F1: Mexico City GP Post-Race Quotes
Pirelli Tires
Mario Isola: “A race where all three compounds set up a strategy chess game”
“Seeing how all three compounds gave the drivers and teams the chance to approach the race in a sort of strategic chess game on the track and the pit wall is obviously a source of satisfaction for us. There were different strategies, which were all based on individual capabilities to optimize the tires, with the mediums being a protagonist and the hard and the soft too playing a fundamental role, showing strong performance and limited wear. It all came down to a strategic duel between the two teams that had managed to get the most out of the tires all weekend. This is particularly significant for us, especially following 15 intense days that took in two tests of the 2023 prototype tires to collect data on both the hard and the soft compounds in Austin and Mexico City respectively, as well as the comments of the real stars – the drivers – who showed enthusiasm and real engagement when it came to analyzing all the topics that emerged, right up to the Friday night of the second test. Congratulations to Red Bull and Max Verstappen for their victory and a new record of 14 wins in one season, in front of Mexico’s unique crowd.”
How Verstappen Won The Race
Verstappen chose the P Zero Red soft tire at the start to lead, before switching to the P Zero Yellow medium tires on lap 25 and conceding his advantage. He regained the lead once his Mercedes rivals had made their single stops, and from there it was a question of managing his medium tires to the finish: completing a 46-lap stint on the yellow compound to win by 15 seconds.
Oracle Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen (1st): “The first stint of the race was critical today, and we managed to stay in the lead after turn one. We were obviously on a different strategy to the cars around us, and we had to look after our tires a lot. We had quite good pace on the soft tire even though it wears a bit more, we then drove the medium to the end. Winning 14 races in a season is incredible, we’re having an amazing year as a Team, and that’s the most important thing. We keep on pushing, and we want to win as many races as possible, it’s really special what we are all achieving together this year.”
Sergio Perez (3rd): “It feels good to be on the podium, but I wanted more today, I am a little bit disappointed. We could have finished second definitely, but we had a poor pitstop, which really prevented us doing the undercut, and being closer to Lewis. The hard tire didn’t work for him initially, but once he got them going it just didn’t work for me, then I was looking after my tires, and there was no more in them. We were planning to do a two-stop race, but degradation was better than expected. This place in unbelievable, it is an amazing crowd here, and I will never forget these moments because of the people. It is certainly, if not the best, one of the best crowds in Formula One – I am very privileged to have this support. I just want to go, and win the next two races now, we have had the pace in the last few races, so now I just want to put it all together, cut out the small problems, and then I believe we can do that.”
Christian Horner, Sporting Director: “Both drivers were impeccable today, and we got our strategy absolutely right. The soft, and medium tires were definitely the quickest. After both drivers’ first pitstop, we saw that the tires were in really good shape so it was a no brainer to put on the mediums. Checo had a little bit of trouble with his pitstop, but his recovery was phenomenal, and to see both drivers on the podium is incredible. We are pleased we got it right today, and of course, Max was truly remarkable. Frankly, Max is racing to another level, he’s raised the bar so high all season, and to break the record with 14 race wins is extraordinary, especially with a couple of races still to go. He deserves all the plaudits that are coming his way, and his drive today demonstrates his maturity, and ability to read a race, and control it in a very convincing manner.”
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
Lewis Hamilton (2nd): “It was a good race for me today, although we didn’t choose the right tire strategy in hindsight. Nonetheless, to be this close to Red Bull makes me very proud of my team, and I’m very grateful to them for the hard work they’ve put in to keep on moving us forward. The race pace generally was quite good, but we were offset on tires for most of the race. Maybe we should have started on the soft, but obviously we went for the medium, then took the hard to make the one stop work; it looked pretty good on the first stint, but then the Red Bull was just too quick for us -, and had the better tire strategy today as well. Congratulations to Max on his win, and it feels great to be back up on the podium here in Mexico. We’re getting closer to the front, and we will continue to push. The last couple of races, we’ve taken a big step forward with the car, and I hope we will continue like this for the final two.”
George Russell (4th): “I had a good start, but lost two positions in the first lap, and our strategy with medium – hard was not the right one in hindsight. I couldn’t get the hard tire working as there was just no grip. Red Bull, and Ferrari both started on the softs, and we need to understand why the other teams opted for the soft as that looked like the right strategy for this race. So that’s clearly our learning for today, as we might have been able to get closer, being on the same strategy. Nevertheless, as a team we’re making progress, and I’m very happy about that. I’m intrigued to see how Brazil goes, although I don’t think we will be quite as competitive as in Mexico, but still a huge positive takeaway from this weekend, and a great job by the whole team.”
Toto Wolff, Team Principal: “Lewis, and George did an amazing job today. We discussed whether the soft-hard was a viable strategy, but we didn’t really have the soft-medium strategy on our radar going into the race. So, we just got it wrong today in hindsight, but we still showed strong performance, and secured valuable points. Our performance gap to Red Bull today was small, and we had a good margin to Ferrari – however, we need to be careful about jumping to quick conclusions about the latter, and wait to see what happens in Brazil. Our goals are still to win a race, and fight for second in the constructors’ championship: we want to demonstrate that our car is fast, and the whole team put just so much work into upgrading the car, it would be fantastic for them if we can make it happen for one of the last two remaining races this year.”
Andrew Shovlin: “It’s a peculiar mix of emotions after a weekend like this; we are demonstrating progress with the car, and the update that we brought to Austin has clearly delivered a good step in performance. The team in Brixworth can also be very satisfied with the work they had done preparing, and optimizing the power unit for what is a very difficult track, given the altitude; this has been one of our strongest performances of the season, so it’s clear that they have done a great job on that side. We also can’t fault the commitment of the drivers, and the whole team towards the end of what has been a very long, and very tough season, even when giving everything each weekend still isn’t quite enough to deliver a win. If we could run the race again, we’d have started on the soft tire; we knew that a soft-medium one stop was a possibility, but we did not expect it to be quite so comfortable. Our strategy relied on their mediums dropping towards the end of the race, but that simply didn’t happen. On a positive note, we have closed the gap to Ferrari, and we’ll keep chasing them until the flag drops in Abu Dhabi. So, we have two races to go, a few days to regroup before the sprint race in Brazil, and still plenty to work for.”
Scuderia Ferrari
Carlos Sainz (5th): “Today we did everything we could to get the best result possible, but unfortunately the pace was not there, so P5 was the maximum we could aim for. From my side, despite the overall picture, I had a good race, and the feeling inside the car was positive this weekend. We will try to build on that ahead of Brazil, and make sure we are ready for the last two races.”
Charles Leclerc (6th): “It was a lonely race. Carlos, and I were lapping together, too quick for the midfield, but too slow for the front runners. We stuck to our strategy, focused on ourselves, and got the most out of our package, but we were just too far off, and we have to understand why so that we can work on being more consistent. As always, it was amazing to see so many fans around the track in Mexico City, and to feel their passion.”
Mattia Binotto, Team Principal: “It was a very difficult weekend for us, and it was clear that we were already struggling yesterday in qualifying, and that was accentuated even more in today’s race. There is a lot that needs to improve, but when faced with a difficult weekend like this, it is essential to bring the cars home, and pick up as many points as possible. Charles, and Carlos did the best they could, and the way they tackled the first few corners after the start was exemplary. It is vitally important that we improve in the last two races so as to end the season to the best of our ability.”
McLaren F1 Team
Daniel Ricciardo (7th):
Lando Norris (9th):
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal:
BWT Alpine F1 Team
Esteban Ocon (8th): “It was a tough race for the team today. We were on for an important, double points finish before Fernando’s unfortunate retirement. On my side, we were struggling with cooling issues towards the latter half of the race, and we had to manage that, which meant we couldn’t match the pace of the McLarens at the end, narrowly missing out on catching Daniel’s [Ricciardo] time penalty. We come away with some points, but we need to ensure these issues don’t happen again if we are to stay fourth in the championship.”
Fernando Alonso (19th, Engine): “Unfortunately we couldn’t finish the race today after a strong start, good stints, which meant we looked set to score some good points. I felt very fast in both stints, first on the Mediums, and then with the Hard tires. However, we lost a cylinder on the engine with 18 laps to go, which eventually forced us to stop the car despite our best efforts. Austin, and Mexico were two very good weekends for me, and it’s a pity we didn’t score the points we deserved. We have two more race weekends to go, and we need to make sure we score more points in our battle for fourth position.”
Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer: “This race was always going to prove challenging with the unique conditions in Mexico City, and we leave here disappointed in the fact we only had one car see the checkered flag. Unfortunately, Fernando suffered a cylinder failure on lap 52, and he was having to manage on five cylinders – meaning a significant lack of power – to try, and remain inside the points. Eventually the problem was not sustainable, and he had to retire the car. Esteban faced a challenge with some cooling issues from quite early on in the race where he had to lift, and coast, and therefore, he sacrificed significant lap time. He did well to bring the car home in eighth place, and score some valuable points for the team. We know reliability is going to be the key in our championship battle, and it’s something that has let us down after showing such a strong level of performance in recent races. I’m confident we can rectify these issues going into the final two races of the season.”
Scuderia AlphaTauri
Pierre Gasly (11th): “It’s a real shame, but we knew it would be difficult starting from P14. I gave everything I could today, and we were close to finishing in the top 10, if we’d had one more lap I think we could’ve been in it. The atmosphere has been insane, as always in Mexico, so that’s been great, I’m just disappointed we’ve come away without points.”
Yuki Tsunoda (DNF, Damage): “It’s such a shame about today’s result. My tire management had been really good in the race up until that point, and I was feeling confident in that final stint, so I’m very disappointed that it ended with such a silly mistake. Daniel was on a different strategy, and would’ve easily made it past later on, so for such an experienced driver to try to overtake in an area that it’s just not possible to is so annoying. We were close to being able to finish in the points, which are so valuable to us right now. There are some positives to take away from this weekend, but for now I just need to go away, and reset, then come back stronger for Brazil.”
Claudio Balestri, Chief Engineer, Vehicle Performance: “As our two cars were close together on the grid today, we decided to start with different compounds, with the target of maximizing the possibility to score points. Yuki started on new Softs, and was immediately able to gain some positions in the first lap, he was P11 between the two McLarens who were both on Mediums, with Norris in front, and Riccardo behind. Yuki’s first stint was good, he was able to produce consistent lap times, manage tire, and brake temperatures, and the tires were working properly for the entire stint. For the rest of his race, he continued to fight the two McLarens, so in the second stint we decided to fit Mediums, and the pace was again good, allowing him to follow Norris, and stay in front of Ricciardo. However, Ricciardo tried to overtake Yuki, which destroyed our car, and our race. The contact left Yuki’s car with a lot of damage, and we had to retire. Pierre’s race was a bit different. By the end of lap one he had lost some positions, and was P17, racing on the Mediums, behind the two Astons that were slower than him. During the first stint, Pierre was able to gain one position, overtaking Stroll, who was on the same compound, but during this maneuver he got a five second penalty. This was served at our second pit stop, and our race became a bit more complicated. When he re-joined the track he was behind Albon. Pierre’s pace with the soft compound was good, and we were able to overtake him, and close the gap with the cars in front, who were on different strategies. Pierre finished just behind Bottas, just outside the points in P11. It is a shame, because the pace wasn’t bad today. Now we need to switch our thoughts to the preparation for our next race in Brazil.”
Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team
Sebastian Vettel (14th): “Overall, we were just a little bit too slow today. At the start of the race, I could hold on to the cars in front of me, but then I was a bit unlucky to get tangled up with Yuki [Tsunoda]. His car was damaged, and he came back onto the track right in front of me – I lost too much time, and was an easy target for the others. The car did not feel too great, and the afternoon was a bit of a struggle – but, luckily, we did not lose too much ground in the fight for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship.”
Lance Stroll (15th): “The start was great; it was definitely the highlight of the race. On the move with Pierre [Gasly], he braked late, passed me, but did not give me any room. However, it would not have really changed our day if that had not happened. There were fun moments out there passing other cars, but we struggled a lot with our pace, and the tires. We will try to understand this dip in performance, and see how we can make progress to maximize the final two races of the season.”
Mike Krack, Chief Operating Officer: “This is a race where you need to skillfully manage the brakes, and tires. And, despite the best efforts of our drivers, and engineers to do just that, we were never really in a position to capitalize. Lance drove another typically charging opening lap to jump five places, and Sebastian was precise, and clinical all afternoon –, but he just did not have the pace to fend off a gaggle of faster cars. In the battle for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship, this was an afternoon of damage limitation – we will pick up the fight again in Brazil next month.”
Williams Racing
Alexander Albon (12th): “Honestly, I’m really happy with today, and it feels like our pace was relatively strong from where it was on Friday. We had a tricky start so we dropped to 19th, and despite a few retirements, we overtook everyone else, so I think it was a good race from us. It was a thermal race with the dirty air making the brakes hot, and then the tires hot, so we did well with our strategy to find the gaps of clean air. It was really close today, and I’m feeling good with a lot of positives to take away. I think we’re getting better at solving the weaknesses in the car, and at a circuit that doesn’t suit us we were able to set up the car, and compete with those around us.”
Nicholas Latifi (18th): “We had some car damage from early on in the race which was confirmed by the team. At the beginning it didn’t seem too bad, but as the race went on our pace seemed to deteriorate. We need to see what the damage specifically was, but unfortunately, we had no pace today. Even at the end, I was two or three seconds a lap slower on new Soft tires compared to people on older Softs. Overall a very lonely day, but we’ll look to bounce back in Brazil.”
Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer: “Following a frustrating day yesterday, we can be very pleased with how we performed today. Racing in Mexico City is always challenging, but we were able to get the car into a pretty good place such that it was easily managed, and had good pace relative to our competitors. We pitted Nicholas early for the Hard tire, but unfortunately this was a poor tire today and, coupled with some car damage, it harmed Nicky’s race. We were able to leave Alex out on his Medium tire whilst we monitored the performance of the cars that started the race on Soft. Once it became clear that a Medium-Soft one-stop was possible we were able to commit to this with Alex. Once again, he drove very well to battle aggressively with Gasly, Vettel, Zhou, and Bottas. To finish so close to the Alfa Romeo which qualified 6th, especially after a tricky race start, was very satisfying, but also hints at what might have been possible with a better grid position. It has been a hard couple of weeks racing in the USA, and Mexico, but we can be pleased with what we achieved, and how we coped with the conditions.”
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN
Valtteri Bottas (10th): “We got one point out of this race, and this is a positive, but we expected more today. We were doing okay until the second stint: when we switched to the hard tire, we just couldn’t get them to work. I never got them up to temperature, and it was a bit of a struggle until the end. We thought the hards would be a good race tire, but it wasn’t to be. It’s a shame as in the first stint we were on the pace with the cars around us, but at least we have something to show for it today, and we increased our advantage in the championship.”
Guanyu Zhou (13th): “The beginning of the race was quite fun, and the extended stint was looking good, but we ended up in traffic after the pit stop, and that compromised my race a little bit. The second part of the race was trickier: making progress turned out to be quite difficult on this track, which of course is not easy, and it has definitely been one of the toughest one for me as a rookie to get used to. I was happy to see Valtteri get a point for the team, and I hope some of my battles helped with this. In general, this weekend we have been consistent, and we did do a step up: we just need to keep working on our race performances to finish this season well.”
Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal: “A point is always valuable, especially when it allows us to extend the gap on our championship rivals; of course, when starting in P6, and with the pace we showed throughout the weekend, the hopes, and expectations were for more, but in the end the race didn’t really go our way. We seemed to have the pace to be at the front of the chasing pack, just behind the three leading teams, during our first stint, but we weren’t able to make the most of the hard tires after Valtteri’s stop, and we slowly dropped off. Zhou was on an alternative strategy, but also seemed to struggle in the second part of the race, and wasn’t able to make back the places he had before the stop. We’ll analyze this race, and see what can be done better; in the meantime, we will keep building on the speed we’ve shown on Friday, and Saturday, aiming to make the most of the final two weekends of the season to finish the job properly.”
Haas F1 Team
Mick Schumacher (16th): “We saw in FP3 that once the track gets colder, it seemed that others were performing a bit better than us. We knew the pace was there yesterday, but it wasn’t there today, there wasn’t anything wrong with the strategy or anything in that sense. That was our pace, and we have to live with it today. I’m sure that in Brazil, things might look very different again.”
Kevin Magnussen (17th): “We just didn’t have good pace today. I had the medium, and then soft tire on for the race, which could’ve given us some opportunities, but we were a bit too far off to really do much. There are so many opportunities, we scored points in the last race, but today isn’t what we wanted, so we’ll move on to the next one.”
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: “Today, our car just didn’t have the speed, and therefore we ended up where we ended up. Hopefully Brazil suits our car better, and we can get back to where we want to be.”