Max Verstappen continues to make history in 2023 by winning for the 16th time this season (a new all-time record) at the Formula One Mexican Grand Prix. This comes at a stark contrast against his Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate, Sergio Perez who crashed out of the race at the first corner. Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was able to secure his sixth podium of the year by finishing second, ahead of Leclerc, who was able to bring his SF-23 to a third place finish.
The race started off in chaotic fashion as both the Red Bull drivers sandwiched the pole sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, which ended with Perez vaulting over Leclerc’s front left wheel and damaging his RB19 beyond repair and retiring from the race.
While the opening stint of the race was relatively straightforward, in lap 32, a spanner was added to the mix as Kevin Magnussen of Haas who was having a race to forget with his VF-23, suffered a massive crash on lap 32. While Magnussen was unhurt, the crash necessitated a red flag and race restart
The restart ended up with Verstappen shooting off into the distance yet again out of the reach of others. While everyone was able to have a decent start, McLaren’s Lando Norris dropped from 10th to 14th in the matter of just two corners. But the race pace of the MCL60 in the hands of Norris was such that he gained multiple positions to finish fifth in the race, earning him the Driver of the Day award. Another close shoutout has to go to Daniel Ricciardo qualifying a sensational fourth in the AlphaTauri and then finishing seventh and close to usurping the Mercedes of George Russell to sixth.
Max Verstappen has dominated on all sorts of race tracks this season. From the street track of Monaco next to the sea, to the Autodromo Hermanos race track, which is a whopping 2,238 metres above sea level! His 16th win of the season breaks his own all-time record of 15 wins in a season from 2022. The podium finish for Hamilton has closed the gap for the second position in the Driver’s Championship to Perez to just 20 points. Also, Ricciardo’s strong finish has catapulted AlphaTauri to eighth in the constructors standings after being dead last with just three more rounds to go.
Will Verstappen’s form continue in Brazil? Will Ricciardo continue his resurgent form? Autódromo de Interlagos holds the answers!
