Feature
What the teams said – Race day in Mexico City
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Ferrari
Sainz was picked off down to Turn 1, but he sensibly waited for his moment and fought back against Verstappen. From there, he led all the way to the flag for his fourth career win and first in Mexico. As for Leclerc, he opportunistically dived past the squabbling Norris and Verstappen for second early on and held that position for much of the race. But he couldn’t keep his tyres alive and lost out to Norris late on after sliding wide in the final corner, before pitting for a set of softs and bagging the bonus point for his team.
Carlos Sainz, 1st
"I’m incredibly happy! I’ve been chasing another win since Australia and getting it here in Mexico makes it even more special, as it almost feels like a second home to me with the incredible support of the Mexican fans! My family is also here this weekend so I can’t ask for more.We knew losing a position at the start could happen but regaining it quickly by diving down the inside into turn 1 was the key to the race. From there it was all about managing tyres and pace, a very smooth operation until the chequered flag!This second win in a row is a further testament to the work the team has done in recent months, we are getting closer in the Constructors’ Championship and we’ll fight until the end as a team. Congrats to everyone! On to Brazil!"
Charles Leclerc, 3rd
"It was a difficult race and I think P3 was the best we could do, having spent the weekend a bit on the back foot. The first stint was all about managing the tyre temperatures which was not easy. After that I just had to bring it home and maximise the points we scored as a team. It was a good race for Carlos and a nice points haul for the team, which has been working really well, coming back to the level we want to be at, which is amazing to see.Our target is still to fight for the Constructors’ title and we are getting closer thanks to weekends like the last two. Now on to the final race of this triple header where we will push to keep up this momentum."
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal
"We are very happy with this second win in a row. Carlos had a perfect weekend, he was on the pace from the first lap in FP1 and he drove a very clever race, losing the lead on the opening lap, before overtaking Max with a great move after which he had the race under control. Charles also had good pace, but he lost some time with backmarkers and that cost us P2. But, honestly, it was a good weekend for him too, even if he was not happy with the final result, which I understand completely.
"The car is not designed for Mexico, which is too much of a one-off track and that means we didn’t have any particular advantage and had to do a lot of management because of the altitude, always monitoring the temperature of the engine and the brakes to keep them at the limit, so today we can really say the team did a very good job. Since Monza, our car has now worked well at very different types of track, so I feel we can be competitive at the remaining races also.We must continue working like this, because it’s not just down to the potential of the car but also the way the team executes the race. Now we start from scratch in Sao Paulo next week. We have won two races in a row, we have done a good job so we must continue to push. As for the championship, we are continuing to take it one race at a time. It’s not a given that we will be in front in Sao Paulo, what is a given is that we will tackle it with the same approach."
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McLaren
Norris found himself fighting with Verstappen once the Safety Car came in, having to cut across the grass after the Dutchman ran him wide and then again taking to the run off area. The Dutchman was penalised for both moments, leaving Norris third on the track. But once he pitted for the hards, his car came alive and he was able to chase down Leclerc for P2, running out of time to catch Sainz. Piastri played the long game, running the medium tyres the longest of anyone in the first stint and climbing back up the order late on to recover to the points after his disappointing qualifying.
Lando Norris, 2nd
“It was a good race but a very tough race. Over the first few laps, a lot of it was just trying to stay in the race and avoid any crashes. With Verstappen, I knew what to expect, and I just tried to avoid it. I think in the end, we were probably the quickest car today. We’re doing a very good job as a team, so we’ll keep our heads down, keep focused and keep pushing. A big thanks to all the team, and then the fans today, they make this race very enjoyable.”
Oscar Piastri, 8th
“A difficult afternoon, but I think it was all we could have done. We made up a good chunk of places and the car was in a good spot, I just struggled through the traffic. It was a shame to not get Kevin Magnussen at the end, but we got ourselves back in the points and that’s the main thing.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal
"The mission for today at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez was, with both cars, to finish ahead of where we qualified. The pace was very good. We beat one of the Ferraris and, realistically, looking at the data, without the time lost at the beginning behind Verstappen, Lando would have had a shot at victory. This is very encouraging for future races.
"Lando raced our upgraded car this weekend, and once again I’d like to say a big thank you to the Technical Department for preparing this car and to the entire team for getting it to the track.
“Oscar will also have the upgrade in Brazil. He drove a beautiful race today. It wasn’t easy to get through the field, but he was patient when he needed to be and brought home some useful points. Those could be critical at the end of the season, because this championship is going to the wire.
"Now we focus on São Paulo. We’re looking forward to another entertaining race with Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes. This is good for Formula One – and we’re having fun!"
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Mercedes
It was a lonely race for Mercedes, with only each other to fight. Hamilton picked off Russell at the start, but Russell got him back after the Safety Car came in. That was the status quo all the way through the first stint and into the second, but then Russell picked up some front wing damage which allowed Hamilton to close back up. It took the former world champion quite a few laps to find a way past, but in the end he took the intra-team honours.
Lewis Hamilton, 4th
"We ultimately moved forward and brought home good points today for the team. We weren’t looking so racy in the first stint; I didn’t have enough front-wing in the car and was suffering with lots of understeer. We were able to improve the balance at our second stop and our pace got better. Even if we had enjoyed that speed in the first stint though, we still wouldn’t have had the pace to challenge those ahead for the podium. P4 and P5 is still slightly better than we predicted today though so we can be pleased with our afternoon.
"This hasn’t been the smoothest weekend for the team, but we’ve gathered a lot of information across both specifications. We can now analyse that data and evaluate the best way forward for next weekend in Brazil and the rest of the season. Hopefully we can get the car in a slightly better spot for Interlagos and take the fight to the Ferraris and McLarens."
George Russell, 5th
"I had a strong first stint, but I hit a bump as I overtook the McLaren of Oscar Piastri at the start of my second stint and picked up some front-wing damage. It was definitely costing me a couple of tenths a lap in terms of performance which was a bit of a shame. We had to do over 30 laps carrying that but even without it, we wouldn’t have had the speed to challenge for the podium. Overall, then, P4 and P5 is likely where we deserved to be today as a team and perhaps a little bit better than we thought going into the race.
"We will keep working hard to improve as we want to be battling right at the front. We continue to make progress with the car, as you can see with the gap increasing to the teams behind us in the championship. We’ve also closed the gap on Red Bull since the start of the season but it’s clear that Ferrari and McLaren have made even more progress. We will use these final four races of the season to continue building our learning, test different things out, and set ourselves up well for next year."
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
"Overall, P4 and P5 is likely where we are pace-wise with our car at the moment. On circuits that demand good traction, we are not able to compete with those right at the very front. That is frustrating but we are working hard to bring more performance and build momentum for 2025. These final few races are a good opportunity for us to test different things and put ourselves in as strong a position as possible for next year.
"In today’s race, George was hindered by front-wing damage which was costing him a good chunk of performance. He still drove strongly, and his pace was decent compared to Verstappen behind. The Red Bull never became a threat to our race after the first pit stop. We also saw that, once he was in free air, Lewis’ speed was good on the Hard compound and comparative to those at the front. We now head to Brazil and will be looking to end the triple-header as strongly as possible."
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
"Without incidents, P4 and P5 is likely the best result we could have brought home today. Once Verstappen picked up his penalty, we believed we would be interacting with him at some point after those first stops. Encouragingly, both George and Lewis had the speed to pull away from him and score solid points. George was hindered when the front wing flap collapsed after he hit a bump during an overtake at the start of the second stint. Despite that, he still maintained good enough pace to bring it home in fifth. We let the drivers race each other throughout; that meant that Lewis' tyres were past their best once he made it into clear air. We didn't get a great read on our ultimate pace but clearly we need to find more speed if we are to challenge right at the very front.
"It has not been the smoothest of weekends here in Mexico or at the previous race in Austin. We have learnt a lot as a team though over both Grands Prix. With our position in the Constructors' Championship likely set, we also have the opportunity to further our learning over the final four races. We will continue to do that as we head to Brazil and Interlagos for the final race in this triple-header."
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Red Bull
A race to forget for Red Bull. Verstappen actually started very well, picking off Sainz into Turn 1 and leading the early stages. But once he lost out to Sainz, he picked up two separate time penalties on the same lap fighting with Norris. That meant a 20-second stationary pit stop before the team could start to work on the car, which dropped him down the order. He recovered to sixth but saw his championship lead cut by 10 points with Norris finishing in second. As for Perez, he had a great start – but it turned out he wasn’t in his grid box correctly, and so picked up a five-second penalty. Add in damage sustained after fighting wheel-to-wheel with Lawson, and Perez was left to pit three times on his way to last position.
Max Verstappen, 6th
“It was a tough weekend. The start was good but after that we had no pace, we struggled on both compounds for the rest of the race. Because of the penalties we had a long pitstop, and it was a recovery drive to score as many points as possible after that. It is what it is. We need to understand what went wrong this weekend but there was not much else we could have done today. There’s a lot of things that we want to do better, and we will need to work hard to come back stronger in Brazil.”
Sergio Perez, 17th
“It was a very difficult one today, we were recovering well in the race, we had a really good start and although we unfortunately got the time penalty, I think we were making progress and were going to score good points. Then I had the incident with Liam, he was the first hard tyre and we were a lot faster, we targeted the inside, we had the corner and I wasn’t expecting him to be there, I had the position going into turn five, he was off the track, came back on and I wasn’t expecting him to carry on straight. He took the whole side of the car off, he damaged my whole sidepod and my floor. I don’t really get it, it was totally avoidable, he just went for the incident and it ruined both our races. I am very frustrated at how this weekend went, and I am very sorry for my Team and my people, it was simply the worse GP I have had at home.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal
“Not the race we had hoped for. Penalties and damage really impacted our race. Pace was an issue for us today and that is something that we will really need to look at and understand where we lost out in the race. We had good pace yesterday, but we were lacking today so there will need to be a lot of hard work between now and Brazil. Checo’s race really suffered which is a huge shame in his home race. He picked up some significant damage early on and that coupled with the penalty really meant his race was shot from then on.”
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Haas
Two cars started in the top 10, and two cars finished in the top 10 for Haas who have extended their lead over RB in the constructors’ championship to 10 points. Magnussen didn’t put a foot wrong in seventh, even coming close to chasing Hamilton down at one point. As for Hulkenberg, eighth looked possible for him but he lost out to Piastri late on. But in holding the McLaren man at bay even for a few corners, he bought his team mate enough time to stay ahead of the Aussie at the flag.
Nico Hulkenberg, 9th
“It’s an awesome day with another double points finish for the team. I’m very happy for Kevin as well who drove a brilliant weekend, he really deserved that. I think that’s another eight points, so we’ll take it and bank those, and it’s positive being so competitive. It feels very rewarding; everyone’s work is paying off and we’re now consistently a contender for points. It shows the consistency within the package and the car, and it makes me look forward to next week and the three races after.”
Kevin Magnussen, 7th
“It was a perfect day, really. We got everything right, the balance of the car was right in that sweet spot, and I was able to manage the tyres when I needed and push hard when I needed. P7 is a better result than we could’ve hoped for because we had Piastri cruising through the field and I just about managed to keep him behind. The last year or so has been tough, and I feel like I’m finding my rhythm again, so I hope we can finish this year really nailing points in these last four races.”
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
“I don’t know what to say, it’s another amazing result for this team. I’m so happy that everyone’s hard work is paying off, with the updates, and the car getting better. I’m so happy for Kevin, he drove very well in Austin, but we couldn’t quite deliver on Sunday, but this weekend he had an amazing qualifying – today everyone delivered. His pace in the second stint was unbelievable, he was catching Verstappen in his Red Bull and was finishing just four seconds behind. That was probably the best I’ve seen Kevin drive, I’m so happy for him. In a way, Nico being disappointed with P9 is a great sign for the team as well. Today Kevin showed what the car is capable of, so we’ll look at the data to see why Nico couldn’t perform the way he could perform. I’m looking forward to going to Brazil, another Sprint weekend, and really trying to go for another double points finish. A huge congratulations to everyone and a big thank you.”
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Alpine
Gasly started in the points and managed to finish in the points just about, but it wasn’t simple. He started the chain reaction at the start with Albon and Tsunoda in what was deemed a typical first lap incident. He then pitted for the hard tyre and had to climb back up the order, but managed to score which is just what the doctor ordered after the disappointment in Austin. Ocon had a harder time of it after opting for a pit lane start, and came home a few places further back.
Esteban Ocon, 13th
“It was a difficult and long race for us today. It is not easy to start from the very back and although we had a few fights to be able to move up to thirteenth place, the pace was not enough for us to reach the points. We have some work to do ahead of next weekend to understand where we can improve. There are a few days for us to work together for a better result in Brazil and we will aim to maximise everything we can there on another Sprint weekend where there are two opportunities to score points.”
Pierre Gasly, 10th
“I’m very pleased with the point today. It’s only one point – probably the best we could achieve – but it’s satisfying as it’s been a few races since we last scored and it shows that we are continuing to improve. After a strong Qualifying yesterday, it was important for us to confirm that with a reward, so I’m happy for the team that we got tenth place today. It was a close call at Turn 1. I felt some contact, then I saw Yuki [Tsunoda] go off, so certainly quite fortunate to escape from that. From there, we just drove our own race and focused on managing everything as best as we could. Next week, we go to São Paulo for another Sprint event. We have some work to do, especially our race pace, but I’m optimistic for another positive weekend.”
Oliver Oakes, Team Principal
“It’s nice to come away from Mexico City with a point and return to the top ten. Pierre drove a good race; we did not have the pace to challenge the Haas cars today. We took the opportunity to change components on Esteban’s car, which meant he started from the pit lane running him long in the first stint and he did well to recover some places throughout the race. We were not as competitive in race trim as we were in Qualifying, so we have a bit of work to do in the coming races.”
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Aston Martin
Not to be for Alonso on what was supposed to be a grand celebration. Both he and Stroll had good starts and were running just outside the top 10, but Alonso was called into the pits to retire the car with a brake cooling issue – not the way he wanted his 400th Grand Prix appearance to go. As for Stroll, he did make it to the flag and came close to the points, but couldn’t quite chase down Gasly for P10 late on.
Fernando Alonso, DNF
"We took advantage of a chaotic start and everything was under control from our side as we battled just outside the top 10. However, by Lap 13 the brake temperatures were a little high and unfortunately a few laps later we had to retire the car. I felt a lot of love this weekend with lots of nice messages and respect from people. Despite the result, I have a positive feeling from the weekend and I'm confident we can have better performance in Brazil."
Lance Stroll, 11th
"It was a hard-fought race today. We did everything we could while managing some cooling issues, but we are still just lacking the pace to fight for points. It's been a tough couple of weeks, but hopefully in Brazil we can be a little more competitive."
Mike Krack, Team Principal
"Lance drove a very strong race today, but points were just out of reach. We did not have great pace all weekend, but Lance managed the race well, looked after the tyres, and enjoyed some fun battles on the track. It was a shame Fernando's 400th Grand Prix weekend ended early with a front brake issue. The temperatures were getting too high so we had to retire the car. Even though we just missed out on points today, we take the learnings and the positives into Brazil next week. Full credit to the trackside team, too, for their continued hard work across this triple-header."
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Williams
Albon was in the middle of the Gasly/Tsunoda sandwich at the start, and crashed out into the barriers which was disappointing considering he’d been targeting points today. As for Colapinto, he started on the hards as he did in Austin, hoping a similar strategy would yield a similar result. But it wasn’t to be for the Argentine, as he picked up a post-race time penalty for his duel with Lawson – although it didn’t drop him down from his P12 finishing slot.
FACTS AND STATS: Ferrari’s third Mexico win lifts them above Red Bull in standings
Alex Albon, DNF
"It was a tricky one today. We didn’t have the best launch, and everyone was fighting for the same position into Turn 1, so it’s unfortunate that we got squeezed with nowhere to go, but that’s racing. It’s been a tough few weeks with multiple incidents and some bad timing, so we need to find a way to bounce back. Looking at the positives, we’ve learned a lot this weekend and finally started to understand and correct some of the balance issues we’ve been struggling with over the last few races. I also think we could’ve scored points today, so hopefully, we can turn things around and focus on Brazil, the last race of the triple-header."
Franco Colapinto, 12th
"We had a good race today but, of course, starting from P16 with a McLaren and a Red Bull behind me, it was always going to be tricky. It was difficult after yesterday’s Qualifying as we suffered a lot with the rear tyres, however we did a good job in maximising what we had and managing with the tools available to try to fix the balance. Overall, it was a job well done but not quite enough for points. We’ll turn our focus to Brazil where we’ll aim to fight for points as a team."
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director
"Similar to last week, we decided to split the cars on different start tyres with Alex starting on the Medium tyre and Franco on the Hard. Unfortunately, Alex’s race was over before it began after being squeezed under braking into Turn 1 by Gasly and Tsunoda, meaning immediate retirement. There was nothing Alex could’ve done to avoid the accident and it’s disappointing for him after being in a great position to fight for points today.
"For Franco, he had a good race but unfortunately couldn’t climb into the points and had to settle for P12, after some big fights on track with other cars. A difficult and frustrating afternoon for the team, especially knowing that the car had the pace to fight for points. We will now regroup and put our full focus into Brazil which will be the second Sprint Race of this triple-header."
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RB
Tsunoda was unlucky off the line, squeezed on the outside with nowhere to go. He touched cars with Albon which sent him bouncing onto the grass, into the barriers and out of the race. As for Lawson, he too had an eventful afternoon. Starting on the hard tyre, he had a long first stint that included some wheel-to-wheel fighting with Perez. Then late on he had even more wheel-to-wheel action, this time with Colapinto. But this time he picked up some damage and was forced to pit late on, which dropped him down the order.
Liam Lawson, 16th
“A frustrating race, not the result we wanted. With the speed we had this weekend we could have scored points. It’s very disappointing to come away with nothing this weekend, especially when we had a package that was strong. We needed that clean air and unfortunately spent the whole race behind the gear box of another car. We had incidents all throughout and we tried the strategy that worked last week but it just didn’t work today. We’ll learn from that, and we’ll try and do a better job next week.”
Yuki Tsunoda, DNF
“There just wasn’t enough space. It was a racing incident. It was very tricky. If I had qualified where our true pace was, we wouldn’t have been in that position. I’m very sorry to the Team. They did a fantastic job to prepare everything from yesterday. I want to make it up to them in Brazil.”
Laurent Mekies, Team Principal
“It’s very frustrating to leave Mexico with no points. We feel the car has improved in the last two races with the updates we have introduced in Austin. We had a further update this weekend on Yuki’s car only but both drivers should have it next week in Brazil. It’s been one of our most competitive weekends in quite a while, in terms of pure pace, it’s clear to see in all three free practice sessions with both cars running in the top 10 nearly the whole time.
“Yesterday, Yuki’s crash was costly as the domino effect was that it also prevented Liam from getting to Q3, but that’s motor racing. The weekend was derailed from that point onwards and on the opening lap of the race, Yuki was the unfortunate victim of some squeezing, which is the sort of incident that can happen in the midfield.
“Liam was on an inverted strategy to try and jump some of the cars ahead of us. He had a strong first stint and some good fights throughout the race, but it did not really work for him, as he found a lot of traffic in the second part of the race. The contact with Colapinto pretty much ended any slight chance to fight for points.
“We will focus on having a smoother weekend in Sao Paulo in a few days’ time and push very hard to see where the car’s recent upturn in pace can take us."
Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance
“We were hoping for more today. The mechanics did a fantastic job to repair Yuki's car after the crash yesterday, but unfortunately there was contact between him and Albon immediately after the start, which put an end to his race. Liam was on an offset strategy starting on hard tyres. He did a solid first stint and had a couple of good fights with cars around. After his pit-stop, he was in traffic the whole time and eventually had a contact damaging his front wing and forcing us to pit him again. It's a frustrating end to a weekend during which both drivers showed good pace in our car that keeps improving."
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Kick Sauber
Both Kick Saubers opted to start on the hard tyre and run a long first stint. In fact, Bottas ran his tyres longer than anyone in the hopes some fresh rubber late on would help him climb up the order. But they didn’t quite have the pace today to compete, although the Finn did have a few entertaining battles.
Valtteri Bottas, 14th
"I believe we maximised our performance today, even though the end result was not as strong as I had hoped. Still, we improved and that’s what we have to take with us into the next race. At the start, I got a bit boxed in, and that limited my ability to make up positions. After that, the race was relatively straightforward, as we followed our planned strategy and even extended the first stint by a handful of laps. While it may not have been the best possible outcome in terms of end position, the positive is that we were able to fight more effectively than we have been able to recently. Our pace was in line with some of our closest competitors, which gives us confidence for the next rounds. Now, we must keep our focus on the next upgrade to be as effective as the latest, as we hope it will arrive soon. This will hopefully make us take another step in this direction."
Zhou Guanyu, 15th
"Our race today was quite challenging, with brake overheating early on that forced us to lift off regularly and throughout the race, compromising our pace each lap. It’s definitely something we have to look into to understand the root cause of the issue. It felt like we had more to give, but we still managed to hold our own and stay competitive with the cars around us. It’s a step forward, something we weren’t able to do just a few races ago, so it’s encouraging progress. The team will keep working hard and with São Paulo coming up, we’ll give it our all to be even closer in the mix."
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative
"We made a slight improvement in terms of pace, and we looked better out there today, even though the race had a similar outcome to the previous ones, looking purely at positions. We saw this step forward on track, as we were on a much closer pace to our competitors: however, the lack of pace in the second part of the stint continues to hinder our ability to truly fight with our direct competitors. Valtteri's one-stop strategy on hard-medium tyres was just enough to defend P14 due to higher degradation, which left him exposed to Ocon in the later stages. Zhou’s race was compromised as he struggled with balance and brake cooling, finishing in P15. Besides the improvement in pace, we were also satisfied with the pit stops, as both were good. We need the next upgrades the team is relentlessly producing back in Hinwil to find the extra pace required to make another step forward towards the front of the midfield, which is closer than before in this season."
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Pirelli
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director
“A race that provided plenty of excitement right from the start, before gradually settling down, at least as far as the leaders were concerned, before livening up again towards the finish with duels between Leclerc and Norris and an even longer one between Hamilton and Russell. There was plenty of action behind the top five, and at the very end, several drivers pitted for fresh tyres to go for the fastest race lap.
“In terms of strategy, the predictions going into the event were confirmed, with the one-stop being the outright favourite and starting on the Medium before switching to the Hard proving to be the quickest of all the various combinations. Piastri was a good example of this, because even starting from a long way back on the grid, he adopted the same strategy as those at the front and was able to finish in the points.
“Usually, one-stop races require careful tyre management, but today we saw that the drivers were able to push without worrying too much about degradation, which was very limited on both compounds. The Medium showed a few signs of graining, but that did not affect performance excessively, while the Hard always performed well, even for those running the longest stints which came close to the 50 laps mark.”
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