 20 points down on Pérez for second in the championship with three rounds to run.

5. Norris stars after poor Mexican GP qualifying

Lando Norris and McLaren might have made a mess of qualifying on Saturday, but the young Briton put in the star performance of the race to make up for it on Sunday. Starting on the soft tyre, he was up to 10^th when the Magnussen crash stopped the race. Unlucky at the restart, Norris dropped to 14^th but then got his head down to put in a fantastic comeback, slicing past those ahead of him to rise up the order. Team-mate Oscar Piastri had no argument letting him pass for seventh given their clear pace offset, but Norris’s moves on Ricciardo and especially on George Russell four laps from home meant he fully earned his fine fifth place from 17^th on the grid.

6. Ricciardo’s big statement

Qualifying a remarkable fourth was shades of the old Daniel Ricciardo and although it was always going to be tough for the Aussie to hang on to that position in the race, seventh behind Russell was still a major achievement – and a huge contribution to his team. AlphaTauri has endured a largely miserable season propping up the standings, but in one bound Ricciardo’s points have lifted it from 10^th to eighth above both Haas and Alfa Romeo with three to play. Yuki Tsunoda looked set to add to the haul, only to fumble his pass on Piastri that led to contact and an eventual 12th-place finish. But with just four points covering the bottom three teams, there is plenty to fight for at the back over the final three races.

And we don’t have to wait long for the next one as the teams head straight to Interlagos for the Brazilian GP this coming weekend. Even if Verstappen adds to his new record – which on the face of it seems almost inevitable – there’s plenty to keep us glued.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images