Christian Horner: "A race of contrasting fortunes. Another amazing race by Max today, total and utter dominance, but for Checo, an absolutely gutting home race. He had a rocket ship launch of a start and had so much momentum going into that first corner. You can't blame him for going for it to try and take the lead at his home race. but ultimately, three does not go into one and it was a crushing blow to see him out. Dietrich Mateschitz always used to say, "no risk, no fun" and we gave it our all from the very beginning. Both cars started incredibly well. Our starts haven't been our strongest this year, there has been a variance to them. The control guys did a great job today. Great starts with Checo and Max in the first run and then obviously the restart and Max getting that that blinder as well."
Scuderia Ferrari finished third and fourth in the Mexico City Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Charles Leclerc secured the 28th podium finish of his career, with Carlos Sainz finishing behind him, the Spaniard thus moving up to fourth place in the Drivers' classification, equal on points with Fernando Alonso, but ahead of his fellow countryman by virtue of his Singapore win. The gap to Mercedes remains the same in the Constructors' standings at 22 points, while Charles' podium was the 805th for the Maranello marque, coming in a race that could have ended badly for the Monegasque, as he was involved in a collision with Sergio Perez shortly after the start.
The start was chaotic and on the long run down to the first corner, the slipstream effect worked against the Ferrari duo who towed the two Red Bulls along with them. The four cars arrived at the first corner together, Carlos slowed to avoid a collision, while Charles was sandwiched by the two rival cars and he and Perez made contact, with the Mexican flying off the track before retiring in the pits. Charles' SF-23 sustained damage to the left front wing end plate, which fell off after a short while. Although this lost him a bit of downforce, he was still able to run second ahead of Carlos. The Spaniard was undercut by Hamilton, dropping to fourth after pitting for Hard tyres. Charles kept station until his own pit stop. Not long after, the race was red flagged following a crash for Kevin Magnussen and, at the restart, Leclerc had to give best to Hamilton who had fitted Medium tyres, while Charles was on Hards, but he still managed to finish on the podium in third place. As for Carlos, he fought tooth and nail in the first few laps after the restart, fending off George Russell, also on the Medium tyre, the Spaniard claiming fourth place in the race and in the championship standings.
Tomorrow, the team leaves Mexico and heads for Brazil which hosts the Sao Paulo Grand Prix next Sunday at the Interlagos circuit. It is the third from last race of the season and brings the curtain down on this trio of races in the Americas.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: When you start on the front row, a P3 and a P4 finish is not the result you aim for, but, given how the race was run, I think we almost did the best we could with our car today. We knew the start would be tricky because of the long run to the first corner, in which the slipstream can have a big effect and for sure our start today was not ideal.
In the first stint we were on the pace, but then, like many others, we struggled at the restart with the Hard tyre. And this is what cost Charles the position to Lewis, who was on Mediums, but for us it would have been really on the limit to get to the end on that tyre, if we had taken the opportunity to fit it again when the race was stopped.
We need to keep working to reduce the performance difference between our qualifying and race pace, given that, especially on the Hards, we struggled too much compared to our rivals who were able to manage the tyres better than us.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished second and sixth in Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix. Starting from P6 and P8, both drivers moved up one position to P5 and P7 after Perez had to retire after contact with Leclerc in Turn 1.
A red flag on lap 33 saw Lewis starting in P3 and George in P7 with a standing start procedure and both opting for used medium tyres.
The W14 showed strong pace today and the team kept a delicate balance between tyre, brake and power unit temperatures at this unique race track.
While Lewis was able to overtake Leclerc in Lap 40 and finish the race P2, George battled hard through the last 20 laps after losing tyre temperature and finished P6.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO: We had a strong car today so we're happy with the result and it gives us confidence. Once Lewis managed to get into free air, the lap times were good and great job that he managed to get fastest lap at the end of the race too. The pace was there and that's a positive for us building on the last two races. Tyre management at this track is so marginal, a few degrees of track temperature and they're out of the window and the other way around. George unfortunately totally ran out of tyres, so it was tough for him to defend. Still, a strong result for him today and he fought well to keep the position from Daniel in the final lap. We don't know yet how we will perform in Brazil next week. We will keep both feet on the ground, do our best job there and hopefully we're in position to fight at the front.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: A great drive by Lewis to take second place from sixth on the grid. We've had a tough run of races recently and it's really encouraging to see the pace in the car, especially on a weekend where we have found it really difficult to get it into the window. George was disappointed to lose the place to Lando in the final stages, but he was clearly much quicker than Carlos on the restart and whilst it's easy with hindsight to say we should have backed him off and preserved the tyres, we'd rather be a team that's looking forward in races than one that is looking behind. We've not had an easy weekend here, it's been difficult, very difficult to keep the tyres in the right window and we were very disappointed with how qualifying went. However, to leave here having matched Ferrari on points given our grid positions is encouraging. The car was working well, we were managing brakes and we'll fix that for next year but the pace was strong. We can improve on this weekend and we'll be working hard preparing for the sprint race next weekend in Brazil.
BWT Alpine F1 Team picked up one point from today's Mexico City Grand Prix as Esteban Ocon recovered from the back of the pack to tenth place at the chequered flag at a raucous Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Pierre Gasly was in a race long fight for the points as he eventually finished in eleventh place.
The race was red flagged on lap 34 for Kevin Magnussen's heavy hit into the wall at Turn 8, allowing Esteban to change tyres for the first time of the race from Hards to Mediums, which he managed to the end of the race, clinically passing Nico Hülkenberg into Turn 1, five laps from the end to snatch the final point.
Pierre made a strong start to move up to ninth place at the beginning of the race, pitting on lap 28 for Hards, just before the Safety Car on lap 33 for Magnussen's off, before that incident was upgraded to a red flag. After clean getaways from the second standing start of the day, both drivers looked to chase down the points-paying positions. Eventually, Esteban overtook Hülkenberg on lap 66 into Turn 1, Pierre doing the same into Turn 12, with the pair crossing the line in tenth and eleventh.
The team looks ahead to next weekend's final Sprint of the season at the Săo Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos.
Bruno Famin, Interim Team Principal: "It's been a challenging weekend for the team in Mexico City as we come away with one point, which is probably in line with what we could have achieved. It has highlighted some key areas for us to improve as it was evident we found it tough to race and overtake cars in front. Operationally, it's been a good weekend and the whole team has shown togetherness and solid teamwork across the board. Next week we have the final Sprint of the season and we target a much-improved performance from both cars."
Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "It was definitely an interesting and entertaining Mexico City Grand Prix. We have been able to consolidate the good points finish with Oscar, who drove a very strong race with some robust racing moments, top-class defending and good race management after sustaining damage with a significant loss of aerodynamic load. On Lando's side, not only was it one of his best races, but also one of the best races I have been part of. His first stint, from P17 on the grid, was excellent, overtaking with great pace. We pitted him under the Safety Car believing this would put him in a very strong position, and then he lost out with the Red Flag. When we further lost out at the restart down to P14, we thought points were gone today, but Lando managed to overtake all cars up to a P5 finish in 30 laps. This is one we'll remember for a long time.
"Well done to the team at the factory, our colleagues at HPP and the team here at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for not being discouraged after a difficult Saturday. Today's results show the strength-in-depth and the resilience of McLaren. We're heading to Brazil encouraged, looking for a competitive weekend in Săo Paulo."
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake endured a frustrating Sunday afternoon in Mexico City as Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, starting within the top ten on the grid, saw their quest for points nullified in the Mexican Grand Prix, finishing in 14th and 15th place respectively.
Today's result sees the team slip to ninth place in the constructors' championship, with three races remaining to make a step forward in the standings as we keep fighting until the very end.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "Races like today's are difficult to process, especially taking into consideration the strong qualifying performance we showed yesterday. We started in a good position for a double-points finish, and then lost ground throughout the race, eventually ending up outside the top ten. On top of that, Valtteri unfortunately suffered a brake temperature issue after the restart, when a tear-off got stuck into his left rear brake duct, which didn't allow him to properly get into the mix. Our qualifying pace improved this weekend, but our race pace is the area in which we need to make progress ahead of the next races, so to keep up the fight for our seasonal target. Although we have slipped back to ninth place in the standings, tied on points with AlphaTauri, no hope is lost: with three races to go, all of us trackside, our drivers, and the team back home in Hinwil, are determined to give out all our best until the end to make a further leap forward and get back where we need to be."
Mike Krack, Team Principal: "We have not been competitive this weekend and we did not give Lance and Fernando the car they needed to compete for points. We made changes to Lance's car ahead of the race because our focus is on big-picture learning for 2024. Nobody in the team is happy with our current form, but we are a strong unit and will continue to all work together to push for improvements. It is fair to say the circuit characteristics did not play to our strengths today, but we will work hard to be more competitive at Interlagos [Brazil] next weekend."
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finished with Nico Hulkenberg 13th, while Kevin Magnussen retired, at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Round 20 of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, held Sunday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Hulkenberg took the start from 12th on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires and vaulted up to eighth place on the opening lap. The German came in on lap 23 for White hard tires and held ninth position when the race was halted following an accident for teammate Magnussen. Hulkenberg maintained a spot inside the top 10 after the standing restart on lap 37, opting to use medium tires, and fended off a train of cars until unfortunately relinquishing positions through the closing stages. Hulkenberg nonetheless brought the car home in 13th place at the end of the 71-lap grand prix.
Magnussen started from 16th on the grid on mediums and made up three positions on the opening lap to run in 13th spot. The Dane came in on lap 23, to take on hard tires, but his race came to an end 10 laps later when he suffered a suspected left-rear suspension failure through turn 8. Magnussen suffered a sizeable impact with the barriers but was fortunately able to extricate himself from the wreckage and was given the all-clear after a precautionary visit to the medical center.
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: "With Kevin, he had a suspension failure, so we need to dig into why that happened, but it seems to be heat related – we need to check. It was a tough day again, but it's not all negative. Nico was in a good position to get points, but then with the red flag, which we caused ourselves, we couldn't keep the tires in the last stint. Our car can't keep life in the tires as other cars. We could fight for almost the whole distance, but almost isn't good enough. Otherwise, it seems like the whole team performed well and Nico drove fantastically to try and get something."
Jonathan Eddolls (Chief Race Engineer): "Overall, mixed emotions for the team. Starting with Daniel, he had an absolutely amazing drive this afternoon. He managed the tyres very well and did all we asked of him. The Red Flag didn't come at the best time for him because all he had left was used tyre sets, but he put up a strong fight until the end. He did all he could to keep the cars behind, and if there would've been another lap, he would've gotten Russell, who was struggling on the medium tyres. It's great to see and show that the car's performance has been there. Obviously, it was more challenging for Yuki, starting towards the back of the grid, but he was making good progress. We had the Safety Car that came midway through the race. We took a bit of a gamble to stay out because we thought there would be a Red Flag, and it happened. Because of the Power Unit penalty, we had a surplus of new tyres, so he was in a perfect position to turn the day around, restarting on the hard compound. Unfortunately, he was a little eager in trying to pass Piastri. We were faster than them and would've gotten them by the end of the race, but Oscar and Yuki got together, and Yuki spun off.
"It's fantastic for the team and everyone that the car is performing well. The teamwork has been very good this weekend, so it was nice to be rewarded with more points. A little bittersweet with the missed opportunity as well. With today's result, we're equal on points with Alfa Romeo, but ahead of them in the championship, and clearly, closing the gap to Williams ahead. The car is looking fast, and the updates are working, so we look ahead to close that gap over the coming races."
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: As we expected, this was a fascinating and tough race. All cars were managing to some degree, and we were able to run at good pace with only minor management required. Both drivers pushed hard throughout, and each executed their own strategy very well, managing long stints on the tyres.
Unfortunately, we had to retire Logan on the final lap. We had been nursing a fuel pump issue for much of the race but on the final lap we were unable to scavenge the fuel from the tank to the fuel rail and so to avoid damaging the PU, we retired his car. This was a real shame for Logan as he had raced really well and got himself into a strong position. Overall, he backed-up his race in Austin with another excellent and attacking drive today.
Alex too drove very well and maximised everything from the car. With perfect hindsight, we'd have stayed out under the Safety Car and waited for the red flag, however, the opportunity to get a cheap pit stop and guarantee track position over most of our rivals was too good to miss. Fortunately, Alex had an excellent launch at the restart and immediately got himself into a points scoring position.
It has been an interesting and topsy-turvy weekend. We didn't expect to be strong here and at times we surprised ourselves. After a difficult Qualifying session, we raced extremely well with the whole team coming together brilliantly to deliver two strong race cars. We limited the damage in the Championship fight and now we turn our attention to Brazil and the final Sprint event of the 2023 season.
Another win for Max Verstappen, his 16th of the season, another record for most wins in a year. It was the Dutchman's 51st career success, which sees him equal Alain Prost in fourth place on the all-time winners list. The three drivers ahead of him are Sebastian Vettel (53), Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (103).
The race was run in the highest temperatures seen all weekend, the track being at 52 degrees C at the start, dropping to 45 degrees C at the end. As expected, almost all the drivers chose to start on the Medium tyre, the exceptions being Ocon (Hard), Albon (Hard) and Norris (Soft). Once the race had settled down after the battles shortly after the start, the first part of the race saw the drivers play close attention to managing their tyres and cars. This applied to those who had definitely opted for a one-stop race as well as those keeping their options open to go for a two-stop, especially among the leaders. The Safety Car and the red flag that followed because of Magnussen's crash, made it more complicated to determine which would be the quickest strategy, also because the race was now practically divided into two parts. The track condition improved significantly compared to the start of the weekend and this meant that the graining effect diminished progressively.
The Sao Paulo Grand Prix takes place from 3 to 5 November at the famous Interlagos circuit. There the teams will have the choice of the following compounds: the C2 as P Zero White hard, the C3 as P Zero Yellow medium and the C4 as P Zero Red soft. The Brazilian weekend is also the final one of the season run to the Sprint format with qualifying for the race on Friday afternoon and Saturday given over entirely to the Shootout and Sprint.
Mario Isola: "As always, since Formula 1 returned to Mexico, the atmosphere at this race was amazing, despite the premature retirement of crowd favourite Sergio Perez. On the tyre front, we saw how track evolution and higher temperatures led to the C4 emerging as the most effective compound overall. That was particularly evident after the restart when those who went for the aggressive choice of fitting the Medium, were able to make the most of it when they could attack with it, without the lap times dropping off towards the end, as we saw with Hamilton and Norris for example. Verstappen's superiority meant he could choose what he wanted to do in terms of stops and the Safety Car meant he made his second pit stop without losing position, given that his rivals were just making their scheduled stops. As is often the case with a driver on top form, luck seems to want to help him out still further."
