F1 Mexican Grand Prix: Live commentary and updates

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Haydn Cobb

Summary


	Verstappen wins the Mexico City Grand Prix Hamilton finishes second with Perez in third Polesitter Bottas finishes in P15 after lap 1 contact and slow pitstop but takes fastest lap Turn 1 chaos on lap 1 - contact between Ricciardo and Bottas, Tsunoda and Schumacher also out after contact from Ocon
	Leaderboard Verstappen, Red Bull Hamilton, Mercedes Perez, Red Bull Gasly, AlphaTauri Leclerc, Ferrari Sainz, Ferrari Vettel, Aston Martin Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo Alonso, Alpine Norris, McLaren

Status: Stopped

00:00 And we're gonna call it there for a night - thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next weekend for the Brazilian GP! Buenas noches.

23:59 Here's the race report from the Mexico City Grand Prix: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-mexican-gp-verstappen-dominates-ahead-of-hamilton-and-perez/6757134/

23:58 Verstappen is lifted up to the podium sat atop his car. Is selfie guy gonna be here this year?

23:53 Perez: "It's unbelievable. Obviously I wanted more, I wanted a 1-2 for the team. But I gave it all my heart."

23:51 Verstappen: "It was all about trying to brake as late as you can [at the start]. I went from third to first, and that just made my race."

23:50 Hamilton: "Sergio did a great job, he kept applying that pressure. But I still really enjoyed the race still."

23:50 "Olé, olé, olé, olé, Checo, Checo," seems to be the song of the weekend. It's not quite Three Lions, but we'll take it.

23:46 "I gave it everything, just didn't have the pace," Hamilton says.

23:45 We're going to get another wild ol' podium now - and everyone in the stadium's going to mad for Perez. "Time for tequila," Perez says - get me one while you're there.

23:43 Gasly completes the day in fourth, ahead of Leclerc and Sainz, with Vettel, Raikkonen, Alonso and Norris completing the scorers.

23:43 Bottas gets the fastest lap of the race to take that point off of Verstappen on the last lap! He did it with a new lap record of 1m17.774s.

23:43 Hamilton hangs onto second, with Perez having to settle for third place.

23:42 But it's easy as you like for Max Verstappen, who wins the Mexican Grand Prix!

23:42 Perez has a go with DRS, sinking his whole battery into it, but Hamilton holds off Perez in the opening part of the track.

23:41 Ferrari has swapped Leclerc and Sainz back around, having figured that time was up to catch Gasly.

23:40 Bottas is pitted again - his fourth stop of the afternoon in all - to take on another set of softs to go for the fastest lap again. It is getting a bit silly now.

23:40 Perez is cutting the gap to Hamilton once again, and the gap is down to 0.9s with two laps to go.

23:39 Bottas, on said soft tyres, has un-lapped himself by passing Verstappen but is now being caught again by the race leader and duly being shown blue flags. It is stalling his hopes for a fastest lap attempt.

23:38 Three to go, and Sainz is closing on Gasly - but won't have enough time to clear the AlphaTauri.

23:35 Mercedes tactics in play: Bottas is pitted to take on the soft tyres to go for the fastest lap of the race. He can't gain the point for fastest lap outside of the top 10, but he can take it away from Verstappen.

23:34 The Russell/Alonso traffic has helped Hamilton this time around, giving Perez more to do to catch up again.

23:34 Hamilton's having to contend with overheating, and has been asked to lift and coast to cool down. Hot under the collar down at Mercedes.

23:32

Further back Bottas has drifted to 4s behind Ricciardo, while the Australian driver is over 2s off Giovinazzi. Gaps starting to spread out now, aside from the Hamilton vs Perez standoff.

23:31 Hamilton's picked up the pace enough to stop Perez inch closer with DRS, as Alonso's going to be the next traffic jam for them.

23:30 Perez has another stab with DRS, as Norris is finally getting a few blue flags - letting Hamilton and Perez put a lap on him.

23:29

A McLaren inadvertently disrupting a Mercedes is becoming a theme in this race.

23:28 Perez now has DRS, so it's looking like Red Bull is writing Checos that Hamilton can't cash.

23:27 Perez is within 1.2s of Hamilton now. Hamilton will have traffic ahead to mooch off of with DRS, but he's struggling to catch Norris ahead.

23:26 "Tyres are wearing," Hamilton says. "Pace is good. Tyres are good. Batteries are good." Bird tells Perez in the meantime. "Engine is good?" Perez deadpans. "Yep, all good" comes the reply.

23:25 "Charles is doing a lot of mistakes to keep me behind," Sainz says, who is now let through into fifth place. Gasly is 12s ahead, so Ferrari might have left this a touch late.

23:24 "Striking distance in 2 laps," says the official F1 overtake-o-meter for the Hamilton-Perez battle. Difficulty will be medium.

23:23 Stroll overtakes Russell to take 15th place at Turn 1. "That's a great job, push on and get Ocon now," Stroll is told over his team radio.

23:21 Ricciardo, still in front of Bottas, is within DRS range of Giovinazzi in 11th place. Further ahead the gap has stabilised at 4s between Norris in 10th and Alonso.

23:21 Perez is now just 3s off Hamilton now, as of lap 57.

23:20 "And we should try to swap positions with Sainz, and he'll try to attack Gasly," Leclerc is told. His reply is either inaudible, or he's done a series of porcine grunts to express his dismay.

23:19 "The catch is going to be around the last lap - it's still jumping around a little bit," Hamilton is told, prepared to expect his mirrors full of Perez towards the end.

23:18 Bottas will probably be able to provide a detailed drawing of the McLaren rear wing at the end of the race given how much time he has spent behind Ricciardo. He's caught him, again, after that slow pitstop.

23:17 "You guys still there?" Hamilton asks, either referring to his team or the viewers.

23:16 Verstappen posts a 1m18.999s. Call an ambulance...but not for him.

23:15 Young whipper-snapper Norris is chasing down what has become the F1 world champions' club between 7th and 9th - Vettel, Raikkonen, Alonso. Norris has 4s to find to catch Alonso first.