Lance Stroll retires from Mexico City Grand Prix

Celebrating his birthday on race day, Lance Stroll headed to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez after an inspired drive at the United States Grand Prix just one week earlier.

Practice

Lance snuck into the top ten with a time good enough for P10 in FP1. The second practice wouldn’t be quite as pacey for Lance as the Aston Martin F1 Team opted to put the Medium tyres through their paces. Lance sat P18 on the timesheets at session’s end.

The third and final practice saw an improvement of four positions for Lance, as he went fourteenth quickest, this time on Soft Pirelli rubber.

Qualifying

The grid-deciding qualifying session was short-lived for Lance, as he qualified P18 in Q1 and progressed no further.

WATCH: 2023 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS

Grand Prix

Aston Martin adjusted the set-up of Lance’s car prior to the race, so a pit lane start was the price he paid for a potentially faster car on Sunday.  

At the expense of the damaged Red Bull of Sergio Perez, Lance made up his first position and swiftly followed that up with a pass for P18 on Esteban Ocon.

By Lap 10, Lance had closed in on team mate Fernando Alonso and on Lap 12, the drivers inverted their positions, such was the pace differential.

As the lap counter ticked over to 22, a flurry of pit stops promoted Lance to P11 by the 26th tour. Unfortuantely, the drivers who had stopped sooner now had the pace advantage and he began conceding positions to the likes of Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris.

Pitting from P12 on Lap 31, the timing of Lance’s stop was less than optimum as he re-joined the race in P18 just before the red flags waved on Lap 35.

Having gained a position from the stricken Haas of Kevin Magnussen, Lance took the restart on Hard tyres. He proceeded to make his way past Logan Sargeant on the restart, followed by Zhou Guanyu and the spinning Tsunoda.

In the closing stages, Lance became embroiled in a five-car battle for the final point as Nico Hulkenberg, Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas and Lance vied for honours.

Lap 66 would spell disaster for Lance, as he attempted an overtake on Bottas at the stadium section. The move was almost successful, but the pair made contact damaging car and signalling the end of Lance’s race just five laps from home.

WATCH: 2023 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX HIGHLIGHTS

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Lance Stroll – Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team Driver:

“We had a slightly better car after making some set-up changes overnight, but we still don’t have the pace that we need to compete at the front of the grid. I had to retire due to contact with [Valtteri] Bottas between Turns 13 and 14. Our focus now shifts to Brazil and trying to maximise the final Sprint weekend of the year. I know everyone trackside and at the Campus is pushing hard to keep improving, and that’s all we can do right now.”