Max Verstappen has cruised to a comfortable victory in this morning’s Mexican Grand Prix after teammate Sergio Perez crashed out of his home race at Turn 1 on Lap 1.
Verstappen’s 16th win of 2023 breaks the record for the most victories in a single season, which he achieved last year with 15.
Lewis Hamilton drove from sixth on the grid to finish second, while pole-sitter Charles Leclerc had no response to his two rivals and was left to settle for third despite sustaining front-wing damage at Turn 1.
Verstappen and Perez both got off to great starts, quickly pulling alongside Leclerc and entering Turn 1 three-wide, with Perez having a run on the outside next to the Ferrari in the middle.
Leclerc got pinched between the pair at the corner, and the latter came to grief as he turned in, clipping the front wing of the Ferrari and spinning off the track. He would return to pit lane but retired due to side pod damage.
Meanwhile, Verstappen kept it tidy through the corner and emerged behind Leclerc, who had cut the corner and regressed, giving the world champion a clear lead.
The gap to the front continued to grow over the following laps, and Leclerc had also pulled a gap over Sainz, who sat third.
Further back, Daniel Ricciardo had started well from fourth and kept Hamilton at bay through the opening exchanges before the Mercedes finally worked ahead with DRS.
Red Bull opted for a two-stop strategy and boxed Verstappen from the lead on Lap 19, seeing him fall down the order. He quickly worked forward and retook the lead off the Ferrari duo on Lap 31 after Leclerc came in for his stop.
A rear suspension failure at Turn 9 for Kevin Magnussen saw his car swerve into the barriers at speed, initially bringing out a Safety Car that brought Verstappen in for his second stop while holding a 17-second lead.
The caution was upgraded to a red flag shortly after to allow for barrier repairs.
A 35-lap sprint followed after the 20-minute delay, with Verstappen starting off the pole next to Leclerc, with Hamilton now third.
Verstappen’s lead continued to grow until the chequered flag, and he came home 13.8 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who passed Leclerc at Turn 1 on Lap 40 before pulling a 9-second gap over the Ferrari.
Sainz held on for fourth, ahead of Lando Norris, who managed a late pass on George Russell to finish fifth. Norris’s drive from 17th to the top five saw him rightly awarded Driver of the Day, even after struggling with the second start and losing positions.
Ricciardo also earned a strong result; his seventh place is the best for AlphaTauri in 2023 and sees them jump from tenth to eighth in the Constructors Championship.
Ricciardo and Russell engaged in a late-race battle for sixth, but the Australian ran out of laps to get the move done.
Oscar Piastri finished eighth, surviving a late tussle with Yuki Tsunoda that saw the AlphaTauri run off at Turn 1 while looking set for a strong points finish.
Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon rounded out the points, with Pierre Gasly coming home eleventh.
Joining Perez and Magnussen as non-finishers were the Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. The former retired shortly after the second start, while the latter came together with Valtteri Bottas in the stadium section and sustained damage in a spin. The incident will be investigated after the race.
Having scored his maiden points at his home Grand Prix last week, Logan Sargeant was impressive once again but fell just one lap short of finishing due to a fuel pump issue in the car while sitting 12th.
Formula 1 returns next weekend for the Brazilian Grand Prix, which is also a Sprint Race weekend.
Header Image: Getty Images/ Red Bull Content Pool
