After an auspicious weekend in Austin, the teams headed to Mexico City for the Gran Premio de la Ciudad de México (Mexico City Grand Prix).
This race marked the second of a triple-header tour of the Americas. Taking place in the heart of Mexico City, this race creates some of the biggest moments in Formula 1 history. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez track, with its lengthy main straightaway and combination of flowing corners, allows for some of the best places to overtake.
With the circuit sitting just over two kilometers above sea level, its thin air creates perfect conditions for low-drag, high-speed racing. It is also the home to some of the most passionate fans in the sport, with a fiesta being held to celebrate every time the teams come into town.
The first Free Practice session (FP1) of the weekend started with a bang — literally. Williams driver Alex Albon lost control of his car and crashed into the side of Ferrari junior driver Oliver Bearman, who was in place of Charles Leclerc for the session, in a massive incident that took both drivers out of the session and caused a red flag. FP1 saw five junior drivers partake in the session, including Bearman, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, Kick Sauber driver Robert Shwartzman, Aston Martin driver Felipe Drugovich and McLaren driver Patricio O’Ward. Another notable incident was when Antonelli, who was filling in for Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, ran over debris down the main straight. This damaged Hamilton’s car, provoking the second red flag of the session.
The second Free Practice session (FP2) was an extended session, due to the drivers testing out new Pirelli tire compounds for next season. FP2 started out just like FP1, as Mercedes driver George Russell lost control of his car and spun into the barriers at turn nine. In more positive news, Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso celebrated his 400th grand prix weekend, the Spaniard’s illustrious career growing more impressive as his race tally continues to grow. In the final Free Practice session (FP3), the McLarens topped the leaderboard with the Ferraris also looking very fast.
Qualifying was more dramatic than the practice sessions. In Q1, both McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and Red Bull driver Sergio Perez shockingly failed to make it through. With Perez failing to show out in front of his home fans, he left hundreds of thousands of supporters shocked and disappointed with his performance. In Q2, just before the session came to a close, Visa CashApp RB driver Yuki Tsunoda crashed into the barriers in the final sector, prematurely ending the session. In the final qualifying session, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz dominated, snatching his first pole position of the season. The two championship rivals, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and McLaren driver Lando Norris, came just behind in second and third.
With all of the drama surrounding the practice sessions and Qualifying, I couldn’t wait to see what action the race would produce. My excitement was fulfilled immediately after the race started, as drama arrived in turn one.
With Tsunoda and Albon making contact as they approached turn one, Tsunoda was sent flying and spinning toward the barriers in a massive incident bringing out a safety car. Albon was forced to stop shortly after the collision and retired from the race. Just ahead of them, Verstappen managed to beat Sainz into turn one and took the lead.
On lap nine, following the safety car restart, Sainz was able to retake the lead from Verstappen with an impressive overtake down the inside into turn one. On the following lap, Norris, looking to copy Sainz and overtake his championship rival, tried a move on the outside of turn four. Yet, Verstappen pushed Norris off track with Norris taking evasive action and going onto the grass. Coming back on the circuit just ahead of Verstappen, Norris was pushed off once again, this time nearly into the barriers at turns seven and eight. This gave Leclerc the opportunity to sneak past both drivers and give Ferrari another 1-2 position. Verstappen’s aggressive tactics against Norris resulted in him being handed two 10 second penalties by the stewards. This completely changed the outlook of the race, as now Verstappen, who was in fourth at the time, would drop down to almost outside the points placing positions.
Following the drama surrounding Verstappen and Norris, Alonso was forced to retire on lap 18 due to a brake cooling issue — a disappointing result to what could have been a celebratory 400th grand prix.
On lap 27, Verstappen made a pit stop, where he served his penalties, coming out of the pits over 40 seconds behind Norris. This is equivalent to just over half a lap distance around the track, giving Verstappen a monumental task to try and catch up to his championship rival. The middle stages of the race didn’t have as much action or drama as the start, just little fights in the midfield and some interesting pit stops here and there. However, as the race drew to a close, things seemed to heat up again.
Going into the final 10 laps of the race, Norris was chasing Leclerc, aiming to make a move and secure second place. The two drivers battled for nearly four laps until Leclerc made a mistake and nearly crashed into the wall at the final turn, letting Norris fly past into second. His sights were now set on trying to get to Sainz and fight for what could be a crucial victory in his title fight with Verstappen. Behind those two, the Mercedes drivers fought for fourth and fifth place, with Hamilton eventually getting past his teammate, Russell, on lap 66 and securing fourth place.
As the race drew to a close, Leclerc pitted with one lap remaining to secure the fastest lap of the race and add what could be a crucial point for Ferrari’s Constructors’ Championship hopes. Norris failed to catch Sainz, who claimed his second win of the season and his fourth at Ferrari. Norris took second and Leclerc rounded out the podium in third place. Verstappen managed to crawl his way back into sixth place and ease the blow of Norris’ second place finish.
Ferrari moved ahead of Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship and are now hunting down McLaren for first place. Norris managed to cut his gap to Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship, but he still has a ways to go if he wants to win his first world championship.
Next week, the teams will head to Sao Paulo for the Brazilian Grand Prix in what should be a brilliant race weekend.
