In Pictures: Mexico 2023
Right in the hump of the American Trio of races, F1 headed south from Austin to Mexico City for the F1ESTA.
THE AREA
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez sits right by the Mexico City airport.
MEXICO CITY
Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México) is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and at nearly 22 million people, the most populous city in North America.
Mexico City is one of the most important cultural and financial centers in the world. It is located in the Valley of Mexico within the high Mexican central plateau, at an altitude of 2,240 meters (7,350 ft). The city has 16 boroughs or demarcaciones territoriales, which are in turn divided into neighborhoods or colonias.
History
The oldest signs of human occupation in the area of Mexico City are those of the "Peñón woman" and others found in San Bartolo Atepehuacan, which a 2003 study placed the age of the Peñon woman at 12,700 years old (calendar age), one of the oldest human remains discovered in the Americas. Studies of her mitochondrial DNA suggest she was either of Asian, European or Aboriginal Australian origin.
The area was the destination of the migrations of the Teochichimecas during the 8th and 13th centuries, people that would give rise to the Toltec, and Mexica (Aztecs) cultures. The latter arrived around the 14th century to settle first on the shores of the lake. The city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was founded by the Mexica people in 1325 or 1327. The old Mexica city that is now referred to as Tenochtitlan was built on an island in the center of the inland lake system of the Valley of Mexico, which is shared with a smaller city-state called Tlatelolco.
In November 1519, Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés reached Tenochtitlan with indigenous support, initially enjoying friendly exchanges with Aztec ruler Moctezuma II. However, tensions escalated, leading to "La Noche Triste" on June 30, 1520, when Aztecs revolted, briefly expelling the Spanish and their Tlaxcalan allies. Cortés regrouped and laid siege to Tenochtitlan in May 1521. The city endured famine, water shortages, and a smallpox outbreak brought by the Europeans. Cortés' forces slowly recaptured the city, and in August 1521, Cuauhtémoc, the new Aztec king, surrendered. The conquest culminated in the near destruction of Tenochtitlan at the hands of the Spaniards.
Tenochtitlan was renamed "Mexico" because the Spanish found the word easier to pronounce.
All in all, Mexico City is a vibrant metropolis blending a rich historical legacy with modern dynamism, known for its diverse culture, cuisine, and architecture. Aztec heritage intersects with Spanish colonial influence, evident in iconic landmarks like the Templo Mayor and Metropolitan Cathedral. The city boasts an array of museums, including the renowned Frida Kahlo Museum, the Palacio de Bellas Artes, and the National Museum of Anthropology, among many others. Its bustling streets are alive with street vendors, markets, and a pulsating nightlife. Mexico City is a captivating fusion of tradition and contemporary urban life. The elegant avenue Paseo de la Reforma, modeled by the order of the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico after the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
What about food? you asked. The Texans have barbecues, the Mexicans have Tacos! Which were considered plebeian fare, by the 19th century tacos had become a standard of Mexico City's cuisine. But the city does offer world-class dining. For the 2019 list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants as named by the British magazine Restaurant, Mexico City ranked 12th best with the Mexican avant-garde restaurant Pujol (owned by Mexican chef Enrique Olvera).
THE CIRCUIT
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a 4.304 km (2.674 mi) racetrack in Mexico City, Mexico, named after the Mexican racing drivers Ricardo (1942–1962) and Pedro Rodríguez (1940–1971). The circuit got its name shortly after it opened when Ricardo Rodríguez died in practice for the non-Championship 1962 Mexican Grand Prix. Ricardo's brother Pedro was also killed behind the wheel nine years later.
The circuit is located within the public park of the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City in southeast Mexico City, and it is owned by the Government of the City but is currently operated under concession by Corporación Interamericana de Entretenimiento (CIE).
It was designed as his thesis by student Óscar Fernández in 1953, the circuit has an elevation of 2,238 m (7,342 ft); the thin air causes difficulties for both the drivers and their cars. It also reduces the levels of aerodynamic drag that cars experience, meaning that higher downforce setups can be used with less impact on straight-line speed.
The Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix was held at this circuit between 1962 and 1970. For safety reasons, due to an accident in which a spectator died, the race was not held in this category until 1986. When the circuit presented safety improvements, it was run from 1986 to 1992. In 2015 it returned to the calendar.
The circuit has evolved through time, and it underwent a significant renovation under the direction of Hermann Tilke for the return of Formula One in 2015. The front straight was slightly extended and re-profiled to accommodate a new media center and paddock. The iconic esses between turns 7 and 13 were significantly modified; the prolific, high radius turns largely diminished and some were replaced with fixed angle turns. The famous Peraltada, renamed the ‘Curva Nigel Mansell’ honoring the British driver, was bisected, with the first part of it now going through the old Foro Sol baseball stadium, one of the most unique watching areas in F1. The rest of the old Peraltada is quite fast and leads to the Main Straight.
The track is one of the fastest in the F1 Calendar, with modern V6 hybrid turbo F1 cars managing to reach top speeds in excess of 370 km/h (230 mph) down the main straight, which features the calendar's most severe braking point: from over 350km/h to less than 100km/h, with brakes dissipating around 3.5 million joules in a single braking, exceeding 4200 horsepower!
FRIDAY
Weather-wise, what a difference to Austin the week before. It was a bit cooler you might say as it was 23°C (73°F) the air temperature with 48% humidity.
FP1
Five of the 10 Formula 1 teams ran a young driver during the first practice at the Mexican Grand Prix to fulfill the mandatory rookie running requirement.
⁃ Jack Doohan - Alpine
⁃ Theo Pourchaire - Alfa Romeo
⁃ Frederik Vesti - Haas
⁃ Ollie Bearman - AlphaTauri
⁃ Isack Hadjar - Mercedes
As soon as the green light came on, everyone took off onto the track. The teams needed as much information as they could gather to understand how the cars behave in these weather conditions and thin air.
Lots of drama as a piece of bodywork flew from the rear part of an AlphaTauri, and then Leclerc informed of a metal noise coming out from his engine at full throttle, ten Sainz had a hydraulic failure in his Ferrari. Then, Norris had some kind of issue with his McLaren stuttering while exiting the pits.
ODD FACT: F1 rookie Theo Pourchaire’s Alpine displayed the number 61, but his helmet had the number 62 on it!
In the end, it was Max Verstappen setting the fastest lap of the practice, followed by Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Lando Norris, and Charles Leclerc, the top five.
Before FP2 started, The FIA informed driver 22, Yuki Tsunoda, was to start the Grand Prix from the pit lane as the team changed his AT04 engine (ICE), Turbo, MGU-H, MGU-K, gearbox, batteries, and control electronics.
FP2
The second 1-hour practice session of the weekend started with almost everyone coming out immediately, albeit 15 of the 20 drivers had Pirelli Test tires on their respective cars.
Just five minutes into the practice, it started raining, but not hard enough to hinder the session or require intermediate tires.
The fastest of the session was the World Champion, Max Verstappen who seemed unstoppable. He was followed by Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Valtteri Bottas, and Sergio Perez
Interestingly, sixteen of the twenty drivers were separated by less than a second at the end of Free Practice 2 (Verstappen’s 1:18.686 to Gasly’s 1:19.642).
SATURDAY
It was warmer than usual at Mexico City, with air temperature nearing 30°C (89°F), and 44°C (111°F) the track temperature.
FP3
It took a couple of minutes for drivers to come out on track, with only five cars doing installation laps, and even so, after 7 minutes, only Bottas had completed a timed lap. A few minutes later, Leclerc and Sainz posted lap times.
Very slowly, other drivers came out, but still not many; and after twenty minutes, only thirteen drivers had set at least one timed lap.
With just fifteen minutes left in the session, only Magnussen had not set a timed lap. Most drivers were trying out qualifying runs. In the end, Max Verstappen’s 1:17.887 lap was the fastest of FP3, followed by Alex Albon in the Williams, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, and Oscar Piastri.
QUALIFYING
With 2.2 Km (1.5 miles) above sea level, Mexico City's altitude has an extraordinary effect on the cars, which use Monaco wing levels but have about the same aerodynamic downforce as Monza.
Q1
Interesting session, to say the least. There were a couple of impeding incidents in the pit exit, first, Verstappen drove extremely slowly, holding several cars behind. Russell did the same a few minutes later, and Hamilton for failing to slow under yellow flags.
Eliminated in Q1: Ocon, Magnussen, Stroll, Sargeant and Norris.
Q2
First Gasly eliminated Zhou, a few seconds later, Zhou eliminated Gasly, then Albon eliminated Zhou, but had his lap deleted for exceeding track limits, so it was Zhou the last in the top ten.
Eliminated were: Gasly, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Albon, and Tsunoda.
Q3
Incredible final qualifying stage with the ten fastest drivers in Mexico fighting the track, the thin air, the high track temperature, and each other to get that coveted top spot.
And it is a Ferrari front row lockout! Charles Leclerc getting his 22nd Pole Position in Formula 1.
The final order was Leclerc, Sainz, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Perez, Hamilton, Piastri, Russell, Bottas, and Zhou Guanyu, the top ten. The top three separated by under a tenth! Leclerc’s lap was 0.067 faster than Sainz’s with Verstappen a further 0.030 back.
““To be honest I did not expect to be on pole position today, I thought we were lacking in FP3. We’ve had pretty good pace all weekend, but I’m not sure if it will be enough to challenge for the win. First place here I’m not sure is the best starting place!””
SUNDAY
At 7345 feet above sea level, this race was all about cooling, keeping brakes, and power unit as cool as possible.
During the morning, it was communicated that Lance Stroll was to start from the pitlane after changing several parts (different specifications) including a new floor assembly, and new side pods.
You have to give credit where credit is due. The Mexican organization did a fantastic job with the Pre-Race show, colorful, joyful, and with lots of music. The drivers rode on gorgeous classic convertible cars ranging from Ferraris 250 GT and Mercedes 300 SL to Porsches, Corvettes, and Mustangs.
At exactly 1:00 PM local time, the cars took to the track to do a few practice laps, and practice starts as well, after quite a few laps through the pitlane, the cars took to the grid.
At 2:00 PM local time, the race started with a fantastic start from Verstappen in third, slipstreaming the second Ferrari and pulling alongside. But so did Perez who is also slipstreaming, and suddenly it was Verstappen, Leclerc, and Perez side by side into Turn 1. Three into one doesn't go, Leclerc and Perez touch, and Perez flew into the air and off the track!
Perez did manage to get going again but he was last and crawling around with damage. Leclerc ran wide as a result too, over the grass but he remained second.
There was too much damage in the RB19, and Perez retired from his home Grand Prix.
““I had a tremendous start, the gap was there and to be honest, where I was starting the race, I would have been disappointed if I’d been on the podium knowing there was a chance of victory and I didn’t take it. There was no room for three cars, it was a total race incident. I just wanted to give it my all, I went totally for it. I’m very sad for the end result but on the other side I’m extremely proud of myself as I gave it my all. We probably had the best start of the year.””
Leclerc’s Ferrari had some damage but was running okay, although he had a loose front wing endplate, and on Lap 3/71, it flew off. Two laps later, a VSC was deployed to pick up the endplate, which was on the track, although not in the racing line.
On Lap 6/71, VSC ended, and racing resumed. On Lap 11, and after attempting to overtake for several laps, Hamilton made a move on Ricciardo at Turn 1, taking fourth place from the Aussie.
The order was Verstappen leading, with Leclerc second, and Sainz third. For the next few laps, the first batch of pitstops started, and the order changed time and time again. Although Leclerc pitted on Lap 32, he was the last of the front runners to make the switch to the hards, coming back out in front of Hamilton.
Then, on Lap 33/71, Magnussen went off, riding on the dirty side of the track, jumping up and down. A few laps later he had a horrendous crash when the rear suspension gave way, making the VF23 veer to the left in a right-hand corner. Thank God he was okay, but his Haas was destroyed. A lap later the red flag was shown.
The Marshalls had to repair the heavily damaged barrier and pick up quite a bit of debris from the track. Verstappen, Norris, and Albon all pitted under the brief Safety Car, but the Dutchman did hold onto the lead as he guided the field back into the pit lane.
So, the order up front was Verstappen from Leclerc and Hamilton, Sainz from Ricciardo and Piastri. Russell, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, and Norris are the other cars in the top 10, at the end of Lap 35.
After a 20-minute delay, the drivers were back out on track getting ready for another standing start. Everyone was on the hard tire, except Hamilton, Piastri, Russell, Hulkenberg, Norris, Albon, Ocon, and Sargeant, who were on to the mediums.
On Lap 41, As the stewards think about looking at Piastri and Tsunoda's squabbles, next time around they make contact again, and Tsunoda is spun around! Tsunoda came around the outside into Turn 1, turned in, and touched Piastri.
On Lap 40, Hamilton finally made a brave move stick on Leclerc on the run down to Turn 1, taking second place in the race, and started pursuing Verstappen, or so he thought as the Dutchman was pulling away.
In the end, Max Verstappen won his 16th race so far in 2023, breaking his own record from 2022. Mega Drive. Lewis Hamilton finished second, and Charles Leclerc third.
Mega-drive from Lando Norris, finishing fifth after starting seventeenth! He was voted Driver of the Day by the F1.com fans.
What a dramatic Grand Prix in Mexico City, and another win for Max Verstappen, his 16th of the season, another record for most wins in a year. It was the Dutchman’s 51st career success, which sees him equal Alain Prost in fourth place on the all-time winners list. The three drivers ahead of him are Sebastian Vettel (53), Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (103).
QUOTES FROM THE PODIUM
““The crowd have been amazing, it’s been incredible. We are experiencing an incredible season, the pace of the car was very, very good. We tried to do a different strategy to everyone else but thanks to the red flag we couldn’t show it.””
““A big thank you to this incredible crowd, I love coming to this city. This is a great result considering we started sixth, it’s been a difficult couple of weeks and to bounce back from last week - well done to the team. I thought [the medium] wouldn’t last!””
““A lot of booing, a lot of booing…. guys, honestly, I had nowhere to go, I was between the two Red Bulls and unfortunately I touched Checo, but I had nowhere to go. It’s life, of course I’m disappointed but I didn’t do it on purpose and I had nowhere to go. We struggled a bit with the hard at the restart, Mercedes were just better today, that’s life.””
