Time On Track: Episode 20 – Mexico

Round 20 of the 2023 Formula 1 season saw action in sunny Mexico City around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, which threw plenty of heat at the cars over the course of the weekend. That meant high degradation on the tires, and little in the way of clean air for the cars to enjoy. We saw yet another lap 1, turn 1 incident punish an overly aggressive move by Sergio Perez hoping to take advantage of a tremendous start, unfortunately leading to his retirement from the race in front of his home crowd. The front of the pack was quickly filled by the Ferrari and Mercedes cars vying for podium spots behind Verstappen, who took his record breaking 16th win of the season. A strong race from Hamilton saw him taking P2, while the race’s pole sitter, Leclerc, held on for P3.

The big surprise of the weekend came from Daniel Riccardo, who performed well throughout practice and qualifying, putting the Alpha Tauri in P4 on the starting grid. Danny hung on for a P7 finish, still placing the car well ahead of its general running order, and showing us that he’s still got what it takes. Will his performance earn him a better seat next year? His return is likely to be one of the big story lines looking ahead to 2024, and we discuss the possibilities in the full episode below.

There are just 3 races left in the season, with the next happening this weekend in Brazil at Autódromo José Carlos Pace. Will Lewis continue to catch Sergio for a potential P2 finish in the driver’s championship? All we know is that the Mercs usually perform quite strong at this track so all bets are off. Stay tuned for our discussion on this round coming next week.