In this weeks email:

• Sergio Perez crashes in front of hometown fans at Mexico City GP 💥

• Mexico City GP Qualifying Speed 🏎️ 💨

• Conflict over sprint races with team principals & drivers 😠

• Will Ricciardo take Red Bull’s spot in 2024 🤔

Mexico City Grand Prix Analysis: Sergio Perez crashes 💥

Max Verstappen ended up winning his 16th race of the season at the Mexico City Grand Prix this past weekend. Breaking the record he set for last years season. Below are results from the race:

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

5. Lando Norris (McLaren)

6. George Russell (Mercedes)

7. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri)

8. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

9. Alex Albon (Williams)

10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

11. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

12. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)

13. Nico Hülkenberg (Haas)

14. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)

15. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

16. Logan Sargeant (Williams)

17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

Drivers that DNF - Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Kevin Magnussen (Haas, Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)

Other things to note:

• Hometown driver Sergio Perez took a gamble on lap 1 but ended up running into Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. Resulting in Perez having to retire the car early after getting airborne and off the track.

• On lap 33, Kevin Magnuseen ended up crashing his car into the barriers after having a rear left suspension failure. The crash resulted in red flags stopping the race and Magnussen was taken to the track medical center to further examine his hand.

• Daniel Ricciardo looked like his old self scoring points for the first time this season after finishing P7 on Sunday.

Mexico City Grand Prix Qualifying Speed 🏎️ 💨

Ferrari and Red Bull had the highest top speed at 351 km/h. Mercedes and McLaren had reasonable drag. Even with Daniel Ricciardo having a poor top speed, he was able to get great grip out of his car resulting in P4 for qualifying.

Conflict over sprint races with team principals and drivers 😠

With five of six sprint races completed so far in the 2023 season, there have been comments in recent weeks from principals and also drivers on their dislike for sprint races. One of the reasons being there is only one practice session before a sprint race. Resulting in teams having less time to fine-tune their cars.

Christian Horner recently stated on sprint races saying "I think it'd be interesting to look at the data at the end of the year of how popular the sprint race has been because, at the end of the day, it's all about the fans.”

During the Mexico City GP, Max Verstappen told the media, “There’s no satisfaction to win a sprint for me. You cross the line and say - All right, well, tomorrow is the race, the main one. That’s how it goes.”

It has yet to be said by the FIA if there will be changes to sprint races for the 2024 season.

Rumors spread around Red Bull linking Ricciardo for 2024 driver spot 🤔

After a disappointing race at the Mexico City GP and poor second half of the season, there has been rumors if Red Bull will move on from Sergio Perez and choose Daniel Ricciardo after 2024 season.

Since the summer break, Perez has scored 51 points. This is less than Lando Norris (100 points) and Oscar Piastri (53). With Daniel Ricciardo’s P7 finish, it makes you wonder if he is able to race at this level the rest of season, will he put himself in a position to partner with Max Verstappen again?

After the Mexican City GP, Christian Horner recently told Sky Sports “You couldn’t fail to be impressed by Daniel this weekend. His qualifying was outstanding, and he showed his maturity, experience and pace in the race,”

With three races left in the season, that is something to look at how Ricciardo races compared to Perez.