Key events<\/p>\n
Lap 27 of 71: Verstappen pulls with 4.8 seconds. He\u2019s pretty good, you know.<\/p>\n
Piastri pits, and it takes more than 5 seconds instead of the usual 2-point-something.<\/p>\n
Leclerc to the pits!<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 26 of 71: Meanwhile, Kimi Antonelli<\/a> sits contentedly in fourth place, cruising to the F1 championship at age 20. He isn\u2019t challenging Hamilton for third, nor is Russell challenging him from behind.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 25 of 71: The lead is 5.1. The intrigue is killing me.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 24 of 71: Hamilton: \u201cThe stewards are basically handing Charles the win. We agreed in the drivers\u2019 meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n Agreed \u2026 to what?<\/p>\n Gasly is working his way back up after pitting. He has sailed past the debutant Hirakawa.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 23 of 71: A look at the standings before the pit-stop shuffle \u2026<\/p>\n 1 Leclerc Then Bearman has climbed within a second of 10th.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 22 of 71: The lead is five seconds, the same duration as the penalty Leclerc must serve.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 21 of 71: Russell is holding Norris at bay. Leclerc has almost pushed his lead to five seconds. Hamilton can\u2019t gain on Verstappen.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 20 of 71: Bearman neatly passes Bortoleto for 11th, one spot out of the points. After Gasly\u2019s pit stop, Perez is up to 13th \u2013 can he get a point in his home country? He finished third here twice in his Red Bull days in 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 19 of 71: Gasly has pitted, only noteworthy in the sense that we\u2019re now in a window in which pit stops are not unexpected. Albon also goes in.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 18 of 71: Leclerc now has 4.4 seconds over Verstappen, who\u2019s on medium tires. Then Hamilton is another 2.0 back \u2013 while his complaints aren\u2019t unwarranted, he hasn\u2019t made any progress chasing down Verstappen while on softer tires.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 16 of 71: Norris is still on Russell\u2019s tail, not content to wait for the penalty to be served.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a close fight between Bortoleto, Bearman and Gasly for 11th place.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 15 of 71: Hamilton is informed of the five-second Leclerc penalty. He immediately notes that Leclerc is still getting the benefit of clean air. Indeed he does, and he\u2019s making the most of it \u2013 the gap to Verstappen and Hamilton is growing.<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the Ferrari SF-26 on track. Photograph: James Sutton\/LAT ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.41 EST<\/p>\n Verstappen is informed of the Leclerc five-second penalty and laughs. \u201cI thought all the new penalties were 10!\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 14 of 71: And now George Russell gets a 10-second penalty. He\u2019ll likely lose out to the McLarens of Norris and Piastri. Norris has him in his sights already.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Race leader Leclerc penalized<\/p>\n Lap 13 of 71: Leclerc must serve a five-second time penalty.<\/p>\n He\u2019s 3.2 ahead of Verstappen and 4.9 ahead of Hamilton, who apparently will not be penalized.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 12 of 71: Piastri zips past Lindblad like a Maryland driver on the Capital Beltway. (If you know, you know.) He\u2019s up to seventh, a nice recovery from yesterday, and if some of the people ahead of him are penalized, he\u2019ll move up more.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 11 of 71: George Russell is under investigation for the opening contact with Hadjar. Three of the top five drivers have the telltale exclamation point by their names on the F1 graphic.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 10 of 71: Penalty or not \u2013 how does Ferrari let that happen? If Leclerc ends up penalized, they\u2019ve handed control of the race to Verstappen, and he\u2019s unlikely to give it back.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 9 of 71: Compounding Hamilton\u2019s problems \u2013 Antonelli is on his tail.<\/p>\n The Virtual Safety Car has finished. Hadjar pitted and is 20th, last of the cars still competing.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Replays of the start \u2013 Hadjar spun out after contact. Leclerc was much faster than everyone, flying past multiple cars to pull alongside Hamilton.<\/p>\n Leclerc certainly went very far off the track, but Hamilton also went off. Would they both be penalized?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 8 of 71: Will anyone pit this early in the race, knowing they won\u2019t lose much time because of the Virtual Safety Car? Maybe if we were a few more laps into this race.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 7 of 71: And now Lance Stroll has been asked to stop, which he has now done by the edge of the track at a strange angle.<\/p>\n So both Aston Martins are out, and \u2026 virtual safety car!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 6 of 71: The two Aston Martin drivers, Alonso and Stroll, have already pitted. Go figure.<\/p>\n Perez, running in front of fans who would love to see him do well, is up to 14th.<\/p>\n Alonso has to retire the car. Pity that.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 4 of 71: Hamilton inquires as to what action is being taken. He\u2019s assured that people are looking into it.<\/p>\n For now:<\/p>\n 1 Leclerc Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lap 3 of 71: The incident has been noted.<\/p>\n Of note: Hadjar went all the way back to 22nd. That\u2019s not good.<\/p>\n Colapinto roared up to seventh.<\/p>\n Oh \u2013 and the guy who\u2019s about to be the youngest F1 champion ever is still in fourth. Verstappen went ahead of him, but Russell had a lackluster start and is now fifth.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Lights out …<\/p>\n Hamilton leads \u2026 but here comes teammate Leclerc, madly challenging! Leclerc goes way off the track but is now in the lead pending whatever Ferrari and F1 say. Verstappen took advantage of the intra-Ferrari battle to sail into second.<\/p>\n On the radio: Hamilton says he got pushed out by his own teammate. He\u2019s not wrong.<\/p>\n Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton leads team mate Charles Leclerc at the start of the Mexican Grand Prix. Photograph: Bradley Collyer\/PALewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc Updated at\u00a015.19 EST<\/p>\n Tires or tyres: Most drivers are opening on softs, but Nico H\u00fclkenberg and a few others further down the grid are on mediums. Intriguingly, so is Max Verstappen, who starts fifth.<\/p>\n Formation lap in progress \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Questions<\/p>\n Calling on readers to answer these thought experiments:<\/p>\n 1. Are we looking at the beginning of a Kimi Antonelli era, or will we see Max Verstappen or Lando Norris fighting back next year? Or maybe one of the Ferrari drivers \u2013 Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who has taken a few steps back toward championship form this year?<\/p>\n 2. Where does a 20-year-old F1 champion fit in terms of precocious athlete accomplishments? Do we compare it with Pele winning his first World Cup at age 17? Should we only consider individuals, like a 20-year-old Mike Tyson winning the heavyweight championship? Maybe Mikaela Shiffrin\u2019s breakthrough at age 17? Garry Kasparov holding the world chess championship and becoming the world\u2019s top-ranked player at age 22? Justin Bieber having hits at age 15?<\/p>\n 3. How did Haas replace Esteban Ocon\u2019s livery so quickly? (To answer a question from earlier: Yes, the F1 graphics team got Ryo Harikawa into the pre-race montage. \u201cCongratulations on your debut, now before you attempt qualifying for the first time in your life, can you stand in front of this green screen and look cool?\u201d)<\/p>\n Share<\/a>The track, weather, etc.<\/p>\n Ready for an 830-meter (907-yard) drag race?<\/p>\n One distinguishing characteristic of the Aut\u00f3dromo Hermanos Rodr\u00edguez<\/a> is the distance from the starting line to Turn 1. Then it\u2019s right, left, right into another long straightaway, then some sharp turns before a shorter straightaway. Then they\u2019ll veer left into a set of long, arcing curves, a short straight, a sharp right and then a near-hairpin turn before a complicated series of curves to take the drivers back to the starting line.<\/p>\n Another unique aspect \u2013 altitude. Denver is the Mile High City, but Mexico City is the Two Kilometer High City, which is considerably less catchy. Race engineers describe have to factor thin air into account.<\/p>\n The weather will be in the mid-20s Celsius, which in Fahrenheit is \u201cpretty nice.\u201d The track temperature will be approximately Venusian.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a 71-lap race, so get comfortable.<\/p>\n Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli with Peter Bonnington (right). Photograph: Bradley Collyer\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.14 EST<\/p>\n The grid<\/p>\n 1 Lewis Hamilton \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Ferrari Lindblad, Gasly and Hulkenberg all moved up due to Liam Lawson\u2019s disqualification from qualifying, which will place the Racing Bulls driver at the back of the grid, even behind Valtteri Bottas, whose engine overhaul incurred a 50-place penalty for an engine overhaul but in reality isn\u2019t being punished at all because he was 21st in qualifying, anyway.<\/p>\n The other item of note on the grid: Ryo Hirakawa will make his F1 race debut on short notice, replacing Esteban Ocon after the lame-duck driver (to be replaced by Rafael C\u00e2mara next year) had a flareup with Haas management at a practice session. Hirakawa will start 18th after besting Lance Stroll, home-country hero Sergio Perez and Perez\u2019s Cadillac teammate Bottas in qualifying.<\/p>\n The name on Esteban Ocon\u2019s pit box is changed to Ryo Hirakawa on Saturday at the Aut\u00f3dromo Hermanos Rodr\u00edguez. Photograph: ANP\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n That leads us to one moment of suspense: Can F1\u2019s media team update its driver intro<\/a> to include Hiwakawa? The video is best known for featuring Bottas\u2019 mustache, Stroll smiling smugly as if daring his critics to keep talking, and a vivid look at the age difference between the graybeards (Bottas, eternal journeyman Nico H\u00fclkenberg, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and two-time champion Fernando Alonso) and fresh-faced youngsters such as Antonelli, Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Bearman.<\/p>\n I preferred last year\u2019s video<\/a>, if only because Alonso seemed to be doing a capable impression of The World\u2019s Most Interesting Man.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.04 EST<\/p>\n Standings<\/p>\n 1 Kimi Antonelli<\/a> \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9 Mercedes 365 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and the two Cadillac drivers (Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez) have yet to score.<\/p>\n Tsunoda has only run three races in relief for the Red Bulls\/Racing Bulls teams while Hadjar was out injured. We\u2019ll have another lineup change today \u2013 details in next post.<\/p>\n The manufacturers\u2019 standings:<\/p>\n 1 Mercedes – a lot Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n There are still several ways Kimi Antonelli could be denied the F1 championship this year.<\/p>\n – George Russell could win all five remaining races while Antonelli picks up a total of just one point (10th place in any race).<\/p>\n – Lewis Hamilton could win all five remaining races while Antonelli picks up no points.<\/p>\n – Antonelli could decide to retire at age 20 and petition to retroactively forfeit his results from this year.<\/p>\n – AI agents could decide to shut down all the race computers for every F1 team in a bid to curb fuel consumption and Kim Kardashian\u2019s screen time.<\/p>\n – Aliens could beam Antonelli back to his home planet.<\/p>\n – The entire year could be written off as Pamela Ewing\u2019s dream, like the ninth season of the nighttime TV soap Dallas.<\/p>\n – Time travelers from the year 2053 may arrive in February 2026 and defeat Antonelli in several races in the new timeline.<\/p>\n Fans of Kimi Antonelli and Sergio Perez show their love. Photograph: Eloisa Sanchez\/Reuters<\/p>\n Barring any of those scenarios, Antonelli will displace Sebastian Vettel as the youngest F1 champion in history. Barring an Antonelli catastrophe and a win by either Russell or Hamilton, that championship will be decided today.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Hamilton is on the pole for the first time in three years.<\/p>\n And the race for second place is intense \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here\u2019s Giles Richards on how qualifying went down on Saturday:<\/p>\n Even as Formula One\u2019s young gun Kimi Antonelli<\/a> remains on course to claim his first world championship on Sunday it was the veteran, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton who gave a salutary reminder that there is very much fight left in the old dog yet as he claimed a spectacular pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix.<\/p>\n Hamilton delivered a superb lap for Ferrari to secure his first pole for the team and just beat Mercedes\u2019 George Russell into second. World champion in waiting Antonelli was in fourth place<\/a> but remains in position to close out the title on Sunday, although Hamilton and Russell, who must win the race to have any hope of keeping the fight alive, have at least locked out the front row.<\/p>\n
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2 Verstappen +4.8
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3 Hamilton +2.5
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4 Antonelli +1.8
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5 Russell +3.4
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6 Norris +0.7
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7 Piastri +7.6
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8 Lindblad +9.0
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9 Colapinto +2.6
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10 H\u00fclkenberg +4.2<\/p>\n
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2 Verstappen
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3 Hamilton
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4 Antonelli
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5 Russell
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6 Lindblad (up from 8th)
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7 Colapinto
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8 Norris \u2026 oh, wait, he just passed Colapinto
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9 Piastri, moving up after a terrible qualifying session
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10 H\u00fclkenberg<\/p>\n
battling. Photograph: Fernando Llano\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n
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2 George Russell \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Mercedes
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3 Charles Leclerc \ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udde8 Ferrari
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4 Kimi Antonelli<\/a> \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9 Mercedes
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5 Max Verstappen \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1 Red Bull (1-place grid penalty)
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6 Lando Norris \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 McLaren
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7 Isack Hadjar \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Red Bull
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8 Arvid Lindblad \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Racing Bulls
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9 Pierre Gasly \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Alpine
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10 Nico H\u00fclkenberg \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea Audi<\/p>\n
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2 George Russell \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Mercedes 242
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3 Lewis Hamilton \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Ferrari 241
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4 Max Verstappen \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1 Red Bull 236
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5 Charles Leclerc \ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udde8 Ferrari 233
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6 Lando Norris \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 McLaren 211
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7 Oscar Piastri \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 McLaren 144
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8 Isack Hadjar \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Red Bull 105
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9 Liam Lawson \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddff Racing Bulls 77
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10 Pierre Gasly \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Alpine 42
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11 Arvid Lindblad \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Racing Bulls 38
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12 Franco Colapinto \ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf7 Alpine 27
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13 Oliver Bearman \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Haas 23
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14 Nico H\u00fclkenberg \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea Audi 13
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15 Gabriel Bortoleto \ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf7 Audi 10
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16 Esteban Ocon \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Haas 7
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17 Fernando Alonso \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddf8 Aston Martin 7
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18 Carlos Sainz Jr. \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddf8 Williams 7
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19 Alex Albon \ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\udded Williams 5
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20 Yuki Tsunoda \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5 Racing Bulls 1<\/p>\n
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2 Ferrari – a considerable amount
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3 Red Bull – a bit less than Ferrari
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4 McLaren – the same amount as Red Bull
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5 Racing Bulls – way less
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6 Alpine – way less than Racing Bulls
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7 Haas – less than half of Alpine
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8 Audi – just a little less than Haas
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9 Williams – barely half of Audi
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10 Aston Martin – a pittance
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11 Cadillac – a goose egg<\/p>\n