Antonio Felix Da Costa has confirmed his step away from the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 2024 season in a social media statement.

Former WEC LMP2 champion and JOTA Hypercar driver Da Costa will not return to the WEC next year.

The Portuguese driver has competed in the last five consecutive seasons, including this year when the JOTA Sport team made their step into the Hypercar class as a Porsche 963 customer team.

Having won the WEC LMP2 championship title in 2022, whereby he also won the Le Mans 24 Hours, Da Costa made the announcement via his Instagram social media.

“It’s with great sadness that I won’t be competing in the World Endurance Championship in 2024,” he said.

“I remember when I first started in endurance and thinking ’24-hour races?’.

“Today [it] is one of my biggest passions. Having had the pleasure to work with a amazing teams, brands, manufacturers, and especially teammates.

“Team JOTA, thank you so much for all that you did in the my life and career, best time I’ve had on a race track.

“This is not a goodbye, just a see-you-later.”

The 2019-20 Formula E champion made his WEC debut during the Super-Season of 2018-19 for BMW Team MTEK in GTE-Pro, which aligned with his responsibilities as a BMW factory driver with a BMW Andretti Formula E drive as well.

In the following season, he drove for JOTA Sport for the first time in their Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 and gained his first WEC win at the 4 Hours of Shanghai, one of five podium appearances during the 2019-20 campaign including a P2 (LMP2) finish at Le Mans.

With teammates Roberto Gonzalez and Will Stevens, the trio won Le Mans in LMP2 last year and rounded up the championship as class-title winners.

As a Porsche Formula E driver, his 2024 commitments are expected to sway towards the upcoming season after pre-season testing last week.

Meanwhile, JOTA has submitted a yet-to-be-approved application to run two drivers for two races in 2024, a year which will see just Hypercar and LMGT3 make up the full-season WEC package.

Da Costa’s final race before his 2024 WEC step-away will be this Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain in the JOTA Hypercar, after claiming an equal-best finish of sixth position at the previous Fuji race.

Despite last Tuesday’s fire having severely disrupted Formula E’s official pre-season test, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team still decided to use rookie Gabriela Jílková, who became the first woman to drive a Gen3 car.

Following the battery fire in the WAE (formerly Williams Advanced Engineering) garage, it was decided by Formula E that each team no longer had to use a rookie driver for three hours. For many who travelled to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, it meant they didn’t complete a single lap; however, Jílková was still given her opportunity to drive the Porsche 99X Electric.

The 28-year-old from the Czech Republic is an ADAC Prototype Cup LMP3 race winner but has competed in various GT4 championships throughout her career. She’s also been supporting Porsche’s Formula E efforts in the simulator.

She’s completed a significant amount of work in the simulator for the Stuttgart-based team, who were eager to reward her with an opportunity to test the actual car for her efforts. Giving Jílková the chance to drive the actual car will also support her simulator work, now that she knows “how the car feels” in real-life.

Porsche fielded Jílková in António Félix da Costa’s car last Thursday afternoon, where she completed 43 laps of the Spanish circuit on what was her debut in the all-electric series.

Reflecting on the laps she completed during the test, Jílková hailed Porsche’s car as “very special”, whilst she revealed that she got to a point where it was possible to “push to the limit”.

“I’m very happy that I got the chance at this test to drive the Formula E car on the racetrack for the first time,” Jílková said. “The Porsche 99X Electric is truly a very special car. It was an incredibly fascinating experience for me to get a better understanding of the car lap by lap and to push to the limit.”

Porsche received a lot of praise for not letting the fire disrupt their plan to give Jílková time behind the wheel of their Gen3 challenger. The German manufacturer were one of only a few teams to still use a rookie driver, as several other sides decided against using a rookie when it was confirmed that it was no longer a mandatory requirement.

Team Principal Florian Modlinger spoke highly of Jílková after the test and explained how beneficial it is that she now knows how the car feels both in the simulator and in real-life. This will only strengthen her future work for the outfit.

“Despite the reduced time in Valencia, we decided to go ahead with a rookie session and give Gabriela the opportunity to drive the Porsche 99X Electric on the racetrack for the first time,” Modlinger said. “She got a good idea of how the car feels compared to the simulator where she’d supported us.”

In a record-extending weekend, Max Verstappen dominated proceedings during the Mexico City Grand Prix as he claimed a 16th Formula 1 win of the season.

Despite his dominance on Sunday, there were several other drivers who presented performances worthy of competing for top honours in Motorsport Week’s driver ratings.

Max Verstappen – 9

Qualified: P3, Race: P1

Verstappen may have topped every single practice session for the Mexico City Grand Prix but was unable to sweep the weekend after qualifying third.

Ultimately, that didn’t matter as it gave him a powerful tow on the approach to Turn 1, where he escaped the tangle that ended his team-mate’s race. From there, he was able to run away from the pack and build a comfortable lead.

The well-oiled machine that is the Verstappen-Red Bull partnership was truly in a class of its own and the near 14-second winning margin could have been far greater without the minor inconvenience of the red flag.

Sergio Perez – 2.5

Qualified: P5, Race: DNF

While there were scenes of jubilation on one side of the Red Bull garage, home hero Sergio Perez faltered on his biggest weekend of the year.

Mexico provided the perfect stage for a drive to reassert his claim to that second Red Bull seat. And while he was a respectable 0.160s off Verstappen in qualifying, the irony of them being split by Daniel Ricciardo wouldn’t reduce the growing pressure on his position.

Perez got a blistering getaway off the line and would challenge for the lead alongside Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. What followed was an epitomic case of ‘You can’t win a 71-lap race at the first corner’. Turning in on Leclerc, who was unable to make his car disappear, Perez’s desperation superseded talent and racecraft.

He later attempted to justify the move as the option his compatriots in the grandstand would have chosen over caution, but the true cost is greater than failing to finish his home race. Instead, he heads to Brazil with yet another massive blow to his confidence.

Lewis Hamilton – 9

Qualified: P6, Race: P2

Lewis Hamilton managed to recover from a sub-par P6 grid spot to drive to a second-place finish, providing some solace after forfeiting that same result in the United States through a breach of the technical regulations.

Hamilton was the far stronger Mercedes driver over the course of the weekend and he displayed great pace and determination after the red flag.

That determination was embodied in his dispatch of Leclerc for P2, also snatching the bonus point for the fastest lap on the final lap of the race.

George Russell – 5.5

Qualified: P8, Race: P6

George Russell was unable to match the seven-time champion in Mexico despite feeling strong behind the wheel. Compromised too by a lowly grid spot given the evident pace of the W14, Russell was unable to get to grips with the tyres during the race.

He made some forward progress after the restart, but that was halted when he was asked to address his overheating brakes and lost temperature in his tyres.

He then fell into the clutches of Norris and almost slipped further to seventh, crossing the line half a second ahead of a charging Ricciardo.

Charles Leclerc – 9

Qualified: P1, Race: P3

Leclerc claimed a 22nd career pole on Saturday, but while his poor streak of converting superior one-lap pace into a race win continues, was there really any answer for Verstappen?

The long run to Turn 1 saw him swamped and caught between the Red Bulls, but the Monegasque was a faultless victim in the opening lap carnage.

Despite picking up damage in the tangle, Leclerc was still able to keep Verstappen in his sights, only denied finishing second by the red flag resetting proceedings.

Carlos Sainz– 7

Qualified: P2, Race: P4

Sainz was able to join Leclerc on the front row but the Spaniard was still no match for his team-mate despite piloting an unwounded Ferrari.

Sainz too struggled with tyre degradation but was able to hold off Russell well in the latter stages of the event.

Even with the struggles, P4 secures a solid points haul Ferrari managed to outscore a resurgent McLaren outfit for the first time since Singapore.

Lando Norris – 8.5

Qualified: P19, Race: P5

Qualifying was a disaster for Norris as the Briton aborted his two early runs in Q1. That left him with no representative time and a spin by Fernando Alonso saw him eliminated.

Someone of Norris’ calibre should have been better prepared for the situation, particularly after being left with no real banker lap time and he was caught out.

Norris joked that his mistakes forecasted a more entertaining race. His recovery to fifth was emphatic. He carved through the field on an offset strategy, which will leave him ruing a compromised Saturday which cost him yet another podium finish.

Oscar Piastri – 6

Qualified: P7, Race: P8

The sole McLaren in Q3, the rookie showed some decent pace on Sunday and found himself in plenty of battles throughout the day.

One of those involved a coming together with Yuki Tsunoda, although the AlphaTauri driver was probably more to blame for the incident.

Again, Piastri’s struggles with tyre management limited his progress and saw him fall backwards in the latter stages of his stints.

Daniel Ricciardo – 9.5

Qualified: P4, Race: P7

As Perez floundered, Ricciardo delivered a stellar weekend almost effortlessly and, in doing so, cranked up the pressure on the Red Bull driver greatly.

He split the Red Bulls in qualifying with inferior machinery with a lap time that was within 0.25s of pole.

While the Perez comparison was erased at Turn 1, Ricciardo backed up his Saturday statement with some sturdy defence against the two Mercedes’ and McLarens.

While he eventually lost positions to Hamilton and Norris, Mexico showed flashes of the Ricciardo of old as he fought back to recoup those places, almost nabbing P6 from Russell.

Yuki Tsunoda – 4

Qualified: P15, Race: P12

Tsunoda qualified 15th after assisting Ricciardo to Q3 with a tow in Q1 and Q2, having sat out FP1 for Isack Hadjar. A grid penalty for new engine components already sentenced him to a back-of-the-grid start.

As Ricciardo proved, points were more than capable for AlphaTauri on Sunday and the same was true for Tsunoda.

That was at least the case until he twice made contact with Piastri at the opening complex. The second incident with Piastri saw him clumsily pitch himself into a spin at Turn 1 which jeopardised any chance of points after looking set for P8 behind Ricciardo.

Alex Albon – 8

Qualified: P14, Race: P9

Albon had twice placed second in practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend but was unable to carry the same pace into qualifying on the hotter track.

Still, he should have appeared in Q3 after having his final Q2 run deleted for a questionable track limits decision. However, he would further consolidate seventh in the standings for Williams as he picked up two important points with ninth place in the FW45.

Albon blamed the red flag for ruining his race slightly, but P9 still represented the expected maximum for the Anglo-Thai driver.

Logan Sargeant – 4

Qualified: P20, Race: DNF

The American faced a mountain to climb on Sunday if he wanted to emulate his team-mate’s success after consolidating his back-row start with a 10-place grid penalty for yellow flag infringements in qualifying.

Sargeant showed a solid pace early in a more encouraging Sunday when compared to his Friday and Saturday running.

A fuel pump issue led to retirement on the last lap as Williams sought to prevent any unnecessary damage to the engine.

Esteban Ocon – 6

Qualified: P16, Race: P10

Ocon looked comfortable in the Alpine, although there was an apparent lack of pace for the Anglo-French marque which resulted in a Q1 elimination. He was then promoted to 15th after the application of Tsunoda’s grid penalty.

It looked to be a pretty anonymous weekend for Ocon at first when he lost three places on the opening lap following the decision to start on the Hard tyre.

The timing of the red flag afforded a free pit stop and brought Ocon right back into contention as he passed team-mate Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg on his way to the final point.

Pierre Gasly – 6

Qualified: P11, Race: P11

It just seemed to be one of those weekends for Gasly, who was unfortunate to lose out on points given he had been the faster Alpine over the course of the weekend.

He ran in the top 10 early on, but in contrast to Ocon, he was hampered by the timing of the red flag which saw a chance at a small points haul slip away through no fault of his own.

Nico Hulkenberg – 6.5

Qualified: P12, Race: P13

Hulkenberg was surprised to have dragged the Haas to P12 on the grid, but the natural order seemed to be restored as soon as the Haas started to devour its tyres.

With plenty of retirements through the field, an unlikely point was lost after attempting to stretch the Medium compound to the end from the red flag.

Kevin Magnussen – 5

Qualified: P17, Race: DNF

Magnussen lagged behind Hulkenberg in qualifying again, but he had sat out FP1 for Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman and lost on FP3 running due to a wheel issue.

A rear suspension failure caused by overheating brakes triggered a red flag at the halfway stage after he found the walls in a high-speed off in the second sector.

His VF-23 was destroyed, but Magnussen clambered out unhurt and under his own power. Moments before, he had fallen to 17th behind Sargeant.

Guanyu Zhou – 4.5

Qualified: P10, Race: P14

Alfa Romeo sprung a surprise in qualifying with both cars advancing to the Q3 shootout, Zhou helped by the deletion of Albon’s final Q2 lap time due to track limits.

The pace disappeared thereafter creating a frustrating day for Zhou who said his race was destroyed by the red flag. Zhou suffered as a result of a tyre advantage and killed all hopes of progress. That was until a promotion from 15th to 14th by virtue of a time penalty for team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Valtteri Bottas – 4

Qualified: P9, Race: P15

Bottas was dropped from 14th to 15th as a result of a coming together with Lance Stroll in the stadium section.

The Finn had stopped just before the red flag which dropped him well down the order and he was not able to recover from there despite an impressive qualifying.

Lance Stroll – 6.5

Qualified: P18 (Pitlane start), Race: DNF

Stroll was unable to find grip during qualifying but his race performance showed quite the improvement on recent form, despite the end result.

The Canadian started the race from the pits after reverting back to the pre-Austin package.

He was quick to catch and pass his veteran team-mate, Fernando Alonso, and held P14 until the late nerf from Bottas led to Aston Martin calling time on his day.

Fernando Alonso – 5

Qualified: P13, Race: DNF

It was another disappointing weekend for the two-time champion, who was unable to extract anything of note from his Aston Martin in the race.

P13 in qualifying, he quickly began to slip backwards after picking up damage from debris left behind by Perez’s Lap 1 incident.

The pace difference to Stroll was enough to mean Alonso would let the Canadian by early on. The car was retired shortly after being passed by Sargeant post-red flag.

Inter Europol Competition driver Fabio Scherer spoke to Motorsport Week in-depth about the Centenary Le Mans 24 Hours, nursing an injured foot en route to the LMP2 win, and more.

A tale of perseverance and resilience propelled Scherer and Inter Europol Competition to become Centenary Le Mans winners and title-contenders for the final World Endurance Championship LMP2 title.

Scherer joined the Inter Europol Competition team in 2022 across a select number of WEC races, the full European Le Mans Series campaigns, and Le Mans inbetween.

His FIA silver licence was uprated to gold by the end of 2021, which meant that he could not continue with the WEC United Autosports team he was part of during his debut sportscar season.

This year has been the most successful for the Polish bakery privateer, most notably winning in a highly competitive LMP2 category at the Centenary Le Mans 24 Hours.

With an injured foot, Scherer won the race with Jakub ‘Kuba’ Smiechowski and Albert Costa in the team’s WEC #34 Oreca 07 LMP2 car.

“Working with Albert and Kuba has been great,” said Scherer.

“Albert is a quick driver, and Kuba has been a great silver because he doesn’t make any mistakes.” 

“I have seen a massive improvement from the whole team since last year.”

Scherer has competed in both European Le Mans Series and WEC campaigns for IE Competition, most notably at the 2022 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps when the team charged from last on the grid to second place.

Earlier this year at the 6 Hours of Spa, Inter Europol finished on their first WEC podium after a rain-soaked race, and without tyre warmers.

One of the highlights, for both Scherer and the Inter Europol team, has been the Centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans, which marked 100 years since the inception of the famed endurance race at La Sarthe.

Costa qualified the car in 13th position in LMP2, after his best attempts were unable to get the team through to the Hyperpole session.

Scherer, meanwhile, took the race start again this year in one of two Inter Europol Oreca 07s.

However, early in the race a very localised rain shower affected the first sector, as a mixture of the 62 cars opted for slicks or wet compound tyres.

“Driving at Le Mans start on slicks, we decided to be cautious,” he said, with the car amidst a fiesty LMP2 field.

“The race is not won on the opening lap or the opening hours.”

Unlike at Spa-Francorchamps, the rain at the start decreased in intensity.

Ten minutes after the safety car was deployed for Jack Aitken’s opening-lap incident — which caused debris at the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight — the team changed to Kuba as a “tactical decision” to start fulfilling his drive time.

At such an early point, it was during this pit stop when Scherer’s left foot was run over by the Corvette. 

It was only after the race when the full details of the injury became apparent: ligament damage and an incomplete fracture, which had caused him to limp in and out of the car for the majority of the race.

Following intervention from the team’s physiotherapist, while still uncomfortable, Scherer was well aware of the speed in the package; his determination was stronger than ever to continue pushing, with the car in winning contention.

“The adrenaline helped mask the pain during the course of the race, plus my professional background in skiing helped me find ways of coping with the injury.

“I still braked with my left foot, but instead of turning the ankle, I pushed my left leg, having never braked with my right foot so I did not decide to do so.

By the sixth hour, the team’s #34 Oreca 07 climbed up into the lead of 22 LMP2 cars which were running.

“We were fighting for a potential Le Mans victory, and I did not think much about the injury — just our target to win.”

It was, however, not until the night phase arrived when the rain became more present, and caused several cars to go off the track as others steadily nursed their slicks back around to the pit box for wets.

“Surviving and keeping the lead during the heavy rain conditions in the night truly earned us the win.

“The long safety car period meant we couldn’t keep tyres up to temperature, but we just wanted to make it through the most critical phase.”

Kuba and Costa primarily interchanged driving duties during the early hours of the morning, until Scherer got back in the car at approximately 6.30 am local time.

A quadruple stint by Costa preceded Scherer’s final stint to lead Inter Europol towards their maiden victory, albeit with Swiss compatriot Louis Deletraz catching behind for Team WRT.

“I was not able to fulfil my best potential nursing the injury, but I was able to do enough to keep [Louis] Deletraz from catching me in the final stint.”

By the chequered flag, Scherer finished 21 seconds ahead of second-placed Deletraz of the #41 WRT.

The #34’s quickest race lap time was a 3:37.180 by the Swiss driver set on Lap 158, enough for the fifth-fastest race lap in the LMP2 category by the end.

“Taking the chequered flag was an unbelievable high, a memory I’ll never forget.

“After showing potential for the win last year and encountering an alternator failure, it felt like we completed something we started a long time ago.

“Our reliability was fine throughout the race, apart from a brief trip through a gravel trap.

“Compared to the start, the car felt dramatically different after various weather conditions, components like the clutch and brakes were worn in, and the track was rubbered in.”

The team won from 13th on the grid, a feat never achieved in the LMP2 category before, and Scherer described the podium view over a record-high attendance of fans.

“Wherever you looked, there were people.

“The atmosphere was incredible at the Centenary Le Mans.

“It was amazing to stand on the top step of the podium, and share the celebrations with the team — it was a crazy, emotional positive from a small team from Poland against big names like JOTA, WRT and United Autosports.”

“After the race, we saw and stopped by some fans on a roundabout and decided to share the champagne with them and show them the trophy.

“Hearing (car) horns as others joined in celebrations, it was amazing to see how much the win meant to everyone else as well as our own team.”

The injury took three weeks to recover through bespoke training, although the time passed quicker than expected, according to Scherer.

After securing the full 50 points from Le Mans, the #34 crew scored fourth place and 10 points at Monza just four weeks after Le Mans.

Their title rivals, the #41 WRT crew, won the 6 Hours of Fuji in LMP2 whilst the #34 IE Competition team managed ninth place and two points.

WRT’s #41 crew of Rui Andrade, Louis Deletraz and Robert Kubica lead the LMP2 standings on 135 points, as the #34 crew sit on 102.

Most crucially, Inter Europol must win in Bahrain to narrow down the gap, if not also to defend their P2 spot from the #22 United Autosports team situated one point behind.

After a difficult 6 Hours of Fuji, Scherer consolidated on the team’s expectations into the 8 Hours of Bahrain finale on 4 November.

“We want to finish the season on a high in Bahrain, and Fuji was our low and consistency was lacking a bit.

“Bahrain will be full-risk with no opportunity to waste if we want to become LMP2 champions from P2 in the standings.

“We should be very proud of our performance this year regardless of the result.”

Scherer shared the disappointment for LMP2’s WEC departure in regards to IE Competition’s recent progression, but points out the expectations of a growing Hypercar class.

As winners this year, Inter Europol are automatically invited to next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours which will still feature LMP2 competition, even if not in the full-season WEC package.

Above all, Scherer’s ardour to win the Centenary Le Mans was so intense, that even a foot injury did not overshadow his perseverance having spent much of the year preparing for one of the most decorated editions of Le Mans since 1923.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner admits he was “very surprised” that Ferrari avoided fitting the Medium tyre to Charles Leclerc’s car for the Mexico City Grand Prix restart.

Max Verstappen had immediately got ahead of polesitter Leclerc at the start, stretching out a 4.6s lead by the time he pitted for the Hard compound at the end of Lap 19.

Ferrari, however, extended Leclerc’s first stint until Lap 32, one lap before its attempt to prolong a one-stop strategy was negated by Kevin Magnussen’s high-speed shunt.

Horner has echoed Verstappen’s admission that Red Bull had been angling for a two-stop prior to the race being suspended on Lap 35 to repair the damaged barrier at Turn 9.

Asked if a two-stop strategy had been Red Bull’s pre-race arrangement, Horner said: “Yeah. So we went aggressive today. The compounds had stepped down a compound.

“A one-stop felt, you’re hanging on a bit, so we felt we’d attack the race, and Max was very keen to do an attacking strategy even if he conceded track position to be on the right tire. And that was the plan from Friday.”

Like Red Bull with Verstappen, Ferrari opted to leave Leclerc on the Hard for the restart amid concerns over tyre degradation.

However, the Monegasque driver struggled on the white-walled compound, eventually succumbing to Lewis Hamilton on Mediums on Lap 40 and trailing home a distant third.

After Leclerc had managed to run almost half the race on the Medium, Horner says he was certain Ferrari would revert back to the middle-range tyre to attack Verstappen.

“That red flag was at the worst possible time in the middle of a two-stop. It neutralizes the race, and of course we’ve only got a Hard set of tires,” Horner explains.

“We thought Leclerc after that long first stint, I was convinced they’d take a set of Mediums because it’s worth about five meters off the start line. I was very surprised they went with the Hard tyre. You saw the Medium on Hamilton, and he was OK in the end.”

Although Ferrari reassured Leclerc that Hamilton’s Medium tyre would drop away, the Briton extended the gap in the closing laps and set the fastest lap on his final tour.

Having stormed to pole position on Saturday, Leclerc concedes that Ferrari’s troubles on the harder compound exposed the continued inconsistency of its SF-23 car in race trim.

“I think it still confirms the weaknesses of our car, where it’s a very peaky car,” he addressed. “And whenever we get out of the optimal window of the car, we are losing too much time. And that’s exactly what happened on the Hard.

“At first, I thought I could do quite a good job once we stopped. But then there was a red flag, the tyres cooled down, we went back out and the feeling was just not the same and I couldn’t find the feeling again with the tyres.

“So it’s a bit of a shame because before that it was really good, especially on the Medium. But we’ll look into it, again, on the Hard to try and understand what went wrong there, in order to improve that in the future.

“But I think short term, there’s no big fixes. I think every time we are, as I said, a bit out of the optimal window, we lose too much time.”

George Russell has revealed that overheating brakes were responsible for the tyre woes that saw him struggle during the closing stages of the Mexico Grand Prix.

Russell profited from Sergio Perez’s first-lap retirement to move up from eighth before a red flag stoppage on Lap 33 due to Kevin Magnussen’s crash also advantaged him.

The Briton utilised running Medium tyres at the restart to propel past Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo into fifth and was then heavily pressuring Carlos Sainz ahead.

However, Russell was unable to overtake the Ferrari, prompting him to be required to back off to cool his brakes which inadvertently saw him lose vital tyre temperature.

The Mercedes driver was powerless to defend against the recovering Lando Norris and only narrowly resisted the threat posed by Daniel Ricciardo to retain sixth at the end.

Reflecting on his race, Russell, who eventually classified 27s behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton in second place, said: “It was just a race dictated by tyres once again. The car felt really strong, right behind Carlos, I just couldn’t quite make the overtake.

“We had to back off as my brakes were overheating, as they were for many drivers. As soon as I backed off, I totally lost all the temperature in my tyres, I could never recover it. It was like driving on ice for the last 15 laps. A really miserable feeling and very lucky to finish P6.”

Russell concedes his issue meant he didn’t enjoy his battle with Norris, who perfectly lined up a move into Turn 4 to execute a switchback move on the exit of Turn 5.

“It’s never fun when you’re on the defending driver on the back foot, again, just really struggled throughout that race with the tyres, it was pretty clear, as soon as I backed off, I lost all the grip and I couldn’t recover,” he explained.

“Not too concerned, because I know the reason for it. It’s been two race weekends in a row for two different reasons, last week for fuel and I lost the tyres because I backed off to manage the fuel, this weekend it was the brakes. That’s at least some clarity.”

Russell managed to marginally keep Ricciardo at bay on the final lap, but the ex-Williams racer admits the Australian would have been past him with one more lap.

Asked if he was expecting the AlphaTauri to overtake him, Russell replied: “No, but for sure one more lap he would have done. He’s had a really great weekend, really happy to see him performing well. Deserves it.”

While Hamilton has maximised the improvements provided by Mercedes’ recent floor upgrade in Austin to score successive second places, Russell has lagged considerably behind his team-mate.

Russell is hoping that the next round in Brazil this weekend won’t be overshadowed by the same problems many drivers encountered with the operating range of the Pirelli tyres.

“We were strong here last year, qualified on the front row. Probably should have had two cars on the podium last year,” Russell acknowledged. “So, it’s definitely performing well, but this weekend has been a weekend about tyres as it has been for everyone.

“Yesterday was a total surprise for many teams, for good or bad. I’m hoping Brazil won’t be that sensitive,” last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix winner concluded.

Haas have confirmed that the suspension failure which dumped Kevin Magnussen out of the Mexico Grand Prix was triggered by a “heat issue” with the Dane’s brakes.

Magnussen’s VF-23 suddenly snapped and pitched the Dane straight into the TecPro barriers at Turn 9 on Lap 32, triggering a red flag for the clean-up operation and barrier repairs.

Magnussen was able to remove himself from the car unaided just moments before a fire erupted at the rear of the heavily damaged Haas.

Replays showed that Magnussen had suffered a rear left suspension failure as he traversed the high-speed esses after running in 17th.

Prior to the incident, Magnussen had been under pressure from Logan Sargeant and had shifted his brake balance rearwards in an effort to fend off the American.

Sargeant found his way past Magnussen a few corners before his eventual accident, which was caused by heat from the brakes leading to a suspected track rod failure.

Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner told Autosport: “It was a heat issue which caused a suspension failure. It was heat from the brakes.

“Kevin was defending, and it tipped over. It was just because of the high temperatures here. We just need to manage it better. Nico’s car was OK.”

On his return to the paddock, an unharmed Magnussen said: “Yeah, suspension gave up. I haven’t seen the team yet so perhaps they have some more information, but the rear left specifically, lost a lot of grip a couple of laps before and then it gave up.

“I think it was going alright. At the beginning of the race it was better and suddenly I fell off more than the others and then the suspension gave up. So I don’t know if it’s related, maybe there’s something there but I need to talk to the guys.

“It happened in a bad place and I hit the wall, so I got a knock on my hands and they hurt a little bit, but they’re fine.

One lap before the crash, Magnussen was seen running over the astroturf and kerbs at the exit of the final corner having spent much of his afternoon in traffic.

“Before that, it was going okay, I was stuck in traffic for a long time and cooked my tires, but I don’t know if whatever caused the failure had an impact for a while beforehand,” he added.

Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg looked to contend for points but had to settle for 13th at the chequered flag after struggling to hold onto his tyres.

“Nico was in a good position to get points, but then with the red flag, which we caused ourselves, we couldn’t keep the tyres in the last stint,” Steiner conceded.

“Our car can’t keep life in the tyres as other cars. We could fight for almost the whole distance, but almost isn’t good enough. Otherwise, it seems like the whole team performed well and Nico drove fantastically to try and get something.”

The failure to score points means that Haas now dropped to the bottom of the Constructors’ standings as a P7 finish for Daniel Ricciardo saw AlphaTauri draw level with Alfa Romeo.

Robin Frijns has “high hopes” for season 10 after performing well in pre-season testing last week, whilst he even won a mock-race.

Last week’s official Formula E test at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia marked the start of Frijns’ return to Envision Racing, having initially left the side at the conclusion of season eight to join the ABT CUPRA Formula E Team.

It certainly hasn’t taken the Dutchman long to settle back into the Silverstone-based squad, as he was a regular amongst the leading places in each session. Frijns was one of 19 drivers to lap quicker than Maximilian Günther did in testing ahead of season nine, which the German topped.

Frijns was often at the back in the most recent campaign and is clearly hungry to return to the front, something he proved by winning the ‘race sim’. Last Friday morning, a mock-race took place to trial how the reintroduction of pit-stops would affect the racing, whilst Safety Cars and full-course yellows also featured.

The 32-year-old claimed the win ahead of António Félix da Costa. In the regular sessions, Frijns finished fourth on the timesheets on both Thursday and Friday, with him clearly having required no time at all to adjust to the superior Jaguar powertrain. Frijns used Mahindra’s lacklustre powertrain last season, as ABT CUPRA are the Indian manufacturer’s customer side.

One-lap pace isn’t a problem for Frijns, although one concern could potentially be that he was just one of seven regular Formula E drivers not to surpass 200 laps in the test. Frijns’ total number of laps for the week was 198, whereas Envision partner Sébastian Buemi completed 276 – the most of any driver.

Nevertheless, things are looking extremely positive for Frijns ahead of the season 10 opener in January, with the mock-race win having given him and the team a “good feeling”.

“It’s been a pretty good week for us,” Frijns said. “It’s been a hectic one as well, at the beginning, but we’ve now finished a good two days of testing.

“We did the race sim at the beginning of Friday and we won that – it does not mean anything really but it’s still a good feeling and good to travel to Mexico [for the opening race of the season] with this ‘victory’. It gives us a good feeling.

“At the end the pace [of the car] was not bad either, we were always in the top five overall. We are working well within the team so we have high hopes for next season.”

Daniel Ricciardo believes he “definitely” could’ve finished higher than seventh in the Mexico Grand Prix without the red flag stoppage.

Having endured a tough return outing in the United States, Ricciardo excelled from the outset at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, winding up fourth in qualifying.

Although Lewis Hamilton soon overtook him on Lap 11, the Australian was comfortably sitting fifth when Kevin Magnussen’s hefty crash prompted a red flag on Lap 33.

Ricciardo, who could only opt for the Hard tyre on the restart, lost out to George Russell on Mediums at the second start before the recovering Lando Norris also passed him.

“I think everything was actually working pretty well,” he reflected. “Honestly the red flag I think hurt us. But I don’t want to say it too selfishly, because there was a big accident, I believe a car failure, so nothing Kevin could do. Yes, as much as that hurt our race, I would like to think because strategy and everything was looking pretty smooth; obviously the main thing is he’s OK.

“It obviously bunched everyone up and allowed some cars to use the Mediums, which we didn’t have. So yeah. I think at that point, it was probably a bit more nervous on [the] pit wall, but to still come out with seventh and six points, and nearly eight points, we got very close to George at the end, I think big picture, we have to be very happy.”

With Russell increasingly struggling in the latter laps, Ricciardo closed up and had a look into Turn 4 on the final tour, but his advances were rebuffed by the Briton.

However, Ricciardo asserts that even battling a Mercedes in his AlphaTauri usurped the frustration of marginally missing out on securing an extra points position.

“I was honestly trying as much as I could,” he said regarding the late tussle. “It was a little weird, at the start of the stint, I didn’t feel as good as towards the end. It felt like it took me a little bit to get a rhythm with the tyre.

“Then the last probably 10 laps, I was able to really start pushing harder, and yeah, I think Lando getting George probably hurt George’s tyres a little bit, so that brought him back to me.

“It was tough. I probably didn’t expect to get that close. When you’re that close, you’re like ah, we could’ve! But he protected well in Turn 4. At one point, I was trying to go on the outside, but I could see we were both going to run off and had to abort mission. He did well, he did well to defend.

“We tried, but yeah. I think ultimately, just to be battling a Mercedes at the end, that makes me more happy than just missing out on sixth.”

While he is unsure whether he could have held Norris at bay, Ricciardo is certain he would have bettered seventh if the race hadn’t been suspended midway through.

“I don’t know if Lando’s pace in that second half of the race was as good as the first half,” he assessed. “Yeah, we were let’s say holding Oscar [Piastri] at bay.

“We had gaps… it felt like at that moment, I was like, this could be a nice, lonely fifth place, and I was OK with that.

“I definitely think we could have been better than seventh, let’s say that, without the red. That’s racing. On one hand, you could say unlucky, but it can always be worse. The restart we could have had a crash or something, so to still come through, I’m happy.”

Ricciardo’s six-point haul followed up Yuki Tsunoda’s five points from Austin last weekend, elevating AlphaTauri into eighth position in the Constructors’ Championship.

“I think after last week, Yuki got five points and it was huge for the team, everyone was cartwheeling and backflipping,” he remarked. “A week later to do six points, I’m very happy.”

Max Verstappen says it would’ve been “interesting” to see how his two-stop strategy would have unfolded without the mid-race stoppage in the Mexico Grand Prix.

Starting third, Verstappen executed an excellent launch to slice in between the Ferraris, positioning his car to the inside on the approach to Turn 1 to seize the lead.

Verstappen had extended his advantage over Charles Leclerc to 4.6s when Red Bull pitted him to discard his Medium tyres for a set of the Hard compound at the end of Lap 19.

Having saved two brand-new sets of Hards, the Dutchman reveals that securing first place at the start initially aided his prospects as he was always intending to stop twice.

“I think that start definitely made it a bit easier for me in the first stint as well,” he said. “Also, because I was going to do a two-stop, so that, of course, gave me those extra couple seconds that would look great on the plot anyway, if we would have made it happen.

“So, yeah, just the tyres around here, it’s always very hard to manage, but I think we had quite decent pace in them. And then of course, we opted to box a bit earlier. And yeah, I think also on the Hard tyre, we were quite competitive, and I closed a lot of that pit stop back down.”

Emerging in seventh, Verstappen had scythed through the cars ahead yet to pit, resuming in the lead once Leclerc, who had run a longer stint, finally pitted on Lap 32.

One lap later, however, Kevin Magnussen’s high-speed shunt into the barrier at Turn 9 prompted the Safety Car to intervene before being upgraded to a full red flag stoppage.

“I think it would have been quite interesting to the end, you know, to see how much faster I could have gone a new set of Hard tyres,” he added. “Yeah, I think the strategy was looking great.

“But then, of course, we had the red flag. So basically, everything that we did, we could throw in the bin and start over.”

Despite remaining on the Hard tyre he had fitted before the suspension, Verstappen nailed the second start of the race to comfortably retain the lead into Turn 1.

“It was all about having a good start and trying to keep the lead into Turn 1, which we did,” he continued. “And after that it was just pace management to the end to keep the tyres alive, looking after the car, the brakes, you know, everything.”

He added: “Well, for me, it was quite clear that we had to do the last stint on that Hard tyre. Luckily, it had only done one lap. So that helped.

“But of course in the start, normally, the Hard tyres is a bit more difficult to get off the line, but we actually had quite a decent start on that tyre as well.”

Although Lewis Hamilton on the Medium compound overhauled Leclerc, Verstappen progressively increased his superiority to take the chequered flag with a 13.8s margin.

The three-time champion’s fifth victory in Mexico City also marked his 16th win of the 2023 season, surpassing the record number that he managed to achieve last season.

“It’s been another incredible season. I mean, the car has been unbelievable to drive in most places,” he exclaimed. “So, you know, when you then, as a team, work really well together and you try not to make too many mistakes over the whole season, then you can achieve something like this.

“So of course, I’m very proud of the achievement, because I think after last year, when I won 15, I was like, ‘well, if I can ever try and replicate something like that, I will be very happy’ and now we are here with 16.

“So yeah, just very happy with everyone’s performance in the team, you know, for the whole year for basically not making a lot of mistakes.”