‘I could almost taste it’: Hamilton bids to end F1 grand prix drought in Mexico

OOnly two drivers have won the Mexican Grand Prix in the last six years and are appropriately the key players in Formula 1, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The former is on a roll, having already claimed the world championship this season, and plans to complete it with clinical monitoring. For Hamilton and his Mercedes team, however, Sunday’s race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez offers redemption at the end of the season, hoping to take on the Dutchman and perhaps a real boost as they look to 2024.

At the final round in the US, Hamilton was as close to Verstappen as he has been all season, just two seconds behind the flag. He believes he could have fought for victory if Mercedes had not chosen the wrong strategy. A decision that was ultimately called into question when he was disqualified for a technical violation for excessively carrying the plank under the car.

But despite the disappointment, the pace they showed in the race was encouraging. Mercedes had brought their last major upgrade of the season to Texas, in the form of a new floor, and with Verstappen’s Red Bull team having long since shifted focus to next year’s car, the Mercedes appeared to be taking a big step have turned towards their rivals.

Mercedes were strong in the thin air and altitude of Mexico City last year, with Hamilton claiming second place and the British driver was optimistic they could go one step further this time.

“We were very close, I could almost taste it in the last one,” he said. “I think if we had had the right strategy I would have been a lot closer to winning.

“We have certainly taken a step forward. Over the next four races I can’t predict which ones we’ll be closer to, which ones we’ll be further away or which ones we’ll be further away. We were close to this last year. So hopefully we might be a little bit closer this weekend. If we have the right strategy this weekend, maybe we can really compete with them.”

Hamilton is keen to compete wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen after a frustrating season and his team is confident they will have a strong car in Mexico. However, their focus will likely be on how well the car performs, as well as whether it has closed the gap to Hamilton’s satisfaction.

The success or otherwise of the new floor was somewhat overshadowed by the disqualification in the American GP. They were effectively punished for running at too low a ride height and this weekend they will find out whether their pace can be maintained with a ride height set to meet the parameters.

Team boss Toto Wolff noted how important it was in the development of next year’s car, which although expected to be an all-new design, is based on the performance of this year’s W14. “It will be a good test of our upgrade package, to see how it performs on a track with very different characteristics,” he said. “That will be helpful for our continued learning and development for the W15.”