It was especially hot on and around the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez; the beautiful circuit of Mexico City. Add to that the high altitude and thin air and it results in Formula 1 cars that perform slightly differently than the drivers are used to. And that offers opportunities. Suddenly the Mercedes (W13) of Lewis Hamilton and compatriot George Russell were at the front. And the Ferraris (F1-75) of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz fell through the proverbial ice.

Verstappen peaks at the right time in qualifying

Although it was quite a battle for Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen to find the best set-up for their Red Bull RB18 up to and including qualifying, Verstappen in particular peaked at the right time in Q3. For a while it even seemed that three teams - Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes - would fight for pole position. But George Russell made a mistake on his flying lap and had to settle for P2, with Lewis Hamilton in P3 and Sergio Pérez in P4 behind him. Verstappen set a top lap and took off with P1!
Russell in particular was disappointed, but team Mercedes mainly saw opportunities for the race on Sunday. They would make the most of the long stretch to turn 1 to immediately send Verstappen back one or even two places…

It took some getting used to for team Ferrari, which has been in pole positions this season. The new Ferrari F1-75 felt completely out of place on the high-altitude circuit of Mexico City. That was also reflected in qualifying where Sainz took P5, but where Leclerc even had to let Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo, C42) ahead with P7. For example, the Finn on P6 finally achieved another nice qualifying and split the Ferraris. Lando Norris (McLaren, MCL36) drove a reasonable qualifying with P8 as the final result. Team Alpine (Alpine A522) closed the top 10 with Fernando Alonso in P9 and Esteban Ocon in P10.

Mexican Grand Prix

Rain! Fortunately not during the day. However, the nightly downpour had washed the asphalt clean and that in turn resulted in less grip. A record number of visitors celebrated all day long and every time Sergio Pérez appeared somewhere, he was greeted with a frenzied cheer. The popular Mexican hoped for a victory in front of his home crowd, but then had to deal with two Mercedes for himself and his teammate Verstappen.

Correct tire choice crucial for the Mexican GP

It was expected that the entire field would start on the red, ie the softest, tire. Red Bull Racing indeed opted for that tyre, but Mercedes sent both drivers away on the medium tyre. The difference was immediately apparent from the start. Max Verstappen had a good start and successfully kept the silver arrows (Mercedes W13) behind him; which is quite an achievement on the straight to the first corner of almost a kilometer. Last year Max started from P3 and came out of the first corner in the lead.
Hamilton and Pérez immediately put pressure on Russell, who soon dropped back to P4.
There was little spectacle in the first rounds and all drivers sat down for it. The race lasted no less than 71 laps, so plenty of time to attack.

Hamilton still believes in first victory season

Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo, C42) lost a number of places at the start, but was able to fight from P8 with Fernando Alonso's Alpine.

A little further back, Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri, AT03) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin, AMR22) battled together. That didn't go so well, especially when Pierre Gasly pushed the Canadian off the track. Gasly also failed to give back his won place and was given a time penalty of 5 seconds early in the race.

At the front Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W13) kept faith in a victory. He stayed close behind Verstappen, but lacked the speed to really attack him. His team assured him that Verstappen would get tire wear sooner on the soft tyre, which would increase his lap times. In other words, the Brit had to be patient.

On lap 24, Sergio Pérez came in for his tire change. After a not too good pit stop, he came out on mediums behind the Ferraris. Max also indicated that his tires were giving out and was brought in for mediums not much later. He came back behind the Mercedes in P3, with the order to finish the race on these tyres!

Striking strategy for team Mercedes (W13)

Now Hamilton was leading the race. It seemed like a logical strategy to drive on the mediums for as long as possible, but Mercedes thought otherwise. They brought in Hamilton and a little later also Russell and switched to the hard tyre. A striking choice. There are very few formula 1 cars that have achieved anything this year on the hard tyre. And Mercedes is not one of them. It was therefore a matter of waiting for Hamilton's first sneer at his team about the wrong tire choice. That soon followed!

Max Verstappen was back at the front, with Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Pérez and George Russell behind him. Pérez pressed Hamilton, but was unable to overtake the Briton. And Hamilton in turn could not close the gap to Verstappen. That went up to more than 11 seconds.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, F1-75) also did not sound happy about the on-board radio. They philosophized about different strategies, even including a three-stopper. After all, they had nothing to lose on P5 and P6.

Time penalty for Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren, MCL36)

In midfield, Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) drove a great race. Until he went into battle with Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri, AT03). The Australian put his car next to Tsunoda's AlphaTauri in a corner where it couldn't. The AlphaTauri sustained extensive damage to the right sidepod and ran off the track. Fortunately, no safety car was needed. The Japanese drove his battered formula 1 car back to the pits himself. Ricciardo (P7) continued the race but soon learned that he received a 10 second time penalty for the incident. He solved this by widening the gap between him and Esteban Ocon (Alpine, A522) to just over 10 seconds, so that he also finished on P7 with the time penalty and finally took points again.

Frustration grew at the front with Lewis Hamilton. The expectation that Verstappen's mediums would collapse after which Mercedes' hard tire would finally show its added value did not come true. Verstappen hardly lost any time. Only a safety car could change the situation.

Fernando Alonso (Alpine) loses points again after retirement

With six laps to go, the engine of Alonso's Formula 1 car (Alpine A522) exploded. And that's not the first time this season. Alonso made no secret of his anger. The Spaniard stopped his Formula 1 car next to the track. This resulted in a virtual safety car; lucky for Verstappen, because this had no effect on the distance between the drivers on the track. With a safety car, his accumulated lead over Hamilton was immediately gone up in smoke.

One lap before the end of the race, George Russell (Mercedes W13) dived in for the soft tire and set the fastest race lap at the last minute. That cost Pérez, who had the fastest race lap to his name, an extra point. The Mexican finished third behind Hamilton and Verstappen and is second in the World Cup standings ahead of Charles Leclerc.

Russell finished in P4, just ahead of the Ferraris in P5 and P6. Ricciardo, Ocon, Norris and Bottas – finally another point – completed the top 10. The superior Max Verstappen has now overtaken Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel in absolute numbers with 14 victories in one season. Can he also win the last two races? With the growing self-confidence at Mercedes and the tormented Ferrari team, things can get exciting.