F1 Mexico GP live commentary and updates - race day

Mexico City Grand Prix - coming up soon!

Hello everyone, and welcome to our live coverage of the Mexico City Grand Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez!

71 laps of the circuit in Mexico City beckon, and it could be a very interesting prospect indeed - especially on the run to Turn 1.

Fans

Photo by: Colin McMaster / LAT Images via Getty Images

Mexico grid

Grid

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	1'15.586		204.990
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.262 1'15.848		204.282
3	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.352 1'15.938		204.040
4	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.448 1'16.034		203.782
5	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.484 1'16.070		203.686
6	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.532 1'16.118		203.557
7	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.588 1'16.174		203.407
8	I. Hadjar RB	6		RB	Honda	+0.666 1'16.252		203.199
9	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	+0.874 1'16.460		202.647
10	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22		Red Bull	Red Bull	+1.230 1'16.816		201.707
11	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	+1.251 1'16.837		201.652
12	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	+0.586 1'16.172		203.413
13	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	+1.430 1'17.016		201.184
14	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	+1.517 1'17.103		200.957
15	L. Lawson RB	30		RB	Honda	+2.486 1'18.072		198.462
16	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5		Sauber	Ferrari	+1.826 1'17.412		200.155
17	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	+1.904 1'17.490		199.953
18	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	+1.960 1'17.546		199.809
19	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	+2.020 1'17.606		199.654
20	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Renault	+2.084 1'17.670		199.490
View full results

The run to Turn 1: who will win out?

It's well known that pole position at Mexico is one of the more difficult poles on the calendar to convert into a lead at Turn 1 - such is the length of the run into the first corner.

Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc start on the front row - no doubt Leclerc will jockey for a tow into the first corner, but so will third-placed Lewis Hamilton.

"I definitely want to be racy," Hamilton said. "I don't have anything to lose, but he does. We'll be quite aggressive, I'm pretty sure - and hopefully we'll be close enough to put up a good fight."

Remember last year where Carlos Sainz took pole, but had to concede the lead to Max Verstappen. On the ninth, Sainz dived back past into Turn 1 and held the lead through the first sector to cement his claim for victory.

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, overtakes Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

30 minutes until lights out

Not long left to go now for what should be an interesting race - can either of the two Ferraris overcome Lando Norris at the start? Has Red Bull unlocked some race pace in Max Verstappen's car? And how can Oscar Piastri recover from starting seventh?

McLaren showed very strong long-run pace in FP2 on Friday, while Red Bull struggled to unlock consistent speed on the medium tyres. Ferrari and Mercedes were somewhere in between.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

Tsunoda's throwback run comes to an early end

Yuki Tsunoda took the Honda RA272 from the 1965 F1 season - the car that Richie Ginther took to victory in Mexico 60 years ago - around for a spin earlier, but the car came to a stop (twice) before the end of the lap.

It's a shame, because it's a beaut of a car.

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Colin McMaster / LAT Images via Getty Images

We'll get the starting tyres in about 15 minutes or so, but I'd wager quite a few will be opting to start with the softs - getting the traction off the line and into Turn 1 will be the ideal situation.

Leclerc put that into good effect in Austin last weekend, which he used to get ahead of Norris at the start of the race.

Points situation ahead of Round 20

1. Oscar Piastri - 346 pts
2. Lando Norris - 332
3. Max Verstappen - 306
4. George Russell - 252

If Norris wins and Piastri finishes no higher than fifth, we could have a change in championship leader for the first time since Jeddah - and that was back in April.

George Russell would need to win to stay in mathematical contention for the title. The odds are not in his favour.

Five minutes to lights out in Mexico

Are we ready? Then let's begin...

Once more, F1 pleasingly uses the mariachi theme for the grid run-down. I think we should be more open to regional versions of the theme song.

Norris cruises into his grid slot - Leclerc lines up alongside him.

Lap 2/71

It's as you were among the front three - Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton at the tip. Russell complains that Verstappen held the position off-track and wants him to give the place back. The incident has been noted.

Piastri gets ahead of Ocon to go up to ninth. 

Lap 3/71

Norris is 1.5s up on Leclerc as it stands, with Hamilton lurking within DRS range of his team-mate. Piastri is now trying to challenge Tsunoda for eighth.

Lawson pits for a new front wing - there's a yellow flag at Turn 1. 

Lap 4/71

Norris extends his lead to Leclerc to 1.7s, as Piastri looks at Tsunoda - who naturally is doing his bit to help Verstappen. 

Hamilton is trying to break the DRS over Verstappen, who in turn is trying to break DRS to Russell.

Lap 6/71

Hamilton and Verstappen battle over third, Verstappen puts a move on Hamilton - and skitters across the grass! Hamilton then has an off at Turn 4, which lets Bearman to attack and pass Verstappen - with a smidgen of going off-track. All action!

Lap 7/71

Verstappen and Hamilton seemed to make a little bit of contact as Verstappen came from behind a long way back on that previous lap.

Bearman is keeping Verstappen in his wake now, with Antonelli looking to buy into this battle - Russell has dropped to seventh. 

Lap 8/71

Piastri has a go at Tsunoda at Turn 4, but the Red Bull driver continues to defend. 

Hamilton has been noted for not following the race directors' instructions as he didn't follow the escape road at Turn 4.

Lawson has parked up in the garage - he's out.

Lap 9/71

Norris is 2.7s up on Leclerc, who is 5.1s up on Hamilton - who is now under investigation.

Bearman is fourth and keeping Verstappen at bay - letting Antonelli try to make a move on Verstappen.

Lap 10/71

Antoneli takes a look at Verstappen at Turn 1, but can't quite find a way past. Bearman has managed to push on to ensure Verstappen no longer has DRS.

Tsunoda no longer has DRS either, as Piastri remains on his tail. Ocon is following the pair of them.

Lap 11/71

Piastri cruises past Tsunoda this time around, and moves up to eighth. 

Norris has been told to open the gap to Leclerc a bit now, as the Ferraris begin to lift and coast a bit. 

Lap 12/71

Ocon is now on Tsunoda's tail as they battle over ninth. Hadjar is out of DRS range - the medium tyre runners seem to be struggling at the moment.

Norris is up to 3.6s ahead of Leclerc.

Lap 13/71

Ocon takes another look at Tsunoda into Turn 1 - the Red Bull driver parks it in the middle of the road to force Ocon's hand. "Dangerous defence there," Ocon says. 

Lap 14/71

There was an investigation between Sainz and Alonso as someone presumably went off track/gained an advantage - but that's been waved off. 

Verstappen still has Antonelli in his wake, as the Italian is just about keeping the DRS in play.

Lap 15/71

Norris' lead is now 4.9s over Leclerc - make that five seconds. 

Hamilton escapes an escape road penalty, but he's now being looked at for leaving the road/gaining an advantage...

Lap 16/71

Hamilton will have to serve a 10-second penalty on his next stop - at this rate, Bearman will be in a net third. 

Verstappen is 1.9s behind Bearman, with Antonelli 1.3s behind him. 

Lap 17/71

Norris' lead expands to seven seconds over Leclerc, who is keeping a steady five-second gap over Hamilton. 

Piastri is now on Russell's tail - but not by enough to close in into Turn 1.

Lap 18/71

Sainz pits, dropping the mediums for softs - which is the tyre to be on. Russell continues to defend from Piastri, who's pushing reasonably hard. 

Lap 19/71

It looked like Piastri was shaping for a move on Russell, but it cuts to Sainz going off the road. Shades of the Lance Stroll meme from Monaco a couple of years back.

The stewards are investigating the Hamilton/Verstappen incident from earlier on.

Lap 20/71

Piastri is really piling the pressure on Russell at the moment, but the Mercedes is just getting the better traction out of the corners.

Out front, Norris is now 8.7s ahead of Leclerc. 

Lap 21/71

Piastri gets a good exit out of Turn 3 this time, but the straight isn't long enough to make a move on Russell.

Verstappen's leaving-the-track at Turn 3 at the start is now being investigated.

Sainz, on fresh softs, scythes past Colapinto - the Argentine is on the hard tyre.

Lap 22/71

Hamilton is informed of his Turn 4 moment earlier, which he very much disagrees with. Meanwhile, no further action on Verstappen's Turn 3 moment earlier.

Norris is 10 seconds clear now. Antonelli pits from sixth.

Lap 23/71

Antonelli takes the mediums, and he comes out in 13th. Will the mediums hold up well?

Meanwhile, Hamilton's pitting and will serve his penalty - which will elevate Bearman to third. 

Lap 24/71

Hamilton comes out behind Albon, who's going long into this race on hards.

Red Bull appears to be unsure if it's one-stopping or two-stopping, which has been publicly broadcast. 

Bearman and Piastri pit for mediums.