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A week after being stripped of a second-place finish at COTA, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes were back on the second step of the podium in the 2023 F1 Mexico GP.
Starting sixth on the grid, Hamilton gained a few spots in the first laps with Sergio Perez retiring and later overtaking Daniel Ricciardo. The Mercedes ace couldn't make up ground to the Ferraris in the first stint, but the red flag provided the tire offset to his main competitors.
Lewis Hamilton gambled on the medium compound tires to last the final stint, while Charles Leclerc bolted on hard compound tires. Hamilton quickly cleared the Ferrari driver and consolidated his second place and put on a masterful display of tire management while snatching the fastest lap late in the stint.
Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok was full of praise for the seven-time F1 world champion following his exploits in Mexico. The former F1 driver wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
"Superb race management from @LewisHamilton…. Aggressive when they needed to be, looked after tyres at other times.... 6th to 2nd… final stint on Mediums with fastest lap at the end was very impressive! Bet Bono was smiling more at the end…"
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who were both disqualified in the United States GP, returned to the podium in Mexico. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen was unchallenged to his record-breaking 16th win of the 2023 F1 season.
Mercedes boss hails Lewis Hamilton's 'brilliant drive' in Mexico
Since Mercedes introduced the upgrades in COTA, there has been a spring in the step of Lewis Hamilton and a smile on Toto Wolff's face. The Brit has taken the W14 to three consecutive P2 finishes with the new package.
While the disqualification in Austin muddied the Silver Arrows' progress, Hamilton's second-place finish in Mexico reassured the team that it was heading in the right direction.
Team boss Wolff was also impressed with Hamilton's overall race pace, particularly the final stint. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, the Austrian said:
"The smile on our faces is because the car was strong. Once Lewis was in free air, we had so much margin in the medium. The lap times were good and the fastest lap at the end. It's been a few weekends now where we say we 'could have' but didn't. I think we need to qualify better."
"It was a brilliant, brilliant drive from Lewis. We have these oscillations in performance and we don't really know sometimes if the tyres stick. Just a few degrees of track temperature and you are out of the window," he added.
F1 returns to Brazil this weekend where the Silver Arrows team claimed their most recent win last season.
