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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Nico Hülkenberg is having power issues on his formation lap. Everything else seems to be in order. Those red lights start to tick up …
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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)
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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:
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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
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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!
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