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Formula 1
Mexico City GP
F1 Mexico GP Live Commentary and Updates – Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix
Live AppleTV Race Audio
Charles Leclerc leads an all-Ferrari front row from Carlos Sainz after the Italian squad pulled off a surprise in qualifying.
That pushed world champion Max Verstappen to third place on the grid for Red Bull, while another shock in the shape of AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo took fourth, ahead of home hero Sergio Perez in the sister Red Bull.
The Mexico GP gets under way at 8pm GMT.
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Verstappen has eked his lead over Hamilton out to 10s now. But Leclerc in turn is 5s behind the Mercedes.
But Gasly has plenty happening in his mirrors to occupy him too, with Bottas getting alongside at Turn 1 briefly before falling back into line. Should the medium runners lose their rubber, we have a real scrap on our hands for who will benefit most.
Hulkenberg is back in the points for now in tenth, but Gasly isn't far away on the harder tyre in 12th. Should Ocon ahead make it easy for his team-mate, a points challenge appears likely.
Meanwhile Norris has moved ahead of Albon, and with Tsunoda's woes claims eighth spot.
Replays show Tsunoda darted to the outside of Piastri at Turn 1 but clipped the McLaren's front wing and was pitched into a spin. That one will be investigated by the stewards.
Off track
And Tsunoda has lost it! He spins at Turn 1 and has surely thrown away any chance of points.
Replays show Tsunoda got all the way alongside at Turn 1, but couldn't make it stick into Turn 2 when he held the inside and tapped Piastri's left-rear. A touring car move if ever we saw one, but the positions remain the same.
Piastri gets all crossed up at Turn 2, but just manages to fend off Tsunoda and hold his seventh place. The AlphaTauri on hards looks set to pass the medium-shod McLaren soon.
"That's moving under braking by Sainz," complains Russell. Can the Mercedes driver finally make his pressure tell and snatch fourth away?
Norris is on a charge and makes light work of Hulkenberg to snatch tenth. Can he dispose of Albon in equally efficient fashion?
Out in front, Verstappen has a 5.7 second lead and is comfortably controlling proceedings, safe in the knowledge that Hamilton has more tyre management to do than him.
Norris doesn't have Ocon in his sights for long! In a bold move, he barges past down the inside at Turn 1, leaving the Alpine no option but to make space. A brilliant pass gives the McLaren driver P11.
Next in Norris's sights is Ocon, who is in turn piling the pressure on Hulkenberg's tenth place.
One driver also hoping that will be the case for is Gasly, who has a wall of medium tyre cars in front of his 13th place. He's just been demoted a spot by Norris, who is fighting back after being boxed in at the start and having to lift, being swamped as a result.
"We believe that in about five laps the hard will be faster than the medium," Ferrari tell Leclerc. Could he mount a fightback against Hamilton's second place?
And it could get better still for AlphaTauri as Tsunoda is giving Piastri a real hard time over his seventh place.
The battle at the rear of the constructors' order is not going well for Alfa Romeo today, with AlphaTauri set to score big, and Williams and Haas also currently in the top 10.
Verstappen is really getting the hammer down out in front and has pulled 4s over Hamilton in the lead. Sainz is continuing to frustrate Russell and play rear-gunner for Leclerc.
"It's going to be a tough stint," is Hamilton's response to a gee-up from Pete Bonnington. It doesn't sound as though Hamilton fancies his chances of taking the fight to Verstappen. Second from sixth on the grid would mark a fine result however.
Not if Verstappen can help it. He responds to Hamilton moving into second by setting the fastest lap of the race so far.
With 31 laps to go, will Hamilton be able to keep his medium tyres alive and make a play for the lead?
Verstappen is bolting clear. He's 2.6s to the good out in front. But he now has a new car in his mirrors as Hamilton gets through on Leclerc into Turn 1. It was a bit of a squeeze though, Leclerc didn't make it easy for him.
Russell has radioed that Sainz is weaving on the straight. He's not impressed with the Ferrari driver's defence of his fourth position.
Behind, Sainz is coming under pressure from Russell whose choice of the medium has already yielded a one-place gain on Ricciardo.
Zhou is dropping back after being on the fringe of the top 10 at the restart. He is now in P16.
Norris also endured a painful restart and has dropped to P14. He suffered significant wheelspin at the restart and was a sitting duck.
Norris also endured a painful restart and has dropped to P14. He suffered significant wheelspin at the restart and was a sitting duck.
DRS is now in play, which will help Hamilton's cause as Leclerc fights a rear guard action that will widen the grin under Verstappen's helmet.
As the hard tyre users bring their rubber up to temperature, it will be imperative for the medium runners to make their advantage last early and that's exactly what Hamilton is trying to do.
Verstappen immediately builds a 1.3s gap on the restart lap as Leclerc is more preoccupied with holding Hamilton behind him.
Sainz holds fifth ahead of Russell, who has jumped Ricciardo. Then it's Piastri, Tsunoda, Albon and Hulkenberg.
Green flag
And we're back underway in Mexico. Verstappen nails the restart and leads from Leclerc and Hamilton.
Here come the cars lining up for the restart. Could Hamilton use his softer rubber to get the best launch?
So, a right old mix then!
Tsunoda is on the hard in eighth, while Hulkenberg and Norris have gone for mediums. Gasly is on a hard, Albon on medium, Zhou on a hard, Ocon and Sargeant on mediums, Bottas, Stroll and Alonso on hards.
Verstappen and Leclerc are on hards, Hamilton is on mediums, Sainz and Ricciardo are on hards, then Piastri and Russell are on mediums.
We'll give you the full run down on who is on what tyre shortly as the cars trawl back around to the grid.
After the contact between Leclerc and Perez at the first start, will the second be better behaved? Let's see...
Drivers are back in their cars and ready for the restart. "A standing start with a hard tyre is going to be a huge mess," says Leclerc.
The race will resume at 13 minutes past the hour, race control informs us.
AlphaTauri has two cars inside the top eight and could be on for a decent haul today with Ricciardo currently fifth and Tsunoda eighth. It has only scored 10 points all season to date, but would score 14 if things stay as they are which could hoist them up two places in the constructors' standings.
With 36 laps to go, do teams gamble with switching back to mediums for the rest of the race, with less fuel to burn off theoretically making degradation less serious?
By: Autosport Staff
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