The 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix has a surprise in store after all! What seemed like a pretty straightforward weekend is suddenly shaping up to produce arguably the greatest F1 race around the scintillating Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, thanks to the antics of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and several other drivers.
Let’s start with the likes of Max Verstappen, George Russell and Fernando Alonso. Heading into the final phase of Q1, cars were unsurprisingly queueing up at the end of the pit lane for their respective final runs. But, what followed was an unprecedented traffic seemingly triggered by the defending three-time world champion, Verstappen.
The Dutchman, for unknown reasons, brought his Red Bull to a complete halt despite crossing the white line and entering the race track. It was a similar story with Russell, who spent an even longer time holding a chunk of cars behind. Meanwhile, Alonso might just receive a lifeline solely because he managed to keep his car behind the white line.
carlos overtook all the cars that max/alonso/george were holding back 😭💀 pic.twitter.com/d86ufcEV1S
— clara (@leclercsletters) October 28, 2023
But, in reality, it still requires a valid reason from the trio to escape grid penalties for Sunday’s main race. According to F1 analyst, Sam Collins, if the aforementioned drivers are deemed guilty, they are likely to be hit with a three-place grid penalty and nothing more.
Not just Max Verstappen! Lewis Hamilton too lands on the FIA radar after unusual F1 quali blunder
While the likes of Verstappen, Russell, and Alonso are being questioned for their near-stationary move, Lewis Hamilton is under fire for potentially overspeeding under yellow flags in Q1. The Briton was chasing after a commendable finish to the first part of qualifying, but, failed to notice a stranded Alonso around the exit of the first chicane.
Looking at the onboard of Hamilton, the seven-time world champion hardly took his foot off the gas and was absolutely pounding on it. But, wait, there’s more. Three more drivers are under investigation for exceeding the maximum delta during their non-flying laps. As of now, the list features Russell, Lando Norris, and Guanyu Zhou.
Q1 in the books and we’ve got 3 x investigations for pit exit incidents (Verstappen/Russell/Alonso), plus incidents noted for maximum delta (Russell/Norris/Zhou) and failing to slow under yellow flags (Hamilton) – could be a busy evening for the stewards #F1 #MexicoGP
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) October 28, 2023
While the latter doesn’t seem penalty-worthy, it almost looks like Hamilton, Verstappen and possibly Russell too, might just have nailed the criteria for a grid drop. And as a matter of fact, in a similar pit lane incident from the Singapore Grand Prix this year, the FIA publicly admitted that Verstappen should’ve received the grid penalty.
Hence, will the post-qualifying hours be showered with grid penalties for the drivers?