Sunday Team Quotes

McLaren Formula 1 Team

Lando Norris (1st): "What a race! It's awesome to win here! Good start, good first lap, and I could go from there. Eyes forward, focused on what I was doing. The launch was really the key thing. Thanks to the team for giving me a great race car – and a big thanks to all the fans. Lifting the trophy here in the stadium was really special. The focus doesn't change now, I'll just keep pushing to deliver results like this and keep doing my best every weekend."

Oscar Piastri (5th): "A difficult race. It felt like we had very good pace; it was just incredibly difficult to use it with the DRS train and getting stuck in dirty air, which was a shame. We did make some progress, and I learned a lot as well. We'll take those positives into Brazil."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "A strong weekend in Mexico with a dominant performance and deserved victory by Lando, confirming that we have been able to extract the performance potential within the MCL39. This weekend's performance is important confirmation of our competitiveness and provides the team with strong encouragement for the upcoming races. Lando had a fantastic weekend, finding pace in the car right from the start of his running here in Mexico. It was a pleasure to see Lando driving the way he has this weekend, delivering an excellent Pole lap and a commanding victory. There were also promising signs from Oscar's side today. He put up a good fight racing in traffic all afternoon and was able to add more tools to his toolbox by adopting some adjustments based on what we learned throughout the weekend, in terms of driving the car quickly in these specific low-grip conditions. Thank you to all the team trackside and in Woking, as well as HPP, for the incredible support and hard work throughout the weekend. We will now debrief the double-header as a team and reset before turning our attention to Brazil as we enter the final four races of an exciting season for Formula 1."

Scuderia Ferrari HP

Charles Leclerc (2nd): "It's been a very positive weekend. We didn't come here with the expectation of replicating what we did in Austin, and in the end we executed a second great weekend, this time one step higher on the podium. I'm proud of the job our team has done. I was tempted to stop a second time earlier on during the race, but decided to stick with my Medium tyres and make it work. We did have some luck too when the Virtual Safety Car came out in the closing laps, as with Max closing in quickly it would have been more difficult to keep him behind me while losing grip on those tyres. We have to focus on each race as it comes and the standard we have set over the past two weekends has to be our target. It was amazing to feel all the support from our fans here in Mexico City this weekend, the passion in the stadium was just incredible and made us feel at home."

Lewis Hamilton (8th): "Today didn't go the way I hoped. I had a strong start, but things changed with a few decisions that were beyond my control and it just wasn't possible to recover the race after that. The stint on the Medium tyre was challenging as it just didn't suit the track today, and the final phase lacked the pace we needed. Overall though, the car has felt good all weekend and I'm grateful for the progress we've made as a team. I'm looking forward to Brazil - it's one of my favourite places to race and I can't wait to be there in red for the first time."

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal: "Overall this has been a strong weekend for us. We had a good quali and today we had strong race pace, not compared to McLaren, but to everyone else. Lewis' penalty was very harsh as he was unable to keep on the line and had to use the grass, which cost him four or five positions. It was always our plan to make just one pit stop with both cars. I was not too nervous at the end, when Max closed in on Charles, also because it's very difficult to overtake here, so I'm not sure the VSC made much difference. Now we must already focus on the next race in Brazil and we have good momentum right now, although I remember that last year Sao Paulo was not our best weekend. However, we have learnt a lot over the past few weeks. Finally, well done to Ollie Bearman, part of our family as a member of our Driver Academy. He has been quick all season, occasionally making some mistakes, but he has had a perfect weekend here. We are very pleased for him and for his team who did a good job getting both cars in the points."

Oracle Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen (3rd): "We did the perfect strategy, really optimised the final stint and I was enjoying it. I didn't expect to be on the podium today, it was quite eventful at the beginning and I had a good start. However, I went into the kerb, started bottoming out, avoided the wall by going on the grass and got back on to the track. It was quite hectic and the grip wasn't there on the Medium tyre, we quickly realised it wasn't a great tyre and tried to extend on it as much as we could. As soon as I was on the Soft tyre it felt better and we were more competitive. We did the perfect strategy, really optimised the final stint and I was enjoying it. At the end with the virtual safety car, it was unfortunate timing but sometimes it works for you and sometimes it doesn't and that is just racing, but it would have been an exciting finish. I have said before that we need everything to go perfectly for the rest of the season and it wasn't perfect this weekend, so we will just need to continue optimising our performance as much as we can. However, even with a difficult weekend, to still be on the podium is a great result. We need to analyse everything and see what we can do better to come back stronger: it will be tough but we will give it everything that we can."

Yuki Tsunoda (11th): "I felt that I showed some of the best long run pace since I've been in the Team. Unfortunately, today ended in frustration for me. There was a real opportunity to score good points for the Team but we were unfortunate with the long pit stop which disrupted a promising strategy for us, but that's racing and it happens. It's frustrating to have missed out on the points as we still have positions to play for in the Constructors', but I'll take the positives away. I was able to maximise my start again and make up a couple of positions before settling into the Medium run. In the first stint I wasn't too far off from Max, I was lapping consistently close to him and felt that I showed some of the best long run pace I have in my time with the Team. This afternoon just didn't go my way, but I'll keep pushing as I have done throughout the year."

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal: "A very well done to the strategy team because we committed to a difficult one-stop. Well done to the whole Team for never giving up on a weekend when we have been struggling a bit more than we wanted with the car. Everyone pushed hard to get to a better place and the support we got from Milton Keynes and here trackside was very strong. It was never quite enough to fight for the win here but allowed us to get another important podium with Max. His drive made the strategy work very well for us, so very well done to the strategy team because we committed to a difficult one-stop while starting on a very tricky Medium tyre, his second stint was mega, he didn't let the pace drop and what he managed to extract from the car was what we needed to make the race work. He was taking six to seven tenths out of Charles per lap and we would have had a proper fight in the last few laps without the VSC. It is part of the game, we don't control the VSC, and it's cost us a nice battle to watch and perhaps a few points. The pace from Yuki was also fast today, especially his first stint on the Medium. Unfortunately we had a fairly long pitstop with him, which is not the sort of thing which usually happens with our super strong pit crew."

Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

Andrea Kimi Antonelli (6th): "It was not an easy race today. I lost position at turn one and we were battling from there, stuck in a train of cars that we were not quite fast enough to pass. That was a shame as I think if we had managed to gain a few places on the first lap then we could have had a much more positive result than P6. It is so difficult to follow in the dirty air and, when in clean air, our pace was decent. We opted to invert the cars in our second stint; we were in a train behind Bearman, and the tyre degradation was getting worse due to that. We will review whether that was the best decision or not but ultimately, we didn't have the pace today to battle forward and both George and I lost out to Piastri who seemed to have better speed. Our focus is now on Brazil and, with four races to go, getting back ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship."

George Russell (7th): "That was a frustrating afternoon. At the start, three drivers cut over the grass at turn one and either kept or gained positions without penalty. I stayed on the track but lost out, unfortunately. That also happened when Lewis (Hamilton) and Max (Verstappen) were battling; when the Red Bull came back on the track, I had to take avoiding action, go off track, and lost several positions myself. Those two moments were ultimately the undoing of our race. From there, it was difficult being stuck in a train of cars and in particular, with the dirty air. We inverted the cars to try and maximise the team result but ultimately we just didn't have the pace to fight our way forward. We've got four races to go and need to regain some momentum if we are to emerge ahead in the battle for second in the Constructors' Championship. We're relishing that fight and looking forward to Brazil."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: "The first lap here is always a bit of a lottery with the long run to turn one combined with the layout of the first few corners. We were also aware that if we moved forward, we'd have a good chance of holding those positions to the flag, and if we fell back, we'd be facing an uphill struggle battle to recover. We sadly ended up on the wrong side of that equation, dropping a place with each driver. Our difficulties were further compounded on lap six when George was pushed wide as Verstappen rejoined the track. George ended up losing places to both Kimi and Bearman as a result. The rest of the race didn't throw up much opportunity for either. We converted to a two-stop as the Soft tyre was looking strong and that allowed us to spend more time on it, but the cars around us covered. Unfortunately, at this point, we lost a place with Kimi due to a slow stop, Piastri taking advantage. He then utilised his superior pace to gain position on George on track too. Overall then a frustrating result. We've not had the car pace that we need to compete at these last two races. We have a week to regroup ahead of Brazil; we'll be putting all our efforts into achieving a good result there and fighting hard for second in the Constructors' Championship."

Bradley Lord, Team Representative: "That was a difficult and frustrating afternoon for us, racing amongst a group of cars that were within one tenth of a second on pure pace and defending from Piastri's faster McLaren behind. The opening laps did not go our way; George was one of the only drivers in the top five to stay between the white lines, and lost out as a result, then was hung out to dry on lap six and lost two more positions. He felt rightly aggrieved at the outcome, as this ultimately shaped the outcome of his race. Kimi profited where George lost out and was managing his tyres to a planned one-stop strategy behind Bearman when George and Piastri closed to within DRS range. After several laps, we decided to invert the cars to give George an opportunity to attack the Haas, as he felt he had pace in hand, but he was unable to make inroads because the tyres were past their best after the laps in the dirty air. With higher-than-expected degradation, the strategy was finely balanced between one and two stops, and we triggered the two-stop with Kimi on lap 47 - boxing with Piastri and Hamilton close behind. Unfortunately, a slow stop cost Kimi a place, and once it became clear that our cars were not able to gain any more positions, we restored the running order from earlier in the race to come home P6 and P7. It was an afternoon of damage limitation, ultimately, and our championship fight remains nail-bitingly close. Onwards to Brazil."

Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team

Lance Stroll (14th): "We always had realistic expectations coming to Mexico and historically this has been a track where we have struggled in the past so starting from P19 today was never going to be easy. I had a spin during the first lap as the track was dirty on the outside. A strong first stint on the Softs and some good moves by the team, but P14 was the maximum that was in it for us today."

Fernando Alonso (DNF): "It was a difficult race for me, and we've struggled for pace all weekend. We had a good start but then there was some contact which caused minor damage to the front wing. I was also surprised to see a few cars cutting the corner at the start, jumping ahead of us and not getting penalties. Unfortunately, about halfway through the race we had to retire the car as a precaution. Hopefully we can have more luck in the future."

Mike Krack, Chief Operating Officer: "The team pushed hard today after a challenging start to the weekend but couldn't get into the points. It was a chaotic opening to the race and during these early skirmishes Fernando suffered with some minor damage to his front wing after contact. Once things had settled down, both did well to manage the pace on the Soft tyres in the first stint and Lance gained a number of places from his start position. Unfortunately, midway through the race, as a precaution Fernando retired his car due to a possible brake issue. We need to investigate this issue further in our post-race analysis. Ultimately, we didn't have the pace this weekend. We will dust ourselves off from this double-header and look ahead to Brazil where there is another opportunity to fight for points."

BWT Alpine F1 Team

Pierre Gasly (15th): "That was a very difficult race for us as a team and we have a lot to review. After a decent start, we fell back to where we started and began managing the Medium tyre. We decided to stop quite early for Soft and had a lot of degradation, which meant a very long and challenging second stint. We will review everything but, fundamentally, we lacked performance here in Mexico City. It is a unique track but I am sure there are a few things we can do better. Hopefully we can improve for São Paulo even if the recent trend for us has been difficult. I am still motivated, we're all doing our best and pushing one another and we just need to try and maximise everything we have in our hands for the remainder of the season."

Franco Colapinto (16th): "Other than the promising pace we showed in the last stint on the Soft tyres with lower fuel, it was a long and lonely afternoon for us. We went long on the Hards to start, aiming to capitalise on any potential opportunities, and we lacked a bit of pace to really stay in the mix. There's not much else to elaborate on or takeaway from this weekend, which has been a difficult one for the team. We will keep learning, keep fighting and hope to be more competitive in Brazil. I'm excited to be going back to São Paulo to race in front of the South American fans. Last year there were a lot of emotions that weekend for various reasons and this year I want to go and enjoy it and look forward to seeing the fans supporting me, even if the results are not there at the moment."

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director: "We knew it would be a tough afternoon and that proved to be the case today. Credit must go to both Pierre and Franco for giving their all in a tough situation where the car was difficult to drive and with little to really fight for on track. In terms of strategy, we adapted mid-race and took a gamble with Pierre to switch to the Soft compound, a lot earlier than optimal, having seen other cars make the tyre work for a longer duration than anticipated. At that point, we knew Franco on the Hards would go longer and both cars would eventually converge towards the end of the race. With the front runners coming through with blue flags, we managed both cars equally and carefully to not interfere with those lapping us, while giving them both the chance to at least compete for position without taking any unnecessary risks. It has been a difficult weekend for the team. Well done to everyone trackside and at the factories for their continued efforts and we will regroup next week ahead of São Paulo."

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team

Oliver Bearman (4th): "It was a crazy race out there. I'm so happy to get so many good points for the team, we did a really fantastic job getting the car in the right window, it felt great underneath me – it was the perfect job. It's a feelgood moment also, to go side by side with Max Verstappen is a very cool feeling, he's someone I've grown up watching in Formula 1. I'm so proud of this team – we finished P4 on merit – we may have got some luck to get there, but it was our speed that kept us there."

Esteban Ocon (9th): "It's been a very solid race, and we're very happy with our weekend overall. We didn't get all the luck on our side, in terms of being in the wrong place at the wrong time in both quali and the race with the same car. Well done to Ollie and well done to the entire team, we're moving one place up in the Constructors' Championship with a whole lot of points and we should be pleased with that."

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "What an amazing race and result. A massive congratulations to everyone at this team, they work so hard – every week, every race. The car has been competitive at every race excluding the opening round, and that's credit to the team. We knew a big result would come one day, but we couldn't force it, we had to focus on our own race, and that's what we did today."

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team

Isack Hadjar (13th): "It was a frustrating race. I had a pretty good start but then I made a mistake in Turn 6 during the first lap where I lost a few places, and that compromised quite a lot of our race. We had a good strategy overall but I think we just didn't have enough pace to fight for points today. We only had used Soft tyres and that didn't help us make the difference when some guys from the back were gaining time on us driving faster on new compounds. Looking back at this weekend, I think there are still some positives to take and to carry on to the last four races of the season."

Liam Lawson (DNF): "The speed we've had all weekend has been good, so it's a shame we weren't able to demonstrate that here in Mexico. We had a really good start and there was a lot of space on the outside in Turn 1, so I filled the gap. A lot of drivers were sliding and I left plenty of space next to Carlos, but then he decided to cut the chicane without looking left. This meant he drove into the side of me and unfortunately it destroyed the side of my car, meaning we had to retire. The speed we've had all weekend has been good, so it's a shame we weren't able to demonstrate that here in Mexico. We'll of course take learnings from this weekend as we head into Brazil in a couple of weeks."

Alan Permane, Team Principal: "A very difficult weekend for us all round here in Mexico. Liam's race was over before it started, he got a very good launch at the start but was taken out on the exit of Turn 1, costing him a huge amount of damage and resulting in us having to retire the car. With Isack, despite having good pace yesterday, we didn't have that pace today. We probably should have started on the Soft tyres going onto the Mediums like most of the others but our strategy of starting on the Mediums meant we had to endure a very long first stint, which cost us a lot of time. Ultimately, we didn't have enough pace and that's what we need to go away and have a look at. We look forward to getting home after these tough couple of races in the Americas, but we'll be putting our heads down and working hard, making sure we're putting everything together for the Sprint race in Brazil in a couple of weeks time."

Williams Racing

Alexander Albon (12th): "A bit of a slow race for me. I was one of two drivers on the hard tyre at the beginning of the race which we just didn't have the pace. We committed to the one-stop strategy early on which turned out to be the slower option and didn't work for us, so we missed out on an opportunity to be dynamic and be more competitive in the midfield. It's been a couple races where we've been struggling and we need to figure out where it's coming from. We can see it in the data, we can see the issues I'm having with the car, so we need to regroup, reassess, and have a good catchup before Brazil so we can get back into rhythm and back into the top ten."

Carlos Sainz (17th, DNF): "A frustrating race as we had excellent pace today. Turn 1 was a melee of cars and I had contact with a VCARB which damaged the rim of my tyre, causing big vibrations on the first stint, and also damaged all the front tyre sensors, meaning the pit limiter didn't work. That caused the two penalties in the pit lane, compromising my entire race. It was basically a snowball effect that cost us a clear chance of getting points today, as the pace was really strong and I was very fast with both soft tyres. Disappointing end to the race, but we'll regroup and go again in Brazil."

James Vowles, Team Principal: "A very difficult day. The positive news is the car was very fast, but we were unable to use it. In the case of Carlos, the race was over after turn 1 and the damage resulted in both a flat spot but also damage to our wheel speed sensors, which are critical for the pit speed limiter. The net result is that we had to box earlier as the vibrations were significant, putting us on a two stop, which led to us going 0.2 kilometres an hour over the pit speed limit, and receiving the five-second penalty. When we came in for the second stop, we tried controlling it manually at 70 kilometres an hour, and on exit, Carlos still went slightly over the pit speed limiter, resulting in a drive through penalty, which we completed. Without the drive through penalty, and even with all the other elements, Carlos was still fighting for a point today, which is very impressive. With Alex, we didn't get it right across the board, from communication, to start tyre, to how we optimised his performance. This is a blip in what has been a strong season, so let's finish strong across the next four events."

Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber

Gabriel Bortoleto (10th): "Overall, I'm happy with today's result. Starting P16 and finishing in the points shows the strength of our race pace and the great strategy from the team. I had a strong start, made some good overtakes on track, and we managed the tyres well throughout the race, which was solid and well-executed. After a tough qualifying, this comeback means a lot. It proves that we never give up — we just kept pushing and it paid off. A big thank you to everyone at the track and back at the factory for their hard work. Now I'm really excited to head to Brazil for my first home race in Formula 1. No pressure – I'm just proud to be going there off the back of a strong weekend."

Nico Hulkenberg (DNF): "It's obviously a very tough one to take today. We had power issues right from the formation lap, which basically ended our race before it even began. It's frustrating for everyone in the team because we know the pace was there to fight for something decent. Still, we managed to bring home a point with Gabi, which is better than nothing. Overall, a disappointing weekend, but we'll work hard to understand what went wrong and fight back in Brazil."

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal: "It was a mixed day for the team. Unfortunately, Nico suffered a power issue during the formation lap, which meant he started the race with a compromised car. He did a great job driving around the problem, but ultimately, we had to make the difficult call to retire the car for reliability reasons. On the positive side, Gabi drove an outstanding race. Starting from P16 and finishing in the points with P10 is no small feat. He managed his tyres brilliantly, executed our strategy perfectly, and showed exceptional race craft in those final laps, particularly in his battle with Hadjar. The pit crew delivered an excellent stop that helped him gain crucial track position. Credit also where it's due to Haas and Oliver Bearman. They did a fantastic job today, and we can only congratulate them, even though it obviously hurts to see them take so many points in such a tight midfield battle. The good news is we get to do it all again in two weeks at Gabi's first home Grand Prix."