F1 Mexican Grand Prix 2023 race results, grid, live updates as Ferrari pair Leclerc and Sainz start from front

By | October 29, 2023
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Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz took a one-two in qualifying for round 20 of the 2023 Formula One season in Mexico City.

Sainz qualified in second by finishing 0.067 seconds behind his teammate, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen — who sealed the title in Qatar three weeks earlier — 0.097secs off Leclerc.

Having returned from injury at the US Grand Prix the previous week, AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo impressed on his way to fourth on the grid.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who finished second to Verstappen in the race in 2022, will start on sixth at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday.

The Sporting News is following the Mexican Grand Prix live, providing updates below. 

WATCH: F1’s Mexican Grand Prix live in the U.S. with Fubo (free trial)

F1 qualifying live updates from Mexican Grand Prix

Lap 32: Max Verstappen hits the front after Charles Leclerc pits but still manages to prevent Lewis Hamilton from taking third.

Lap 31: Neither Ferrari has pitted yet but Carlos Sainz is now being asked to go in. Lewis Hamilton capitalises to take third.

Lap 29: A development to cheer up George Russell as he overtakes Alex Albon and goes into seventh place.

Lap 28: George Russell questions why he’s coming in behind Valtteri Bottas. 

Lap 26: Max Verstappen is back in the top three, overtaking Daniel Ricciardo.

Lap 25: Anything Max Verstappen can do, Lewis Hamilton… well, not quite – but Hamilton’s Mercedes follows Verstappen’s lead by pitting and returning in seventh, taking hard tyres too.

Lap 24: Will Max Verstappen stop again in this race? On the evidence of that surprisingly early stop, it’s a distinct possibility.

Clear blue skies and sunshine in Mexico City, by the way.

Lap 23: Oscar Piastri offers no resistance as Max Verstappen overtakes him for fifth place. Even by his standards, he’s rocketing back towards the podium positions.

Lap 22: Max Verstappen immediately starts to charge through on his new tyres. George Russell is the first driver he overtakes, taking sixth place.

Lap 20: Didn’t see this one coming! Max Verstappen, whose four-second lead appeared unassailable, comes in to change to hard tyres.

He’s back out in seventh! That means the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are the top two in that order, as they were at the start.

Lap 18: Charles Leclerc, ahead of Carlos Sainz, is carrying damage from that punishing opening to the race. Lewis Hamilton will fancy his chances of catching the Ferraris.

Lap 17: Now we can hear the words of Lewis Hamilton, who’s tracking Carlos Sainz for third and sounds a happy man.

Lap 16: Now we can hear the words of Lewis Hamilton, who’s tracking Carlos Sainz for third and sounds a happy man.

Lap 14: We can hear Max Verstappen’s audio. He’s built his lead over Charles Leclerc to three seconds but is advised that the kerb on T3 is “not helping”.

The champion responds by reassuring his team that he is doing his best but adds that it it “not very lovely there”.

Lap 13: Lando Norris is having a forgettable race down in 18th, responding by swapping his softs for hard rubber for McLaren.

Lap 13: This race isn’t proving quite as thrilling as that start might have suggested but Lewis Hamilton’s push for a podium finish is raising the stakes.

Lap 12: The other battle of note at the moment is between Oscar Piastri and George Russell, with the McLaren driver defending sixth.

Lap 11: Lewis Hamilton eclipses Daniel Ricciardo on T1!

That makes the top five…

  • Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
  • Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
  • Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
  • Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)

Lap nine: Yuki Tsunoda, for AlphaTauri, is off the track and ends up in the pits after a tussle with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.

Lap eight: Lewis Hamilton is closing down Daniel Ricciardo in fourth but the man who returned from injury last week is holding the Briton off.

Lap seven: Here’s the replay of that collision involving Sergio Perez.

Lap six: Back in the game after that safety car introduction. Max Verstappen is clear of Charles Leclerc, then it’s Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton in the top five places.

Lap five: The safety car is out to deal with debris on the track. We’re currently seeing replays of that incident that has ended Sergio Perez’s run – his car was in the air.

Lap four: After a bit of a breather from the blistering storylines of the first two laps, Lewis Hamilton moves up to a promising fifth by lap four.

AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo, in fourth, must feel that this is a great opportunity for him now.

Lap two: Sergio Perez’s radio confirms he is out! The home favourite was trying to go round Charles Leclerc, who’s also carrying some damager from the collision.

In a relatively unsurprising twist for such a dramatic start, Max Verstappen has hit the front!

Lap one: Wow – that is some start, and it’s not the one the home fans would have hoped for. Sergio Perez is off the track on the first corner as Max Verstappen takes on the Ferrari pairing who started on the front of the grid.

A podium would have been terrific for the home racer and many of his supporters were eagerly hoping it would happen.

20 mins to lights out: Some attendance in Mexico City over the weekend: 400,639, according to organisers, which is up by more than 5,000 on last year.

40 mins to lights out: Red Bull’s Sergio Perez has been speaking to Sky Sports F1 in the build-up. “Overtaking, we know, is really difficult,” he says, emphasising the importance of a good start.

“Overtaking at the start will be key. From then on, let’s see what the tyres do.”  

1 hour to lights out: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of Sunday evening at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Charles Leclerc went fastest in Saturday’s qualifying session as Carlos Sainz finished 0.067s behind him, while a surprise P4 for Daniel Ricciardo — behind Max Verstappen — gave AlphaTauri plenty to cheer about and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez could only deliver his adoring home crowd a fifth-place finish in Q3.

We’ll have build-up and live updates coming up!

F1 starting grid, qualifying results for Mexican Grand Prix

Position Driver Team
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull
4 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri
5 Sergio Perez Red Bull
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren
8 George Russell Mercedes
9 Valterri Bottas Alfa Romeo
10 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo
11 Pierre Gasly* Alpine
12 Nico Hulkenberg* Haas
13 Fernando Alonso* Alpine
14 Alex Albon*  Williams
15 Yuki Tsunoda* AlphaTauri
16 Esteban Ocon** Alpine
17 Kevin Magnussen** Haas
18 Lance Stroll** Aston Martin
19 Lando Norris** McLaren
20 Logan Sargeant**^ Williams

* Eliminated after Q2

** Eliminated after Q1

^ Will start the race with an academic 10-place grid penalty

F1 2023 schedule: What time is the Mexican Grand Prix?

  UK USA Canada Australia India
Date Sun, October 29 Sun, October 29 Sun, October 29 Mon, October 30 Mon, October 30
Time 8:00 p.m. GMT 4:00 p.m. ET 4:00 p.m. ET 7:00 a.m. AEST 1:30 a.m. IST

What channel is F1 on this weekend?

F1 Mexican Grand Prix 2023 TV channel

  UK USA Canada Australia India
TV Channel Sky Sports F1 ABC TSN (English); RDS (French) Fox Sports N/A

F1 Mexican Grand Prix 2023 live stream

  UK USA Canada Australia India
Live Stream NOW TV / Sky Go app ESPN+, Fubo TSN Direct Kayo F1 TV Pro

WATCH: F1’s Mexican Grand Prix live in the U.S. with Fubo (free trial)

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