Verstappen won with a historic record in Mexico; Sainz was 4th and Alonso and ‘Checo’ left

Max Verstappen I made a mistake in qualifying and started 3rd yesterday Mexico. But with a superb car in the breakdown, the Dutchman knew he had everything to have the last laugh at the end of yesterday’s event. Leclerc, on pole, and Sainz, who started 2nd, took only one corner. From there, Max headed towards victory and an absolute record. The 26-year-old three-time world champion is the first in history to achieve 16 victories in the same year. He did it in 19 races. He succeeded in more than 84% of them. Bestial. And he still has three more left in 2023 to leave his record at 19.

2023 F1 MEXICO GP FINAL RESULTS

F1 WORLD CLASSIFICATION

Ferrari knew the Dutchman was still the favorite despite starting 3rd. Their few options to fight were for one of their two cars to leave Turn 1 in first place to run in clean air on a complex track for cooling the cars.

The Ferraris doubted Verstappen in a corner

The mission is complex. Max has the perfect place to start. The distance to the first curve in Mexico is 811 meters. I started from a clean spot and overtook the slipstream of Ferraris. The trump card of Italians is teamwork. But Max, who has a faster reaction to traffic lights, fHe is the smartest in the class. He quickly turned the wheel to get between the Ferraris and tear them apart. They couldn’t stop themselves. The party was joined by a ‘Checo’ Pérez like a plane from outside. But in his home GP, the one from Guadalajara overacted. He believed his chance to win was on that curve and he played it all or nothing. He contacted Leclerc riding a Red Bulls ‘sandwich’, who was helpless.

The Mexican was abandoned, Leclerc remained 2nd with Sainz 3rd and Verstappen escaped. The chaos is in the fight for the podium, with Ferrari trying to hold on despite their further deterioration. Carlos had options to fight Hamilton, who stopped soon and had to re-enter. But before that happened, the race was interrupted by a red flag with half of the laps remaining.

Verstappen leads, with Leclerc 2nd, Hamilton 3rd and Sainz 4th. They all played again in the second standing start. Verstappen nailed it again and didn’t suffer in the slightest. And that break gave Lewis wings.

Secondary exit from a stop

Hamilton soon overtook Leclerc with more speed to take 2nd. Meanwhile, Sainz was able to defend and maintain his fourth place under pressure from Russell. It has become clear that Mercedes, after Austin’s step forward, is best placed to try to put Red Bull in trouble at the end of the season if they manage to qualify properly. In Mexico, a particular race, they cannot, but we will have to see what happens in the last three events. Meanwhile, Verstappen continues to do his thing, adding wins. He’s 16 out of 19. An insatiable beast that certainly doesn’t end with a complete smile when he realizes Hamilton took away the point for fastest lap on the last lap. Lewis notice. They are on their way. They must take that last final step, the hardest. Verstappen is waiting for you.

Alonso left

Fernando Alonso leaves Mexico after a very difficult day. The man from Oviedo started 13th with a goal of points. Unlike in Austin, his teammate Stroll, who had to start 17th, took advantage of the late starting position to break parc ferme. The Canadian started from the pit lane with the previous aerodynamic package, the Qatar, and Aston Martin wanted to use the race to make comparisons and get data from both cars. And when the race started, the team was left unable to do this comparative and analytical work.

Alonso stepped on some dirt or one of the pieces left by ‘Checo’ and Leclerc’s touch on the track and his rhythm deteriorated. It seemed then that the performance of the previous package was better than the evolutions, but that comparison is not true. Alonso finally had to retire on lap 48 due to the dirt he stepped on affecting his car, and his teammate Stroll also parked his car in the garage with three laps to go.