By Melody Gross 
The Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix did not start quite as it would have liked for the thousands of fans who filled the stands at the Autodromo Hermanos Martinez in Mexico City.
With the two Ferraris on the front row of the grid – and on the long straight before Turn 1 – it was already expected that Max Verstappen would try to attack the lead from the start. This happened especially since the two Italian cars started poorly.
Even more surprising is Sergio Pérez’s desperate attempt to do the same, perhaps under the pressure of wanting to shine in front of his fans. Starting from fifth position, he passed Leclerc on the left and was momentarily at the front of the race.
The problem was that the curve was to the right and the two Red Bull cars ended up making a ‘sandwich’ of Leclerc, with the Ferrari driver having no means of escape.
The Mexican lost, left the track, and went to the pits to try to repair the damage, but ended up being forced to give up. The dream of winning at home ended at the first corner.
Verstappen was at the front of the race and lived there for 71 laps, until he saw the checkered flag.
In the middle, the race was stopped, and a red flag was raised after Haas driver Kevin Magnussen’s accident. Nothing would disturb the Dutchman’s dominance.
Lewis Hamilton regained his positions back to second and set the fastest lap, another sign of how much Mercedes had improved at the end of the season.
The two Ferrari drivers were able to manage the race in the best possible way, with Leclerc finishing on the podium and Sainz occupying fourth place.
With a significant recovery from 17th on the grid, McLaren’s Lando Norris finished fifth, ahead of George Russell’s second Mercedes.
Max Verstappen has reached a point in his career (or has Formula 1 reached that point?) where he has broken his records. The world champion achieved 15 victories in one season last year, and now, with this race, he has reached 16 victories in one season. There are still three races left to finish the year…
Horner consoles Perez 🥹#sporttvportugal#f1nasporttv#F1#MexicoGP#Perez#BetanoF1pic.twitter.com/1ZGaKUtqxu
– Sports TV (@sporttvportugal)
October 29, 2023
Kevin was involved in a major accident 😱Fortunately the Haas driver got out of the car unharmed 🙏#sporttvportugal#f1nasporttv#F1#MexicoGP#BetanoF1#Magnussenpic.twitter.com/XJyRsGkCCL
– Sports TV (@sporttvportugal)
October 29, 2023
Perez is out 😱 Perez is forced to leave his home GP after his collision with Leclerc! 🙁#sporttvportugal#f1nasporttv#F1#MexicoGP#BetanoF1#Perezpic.twitter.com/bsAw7Y9wdb
– Sports TV (@sporttvportugal)
October 29, 2023