Satellite view of the circuit, as it appeared in 2018
The race marked its debut in the Formula One Championship calendar under the name Mexico City Grand Prix. On 8 August 2019, it was announced that the Mexican Grand Prix would remain on the calendar until 2022, though it would be renamed to Mexico City Grand Prix starting in 2020, in order to emphasize the support from the government of Mexico City.[6] The edition was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 race was originally to take place on 31 October, but was moved a week later due to the reduction of the overall number of Grands Prix in the calendar, from 23 to 22.[7] This was the twenty-first World Championship Grand Prix held in Mexico.[8]
The weekend featured three practice sessions, each lasting one hour.[11] The first practice session started at 11:30 local time (UTC−06:00) on 5 November, and ended with Valtteri Bottas fastest for Mercedes, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.[12] The second practice session started at 15:00 local time, also on 5 November, and ended with Verstappen fastest ahead of Bottas and Hamilton.[13] The third and final practice session started at 11:00 on 6 November with the Red Bulls of Sergio Pérez and Verstappen fastest, followed by the two Mercedes.[14]
Qualifying
Qualifying started at 14:00 local time on 6 November.[11]
^1 – Yuki Tsunoda was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[18]
^2 – Lando Norris was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[19]
^3 – George Russell received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.[19]
^4 – Esteban Ocon was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[19]
^5 – Lance Stroll was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[18] He also received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. The penalty made no difference as he was already due to start from the last position.[17]
Race
The race started at 13:00 local time on 7 November.[11]Valtteri Bottas started the race from pole position but was overtaken at the first corner by Max Verstappen. Bottas was then hit by Daniel Ricciardo from behind at the next corner with the stewards deciding neither driver was to blame for the incident.[20] This put both drivers at the back of the field with neither scoring any points at this race.
Max Verstappen was leading for most of the race with Sergio Perez taking the lead for a short while, during the period that Verstappen had pitted and he had not. Perez became the first Mexican driver to lead his home Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton was in second with Verstappen having a clear lead over him. Hamilton and Perez were close towards the end with Perez not far from trying to get past him.[21] Hamilton managed to keep second place and Perez came home to finish third. By finishing 3rd, Pérez became the first Mexican driver to get a podium at home.[22]
Valtteri Bottas took the fastest lap of the race, but did not receive the point for it as he finished outside the top ten. In line with the regulations, the fastest lap point was not redistributed.[23]
.jpg)
