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Formula 1
Mexico City GP
F1 Mexican GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race day
Minute-by-minute updates for the Mexico City GP at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
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Although the F1 titles are already sewn up in favour of Max Verstappen and Red Bull, the final three races will shape the rest of the championship order, as Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez battle over the runner-up spot in the championship.
Verstappen has pole for the race in Mexico, as neither Mercedes driver was able to overturn the Dutchman after the final runs.
Home favourite Sergio Perez starts fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz, as Ferrari struggled with the conditions and the two cars were split by Valtteri Bottas as Charles Leclerc starts seventh.
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Zhou's backing up and slipstreaming on Ocon doesn't quite work out for Bottas, as the pair overtake the Chinese driver but his team-mate cannot try an audacious double overtake.
Zhou, still yet to pit in this race, is backing Ocon up and into his Alfa Romeo team-mate Bottas. Ahead of them Ricciardo pits from seventh and comes out in 13th.
Pit stop
Stroll is the first of the two-stoppers to pit again, taking on fresh softs, and he comes out in 18th place.
Simultaneous complaints from the Mercedes duo about the hard tyre. Lap time-wise, they're kind of holding their own, but Merc is pinning hopes on the end of the race.
Pit stop
Elsewhere, Gasly has pitted and served his penalty which puts him down to 16th place.
In fact, Ocon passes Bottas around the outside into Turn 1 to take 10th place. That's smart work by the French driver.
Pit stop
Alonso does pit a lap later than Bottas, also taking on fresh hards, and comes out in front of Zhou and Bottas.
Sainz just grabbed the inside line for Turn 4, and eased his way past Alonso. Leclerc now gets up to sixth as Alonso pits for the hard tyre.
It's lap 41 and it's still Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez and Russell. Verstappen is extending his lead, as is tradition. Sainz, however, passes Alonso for fifth.
Pit stop
Bottas pits for hards to take him to the end of the race, will Alonso respond to defend his position?
Pit stop
Vettel finally pits at the end of lap 39, ditching those softs he cared for so much for fresh mediums and comes out in 16th place.
Moments later Sainz does the same to Bottas at Turn 1 to take sixth place back.
Ocon, who has stopped today, overtakes Gasly into Turn 1, who hasn't stopped yet, for 12th place.
"This tyre is not as good as the medium," Hamilton reports. Mercedes reports back that the medium had some drop-off, so it's something for them to cling to.
Verstappen is extending his lead now, as Perez is closing in on Hamilton. At this stage, the hard tyres aren't looking ideal.
Vettel's doing a bit of tyre whispering, still on the softs that he started the race on 37 laps ago. That's some serious tyre life extracting from the Aston Martin.
The net top six has all stopped, then, but Alonso and Bottas are yet to pit so currently occupy fifth and sixth. Sainz and Leclerc aren't far behind, however.
Pit stop
Russell gets to the end of lap 35, but calls his aspirations of a long stint on the mediums to a close. He claims the hard compound, and comes back out in fourth behind Perez.
Pit stop
Ocon pits, getting rid of his mediums for fresh hards, and comes out in 13th place, still ahead of Norris who pitted earlier.
Hamilton's keeping to Verstappen's pace so far, while Perez is closing in on Hamilton slightly. Tyre offset between the Mercedes and the Red Bulls, but the former is holding its own.
Pit stop
As the Ferrari pair make their way through the midfield traffic, Norris pits to take on hards and comes out in 15th place. Now a lot of drivers are targeting a one-stop race.
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Russell leads, and asked to extend his stint a couple of laps ago. "We need to go very long to make that work" replies Riccardo Musconi, as Russell asks for softs at the end.
Pit stop
Tsunoda also pits, coming out in 16th, as the first of that midfield train to take on fresh tyres.
Pit stop
Sainz also pitted, but there's a slight delay in getting the front right on. He's out on mediums.
Pit stop
Hamilton pits, and he takes on the hard tyre in reaction to Perez's pace. That'll take him to the end.
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"Still having cuts in my engine," Hamilton also reports. His trainer Angela Cullen has her fingers crossed as her driver currently leads.
Alonso continues to lead the 'class B' fight in seventh place, 2.4s ahead of Bottas. The whole gang down to Ricciardo in 12th are all split by a couple of seconds.
"The shifts are ****** again!" Verstappen complains. As we're on the late shift for a second weekend in a row, we agree.
But Perez duly clears Leclerc down the straight at the start of lap 27, cheered on vociferously by the Mexican crowd.
Stopwatch
Perez does a 1m21.995s on his first lap with fresh boots, but he's not finding it easy to clear Leclerc.
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"Target plus six," Hamilton is told. Mercedes is expecting to go longer on this stint.
Pit stop
Schumacher also pits, taking on some mediums and comes out in 19th place.
Pit stop
Verstappen duly pits, releasing Hamilton. Swift stop for Verstappen, and he's got the mediums - and comes out ahead of Carlos Sainz.
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"My tyres are okay," Hamilton reports. "My left front is dead," Verstappen says. What is this?
Latifi is the next to pit, switching on to the hards, so is he going for a bold one-stopper? The Williams driver comes out in last place behind Stroll.
Pit stop
Perez pits from third place at the end of lap 23, grabbing the medium compound - but it's about twice the length of time it needed to be. He comes out behind the Ferraris.
Our colleagues have pointed out that assuming Gasly gets the customary two penalty points with his five-second penalty it puts him on 11 in total - one away from a one-race ban. His next points don't come off until late May 2023!
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"Tyres start to struggle now in low speed," Verstappen reports. The time gap between the front two is still pretty static.
"Clear loss of pace from Verstappen, won't be long until they stop," Russell is told.
Hamilton has stabilised the gap out front to 2.3s, while Russell is closing in on Perez now. This might be the point where the mediums have more about them.
By: autosport.com
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