Mexican Grand Prix: Formula One – live updates | Formula One

Lap 8/71: Russell (7th) is now behind his Mercedes teammate Antonelli (6th). Tsunoda continues to hold off Piastri for 8th. Lawson has had to retire.

Lap 7/71: Bearman is in fourth, having never completed a lap in the top 6.

Verstappen tried to take Hamilton on the inside at the start of lap 6 but didn’t have enough room and had to bail out. Hamilton then locked up at turn 4 and rejoined the track ahead of Bearman and Verstappen.

Lap 6/71: Verstappen comes off again and goes on the grass! Hamilton also locks up and goes off but recovers his 3rd place. Bearman has edged in ahead of Verstappen to leave the Dutchman in 5th.

Lap 5/71: Bearman was a big winner of that first lap, squeezing through on the inside of the first couple of corners to move from 9th to 6th, where he remains.

Lap 4/71: Piastri tries to make a move on Tsunoda to take 8th but the Red Bull driver was expecting it and blocks him off.

Lap 3/71: Lawson damaged his front wing in the opening skirmishes and has pitted. There’s a double yellow flag for a moment because of some track debris but not for long.

Lap 2/71: Verstappen’s movements on the the first corner have been noted by the race stewards. He went past Russell on the straight and tried to go round both Ferraris on the first corner but went off the track, over the grass and retook his spot in 4th.

Piastri had a poor start and dropped as low as 11th but has recovered to 9th by the end of the first lap. Leclerc and Hamilton remain 2nd and 3rd, with Verstappen 4th and Russell 5th.

Verstappen makes a bold start, going wide on the first corner and coming off the track! He recovers to move into fourth place. Norris survives the first few corners and is clear out in front.

Nico Hulkenberg is having power issues on his formation lap. Everything else seems to be in order. Those red lights start to tick up …

Here’s the top of the starting grid again:

1) Lando Norris (McLaren)
2) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

3) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
4) George Russell (Mercedes)

5) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
6) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

7) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
8) Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

9) Ollie Bearman (Haas)
10) Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

A reminder of the race for the title:

Overall standings
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 346pts – 7th on grid
Lando Norris (McLaren) 332 – 1st
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 306 – 5th

The drivers are on the grid, with the finishing touches being made to their cars. Pepas by Farruko is blasting out from the speakers, making it feel like any nightclub in a Spanish-speaking country. There are under 10 minutes to go until we go racing.

Located 2,240 metres above sea level, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is the highest track on the F1 calendar by some distance. The altitude has a significant impact on aerodynamics and downforce, of course. Don’t ask me to go into it. Williams explain it quite well … I think.

It’s expected to be 26ºC in Mexico City during the race, with track temperatures currently at 53ºC. Not quite as hot as Singapore or Austin but still pretty toasty for those drivers – and the cars. Ferrari have got bags of dry ice to feed through the vents to cool the engine.

Mexico is a happy hunting ground for Max Verstappenstarting 5th on the grid. He’s won five of the last seven grands prix at the Hermanos Rodríguez.

No McLaren driver has won in Mexico since Ayrton Senna in 1989 (albeit there wasn’t a race there from 1993 to 2014).

Lewis Hamilton (in 2016 and 2019) is the only driver on the front two rows of the grid who has won in Mexico. He starts 3rd, just as he did in 2019.

Just as Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen are locked in a three-horse race for the drivers’ title this year, so were Graham Hill, John Surtees and Jim Clark at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the final race of the 1964 F1 season. Giles Richards takes a trip down memory lane in his new book:

1) Lando Norris (McLaren)
2) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

3) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
4) George Russell (Mercedes)

5) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
6) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

7) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
8) Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

9) Oliver Bearman (Hare)
10) Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
11) Esteban Ocon (Haas)
12) Carlos Sainz (Williams)*

13) Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber)
14) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

15) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
16) Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

17) Alexander Albon (Williams)
18) Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

19) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
20) Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

*Qualified in seventh; five-place grid penalty

Well, what an opportunity for Lando Norris in Mexico City. His performance in qualifying yesterday has given him a significant advantage over his title rivals in a race that gets under way in an hour’s time. The McLaren driver starts on pole, with his teammate and overall leader Oscar Piastri only 7th and Max Verstappen in 5th. Completing the front row is Charles Leclerc, with Lewis Hamilton in 3rd and George Russell 4th.

I’ll be bringing you lap-by-lap updates when the grand prix gets started at 8pm (GMT). With only five races of the season remaining and just 40 points between the top three drivers in the standings, it’s sure to be pivotal in the destination of the title.

If you’ve got any thoughts on the action or the season as a whole, feel free to get in touch with me via email. Come on!