F1 star forced into early RETIREMENT at Mexican Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Bahrain, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Mexican Grand Prix

F1 star forced into early RETIREMENT at Mexican Grand Prix

Three drivers left the chaotic race early

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Sunday 27 October 2024 21:57

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A chaotic start to the Mexican Grand Prix saw three drivers retire within the first 20 laps, two from an opening lap crash and one – a former world champion – with a car issue.

Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon made contact down into the first corner, sending the former's VCARB flying into the barriers and damaging the latter's Williams badly enough that he was forced to pull over to the side of the track.

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The third retiree was Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard's 400th Formula 1 race coming to a disappointing end just 16 laps into the race when he pulled into the Aston Martin garage to retire his car.

It wasn't immediately clear what the two-time world champion's issue was, but the team later revealed that he was struggling with a suspected break cooling issue.

Yuki Tsunoda was also in the wall in qualifying

What happened at the Mexican Grand Prix?

Alonso had talked throughout the trip to Mexico about his milestone race, becoming the only driver to reach 400 races entered and saying, perhaps optimistically: "I hope to enjoy the weekend, every second of it."

Meanwhile on track, the action was hectic. Lando Norris overtook Max Verstappen once racing got back underway after the safety car prompted by Tsunoda and Albon's crash, setting in motion a chain reaction of chaos.

Verstappen has been fighting his British title challenger to the very limit of the rules this season, and the FIA stewards took the view that he crossed the line with his actions following the Norris pass, giving him a pair of 10-second penalties for crossing the line when fighting the McLaren driver.

Meanwhile, the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc drove away up the road ahead of the title battle for the second race in a row.