Key events
Lap 39/71: Verstappen has pitted and comes back in at 8th on soft tyres. Russell is fighting to hold off Piastri in a battle for 5th.
Lap 38/71: Russell is worried about Piastri “up his arse”, asking Antonelli to quicken up a bit ahead of him.
Lap 37/71: The brakes on the Mercedes are overheating. The pit wall urge caution but the drivers want to push on.
Top 6
1) Norris
2) Verstappen
3) Leclerc
4) Bearman
5) Antonelli
6) Russell
Lap 36/71: Alonso retires, joining Hülkenberg and Lawson back inside.
Lap 35/71: No drama in the pits for Norris, who comes out some 7 seconds ahead of Verstappen, still in the lead. Tsunoda is tumbling down and loses 8th place to Hamilton.
Lap 34/71: Piastri goes past Tsunoda as well. Norris signals that he’s going to pit.
Lap 33/71: Bearman is 4th, ahead of Antonelli and Russell as the two Mercedes drivers ease past Tsunoda.
Lap 32/71: With Leclerc out of the picture for now, Norris is almost 29 seconds ahead of Verstappen in second. He could pit-stop and still be in the lead.
Lap 31/71: Hamilton moves past Hadjar into 9th. Norris’s lead at the top is 18 seconds as Leclerc pits.
Lap 30/71: Sainz gets a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. He says his car was being affected by vibrations. Hamilton moves past Bortoleto into 10th.
Lap 29/71: Piastri makes light work of Bortoleto and is in 9th, as Russell heads past Hadjar for 7th in front of them.
Lap 28/71: Hülkenberg comes into the pits and has to retire, presumably because of those power issues he had on the formation lap.
Bearman zooms past Hadjar to move into 5th, with Antonelli also moving past the Racing Bulls driver. Piastri (11th) is behind Bortoleto.
Lap 27/71: Norris, Leclerc and Verstappen are still out there. There’s a 13-second gap between the top two and another 13 back to Verstappen. Tsunoda, Ocon and Hadjar are 4th-6th, having not stopped either.
Lap 26/71: Russell pits and comes out in front of Piastri, who takes Albon but is stuck behind the 11th-place Mercedes.
Lap 25/71: The Red Bull pit wall discuss whether to be on a one or two-stop strategy … while linked into Verstappen’s radio. Not reassuring, I guess. Bearman and Piastri pit.
Lap 24/71: Hamilton comes into the pits, taking his 10-second penalty, which will feel like an age for him. Bearman moves up to a podium position.
Lap 23/71: Antonelli pits, leaving Russell to move up to 6th and Piastri is back where he started in 7th. Antonelli returns in 13th.
Lap 22/71: Sainz is past Colapinto into 17th, with Alonso bringing up the rear after pitting.
Hamilton isn’t pleased with his 10-second penalty over the team radio, complaining about the grip on the corner where he was penalised.
Lap 21/71: Nine seconds now separate Norris and the rest of the field. Russell continues to hold off Piastri for 7th. The gap between Norris and Piastri is 25 seconds – a whole pit stop.
Lap 20/71: Sainz pits to pick up some soft tyres but immediately comes off the track and is now trundling along at the back.
Lap 19/71: Piastri is still on the tail of Russell. Verstappen and Tsunoda are struggling on medium tyres, with everyone else at the sharp end on softs.
Lap 18/71: Norris is scampering away here, moving more than 7 seconds clear of Leclerc. Piastri is gaining on Russell in a battle for 7th place.
Lap 17/71: That Hamilton penalty is very good news for Bearman (4th), who is 4.5s behind Hamilton. He’s moved away from Verstappen to open up a gap of 2s.
Hamilton gets 10-second penalty
Lap 16/71: Hamilton is handed a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage after tussling with Verstappen on lap 6.
Lap 15/71: Hamilton is cleared for one infringement on lap 6 but is under investigation for leaving the track to gain an advantage.
Lap 14/71: There’s nearly 10 seconds between Norris and Hamilton in 3rd already. Verstappen is edging closer to Bearman but remains 1.4s off.
Lap 13/71: Antonelli is making Verstappen sweat a bit for 5th place and is within DRS range. Russell isn’t far behind the pair.
Lap 12/71: Norris has opened up a 3.6s gap on Leclerc out in front. The McLaren pit wall urge him to widen the gap.
Lap 11/71: Piastri finally takes Tsunoda to go 8th but he’s already lost a lot of ground on his rivals.
Lap 9/71: Hamilton is under a steward’s investigation for leaving the track on turn 4 of that 6th lap when Verstappen tried to take him. Their skirmish on turn 1 has also been noted by the stewards.
Lap 8/71: Russell (7th) is now behind his Mercedes teammate Antonelli (6th). Tsunoda continues to hold off Piastri for 8th. Lawson has had to retire.
Lap 7/71: Bearman is in fourth, having never completed a lap in the top 6.
Verstappen tried to take Hamilton on the inside at the start of lap 6 but didn’t have enough room and had to bail out. Hamilton then locked up at turn 4 and rejoined the track ahead of Bearman and Verstappen.
Lap 6/71: Verstappen comes off again and goes on the grass! Hamilton also locks up and goes off but recovers his 3rd place. Bearman has edged in ahead of Verstappen to leave the Dutchman in 5th.
Lap 5/71: Bearman was a big winner of that first lap, squeezing through on the inside of the first couple of corners to move from 9th to 6th, where he remains.
Lap 4/71: Piastri tries to make a move on Tsunoda to take 8th but the Red Bull driver was expecting it and blocks him off.
Lap 3/71: Lawson damaged his front wing in the opening skirmishes and has pitted. There’s a double yellow flag for a moment because of some track debris but not for long.
Lap 2/71: Verstappen’s movements on the the first corner have been noted by the race stewards. He went past Russell on the straight and tried to go round both Ferraris on the first corner but went off the track, over the grass and retook his spot in 4th.
Piastri had a poor start and dropped as low as 11th but has recovered to 9th by the end of the first lap. Leclerc and Hamilton remain 2nd and 3rd, with Verstappen 4th and Russell 5th.
Lights out!
Verstappen makes a bold start, going wide on the first corner and coming off the track! He recovers to move into fourth place. Norris survives the first few corners and is clear out in front.
Nico Hülkenberg is having power issues on his formation lap. Everything else seems to be in order. Those red lights start to tick up …
Here’s the top of the starting grid again:
1) Lando Norris (McLaren)
2) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
3) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
4) George Russell (Mercedes)
5) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
6) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
7) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
8) Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
9) Ollie Bearman (Haas)
10) Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
A reminder of the race for the title:
Overall standings
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 346pts – 7th on grid
Lando Norris (McLaren) 332 – 1st
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 306 – 5th
The drivers are on the grid, with the finishing touches being made to their cars. Pepas by Farruko is blasting out from the speakers, making it feel like any nightclub in a Spanish-speaking country. There are under 10 minutes to go until we go racing.
Located 2,240 metres above sea level, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is the highest track on the F1 calendar by some distance. The altitude has a significant impact on aerodynamics and downforce, of course. Don’t ask me to go into it. Williams explain it quite well … I think.
It’s expected to be 26ºC in Mexico City during the race, with track temperatures currently at 53ºC. Not quite as hot as Singapore or Austin but still pretty toasty for those drivers – and the cars. Ferrari have got bags of dry ice to feed through the vents to cool the engine.
Mexico is a happy hunting ground for Max Verstappen, starting 5th on the grid. He’s won five of the last seven grands prix at the Hermanos Rodríguez.
No McLaren driver has won in Mexico since Ayrton Senna in 1989 (albeit there wasn’t a race there from 1993 to 2014).
Lewis Hamilton (in 2016 and 2019) is the only driver on the front two rows of the grid who has won in Mexico. He starts 3rd, just as he did in 2019.
Just as Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen are locked in a three-horse race for the drivers’ title this year, so were Graham Hill, John Surtees and Jim Clark at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the final race of the 1964 F1 season. Giles Richards takes a trip down memory lane in his new book:
Starting grid
1) Lando Norris (McLaren)
2) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
3) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
4) George Russell (Mercedes)
5) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
6) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
7) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
8) Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
9) Oliver Bearman (Haas)
10) Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
11) Esteban Ocon (Haas)
12) Carlos Sainz (Williams)*
13) Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber)
14) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
15) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
16) Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
17) Alexander Albon (Williams)
18) Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
19) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
20) Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
*Qualified in seventh; five-place grid penalty
Preamble
Well, what an opportunity for Lando Norris in Mexico City. His performance in qualifying yesterday has given him a significant advantage over his title rivals in a race that gets under way in an hour’s time. The McLaren driver starts on pole, with his teammate and overall leader Oscar Piastri only 7th and Max Verstappen in 5th. Completing the front row is Charles Leclerc, with Lewis Hamilton in 3rd and George Russell 4th.
I’ll be bringing you lap-by-lap updates when the grand prix gets started at 8pm (GMT). With only five races of the season remaining and just 40 points between the top three drivers in the standings, it’s sure to be pivotal in the destination of the title.
If you’ve got any thoughts on the action or the season as a whole, feel free to get in touch with me via email. ¡Vamos!
