Mexican GP

Mexican GP FP3: Sergio Perez leads a Red Bull 1-2 in final practice

Kevin Peterson07 mins

Sergio Pérez topped the final free practice session in front of his adoring home crowd at the 2021 Mexican GP. Max Verstappen was in second position, 0.193 seconds behind the Mexican. Lewis Hamilton was in third position with a gap of 0.651 seconds behind the leader. The sixty-minute long all-important third free practice session started under sunny conditions with air temperatures at 17 degrees C and track temperatures at 35 degrees C. The track had cement dust deposited on it due to oil leakages from the support races making it even more slippery. The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C2), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C3), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C4). After silence for the first five minutes, Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver on the track on a used set of soft compound tyres. The young Japanese driver was joined by Lance Stroll and George Russell. Tsunoda and Stroll will start from the back of the grid due to penalties for new power unit components. Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon will also join them at the back for the same reason. Russell has a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change. Tsunoda set the first timed lap and improved on it with a lap time of 1m19.744s. Norris joined the fray on a new set of soft compound tyres and slotted into second position. With less than forty minutes to go, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers came out on the track on a set of soft compound tyres. Both drivers kicked up cement dust and slid around on the oily patch. Bottas went to the top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m18.661s with Hamilton 0.109 seconds behind him. Pérez cheered by his home crowd went faster than Bottas by 0.036 seconds. Times started tumbling as the track improved and Charles Leclerc went to the top of the time sheets. With less than thirty minutes to go, Verstappen finally came out of the garage and took first position with a lap time of 1m17.537s. Verstappen was faster than Pérez by 0.397 seconds. Bottas then improved to take second position, just 0.171 seconds behind the Dutchman. Verstappen further improved on his lap time by 0.320 seconds. With less than fifteen minutes to go, Leclerc was the first driver to come out for the final qualification simulation runs on a set of new soft compound tyres. But Leclerc had a spin and went back into the pits. Hamilton on his first flying lap improved to third position but still 0.686 seconds slower than Verstappen. Pérez then slotted into second position, just 0.055 seconds behind Verstappen. On his second flying lap, Pérez went fastest with a lap time of 1m17.024s. Verstappen could not get his brand new set of soft compound tyres in the right temperature range and stayed in second position, 0.193 seconds behind the Mexican. Hamilton and Bottas were in third and fourth positions. Sainz and Tsunoda finished in fifth and sixth positions, nearly one second slower than the leaders. Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly were in seventh and eighth positions. Leclerc and Norris rounded off the top ten positions. It is advantage Red Bull Racing going into the qualification session. 2021 Mexican GP FP3 Results: Pos No Driver Nat. Team Time Gap Laps 1 11 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1:17.024 15 2 33 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1:17.217 +0.193s 12 3 44 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1:17.675 +0.651s 14 4 77 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1:17.708 +0.684s 17 5 55 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari 1:18.029 +1.005s 20 6 22 Yuki Tsunoda JAP Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:18.037 +1.013s 25 7 3 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1:18.121 +1.097s 15 8 10 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:18.202 +1.178s 18 9 16 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari 1:18.213 +1.189s 20 10 4 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1:18.312 +1.288s 16 11 18 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1:18.352 +1.328s 20 12 7 Kimi Räikkönen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:18.531 +1.507s 22 13 99 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:18.556 +1.532s 19 14 5 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1:18.614 +1.590s 17 15 14 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1:18.847 +1.823s 15 16 31 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1:18.999 +1.975s 17 17 63 George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1:19.211 +2.187s 19 18 47 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1:19.238 +2.214s 14 19 6 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1:19.313 +2.289s 12 20 9 Nikita Mazepin RAF Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1:20.479 +3.455s 15

Read More

Russell handed a five-place grid penalty after gearbox change

Kevin Peterson03 mins

George Russell is set for a five-place grid penalty for the Mexican GP after taking a new gearbox following problems in the second practice session. Russell was the last of the 20 drivers to take to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in FP2, and was quick to report a gearbox problem. Initially, it appeared as if a rear body cover screw that had fallen out as Russell pulled out of the Williams garage may have been at fault. But Williams soon dismissed the theory, insisting it was an internal gearbox issue that led to an investigation, confining Russell to the garage for the rest of the session. The FIA has since confirmed Russell is to take a new gearbox for the remainder of the weekend, which will result in an automatic five-place grid drop. Russell said: “I had a gearbox failure. Not ideal. It’s only Friday. Points are awarded on Sunday.” Putting the gearbox issues aside, Russell added: “FP1 was a surprisingly good session for us. I had a good rhythm, showed some good race pace, and I think that’s what it’s all going to be about. “This high altitude makes it difficult for the cooling, the brakes, the engine, so if we can be on top of that, we can be on the front foot for the race.” Despite his strong Saturday form this season, Russell will drop towards the rear of the grid where he will join Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda who have taken power unit penalties.

Read More

Hamilton admits Red Bull are ‘too quick’ after Friday practice

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Mercedes team secured a one-two in the first practice session at the Mexican Grand Prix on Friday, but that glory was short-lived as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen outperformed both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in FP2. The defending world champion got candid about the situation and admitted that his championship rival may simply be too quick this weekend. The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez has always seen strong performances from the Red Bull, and this weekend may not be any different. Hamilton knows that he needs to step up his game, with even his teammate Bottas trumping him in both the practice sessions so far. More significantly, Verstappen was half a second quicker in FP2. “They’re definitely too quick for us at the moment,” Lewis Hamilton said after the session, before adding that he still feels like they have a strong chance to keep pace with the Red Bulls. “The car has been feeling OK. I’ve not really had any major issues,” he said. Lewis Hamilton is always one to stay positive, but his honest assessment reveals that the Red Bulls currently have an advantage. “We’re giving it absolutely everything we’ve got, and I think they are just quicker than us at the moment,” he said, before pointing to their lack of downforce as a possible culprit. He then assured that the Mercedes team will be busy finding a solution to the pace disadvantage. Bottas also spoke up and complained about low grip on his car. He said that it was a dusty track and that made things more difficult for him and his teammate. Nevertheless, practice pace is often not necessarily reflective of race pace. The Mercedes drivers have always been strong for the long haul on Sunday, and the tight results of the practice sessions make it impossible to predict which team will be dominant on Saturday qualifying and on the main race on Sunday.

Read More

Mexican GP FP2: Verstappen tops as Russell and Ricciardo experience gearbox issues

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Mercedes dictated the early pace in Mexico, but championship leader Max Verstappen bounced back in the afternoon session to end the opening day on top. The Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton finished second and third, followed by home hero Sergio Perez. The start of the session saw the majority of drivers opt for the yellow-banded medium compounds, albeit the Mercedes cars kicked off their afternoon work on the hard compound after only using Pirelli’s soft tyres in Free Practice 1. The Brackley-Brixworth-based outfit was quick in the first practice, but found it difficult to replicate that speed in the early part of the second session. Hamilton had a lap time deleted for double-yellow flags, and then locked up on hard tyres while Bottas was unable to set an eye-catching lap time on the white-banded tyres. When the time arrived for the usual qualifying simulations, Verstappen managed to set the fastest time of the day with a 1m17.301 to go four tenths of a second quicker than Bottas. The Finn’s time was, however, a remarkable result given the fact that he set that after racking up multiple laps on his soft compound. The Nastola-born driver’s team mate was not satisfied with the balance of his W12, and finished half a second off his championship rival’s benchmark. Home hero Sergio Perez finished fourth, just a whisker behind Hamilton. While Ferrari drivers made mistakes in the opening session, they had a smoother run in the afternoon. Carlos Sainz finished fifth fastest, but he was over a second adrift of Verstappen. Following his strong showing in Texas, Charles Leclerc completed a total of 28 laps, setting the seventh fastest time. The Monegasque seemingly had issues with the balance of his SF21 over a single lap, but his long run pace was impressive compared to Ferrari’s main rival, McLaren. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly is eager to deliver a good result after his technical woes at the United States Grand Prix. The Frenchman finished P6 in between the two Ferraris with his team mate Yuki Tsunoda ending up eighth fastest. The Japanese driver will face a back-of-grid start on Sunday after taking new PU components just as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. The Canadian took 17th, but his result is less important as his focus centred around the race setup of his car. It was not an easy session for Daniel Ricciardo and George Russell with both drivers having endured technical woes which were related to the Mercedes gearboxes in their cars. The Australian, who scored his latest F1 win at Monza in early September finished P15 after only completing seven laps on Pirelli’s hard compound. The Williams racer notched up a total of two laps, finishing 20th without a time on the board. 2021 F1 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (2) Pos. No. Driver Car Time Gap Laps 1 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:17.301 28 2 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:17.725 +0.424s 31 3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:17.810 +0.509s 26 4 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:17.871 +0.570s 26 5 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:18.318 +1.017s 29 6 10 Pierre Gasly Alphatauri 1:18.429 +1.128s 29 7 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:18.605 +1.304s 28 8 22 Yuki Tsunoda Alphatauri 1:18.644 +1.343s 31 9 5 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1:18.681 +1.380s 32 10 14 Fernando Alonso Alpine 1:18.732 +1.431s 27 11 7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo 1:18.841 +1.540s 25 12 4 Lando Norris Mclaren Mercedes 1:18.979 +1.678s 27 13 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:19.227 +1.926s 31 14 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:19.431 +2.130s 37 15 3 Daniel Ricciardo Mclaren Mercedes 1:19.521 +2.220s 7 16 47 Mick Schumacher Haas 1:19.620 +2.319s 30 17 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:19.730 +2.429s 36 18 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1:20.820 +3.519s 17 19 9 Nikita Mazepin Haas 1:21.581 +4.280s 28 20 63 George Russell Williams 2

Read More

Mexican GP FP1: Bottas tops Mercedes 1-2 as Hamilton is under investigation for track limits breach

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Valtteri Bottas kicked off the Mexican Grand Prix weekend by setting the fastest time in opening practice, ahead of Mercedes Formula 1 teammate Lewis Hamilton. Dusty conditions and a green track made for challenging, low grip conditions for the drivers, but Bottas appeared unfazed as he lit up the timesheets with a 1m18.341s to finish 0.076s clear of Hamilton. Hamilton, who heads into the weekend trialing Max Verstappen in the world championship by 12 points, has been summoned to see the stewards in Mexico City between practice sessions for a track limits incident. The seven-time world champion ran wide at Turn 1 before rejoining at Turn 3 in a moment early on during the first practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Hamilton reported over team radio that he “couldn’t slow down there” but he will be investigated after FP1 for failing to follow race director Michael Masi’s notes which state that drivers must return to the track by going around the left hand side of the Turn 3 bollard, which Hamilton did not do. However, it is unlikely Hamilton will be given anything more than a reprimand for the transgression. Hamilton’s title rival Verstappen was just 0.123s off the pace as he took third, ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, who finished 0.269s down. Home hero Perez recovered from an early setback to his weekend when he missed track running after hitting the Turn 16 barriers following a spin early in the session. He was able to return to the action for the final 20 minutes. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was fifth-fastest and the final driver to get within a second of Bottas’ benchmark time. Behind Gasly was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc, who like Perez suffered rear wing damage with an off at Turn 16. Esteban Ocon ensured both Alpine cars finished inside the top 10, which was completed by Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin. During the session it was confirmed that both Yuki Tsunoda (11th) and Lance Stroll (13th) will start this weekend’s race from the back of the grid after taking new power unit elements. 2021 F1 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (1) POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m18.341s 2 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m18.417s 3 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m18.464s 4 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m18.610s 5 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m18.985s 6 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m19.463s 7 Fernando Alonso CHI Alpine F1 Team 1m19.656s 8 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m19.667s 9 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m19.795s 10 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m19.858s 11 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m20.011s 12 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m20.026s 13 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m20.030s 14 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m20.273s 15 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m20.301s 16 Antonio Giovinazzi GBR Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m20.344s 17 George Russell ISR Williams Racing 1m20.517s 18 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m21.580s 19 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m22.144s 20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m22.819s

Read More

FIA will be strict on track limits for Mexican Grand Prix

Kevin Peterson02 mins

Track limits rules for the Mexican Grand Prix have been confirmed by the FIA ahead of Friday’s Free Practice sessions. There are several areas of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit where the drivers will have to be aware of staying within the limits, as detailed in the event notes. At Turns 1, 2 and 3, any driver who leaves the track on the left-hand side between Turns 1 and 2, or passes to the left of the bollard on the apex of Turn 2, has to rejoin by driving to the left-hand side of the bollard at Turn 3. If drivers overshoot the corner at Turn 4, they must ensure that they use the Escape Road which leads back onto the track at Turn 6. At Turn 8, if a car passes completely behind the red and white kerb on the apex, it has to rejoin the track by keeping to the right of the bollards on the exit of Turn 8. Perhaps the strictest rules apply at Turn 11. Any driver who fails to stay on the circuit here will have their lap time deleted during any practice session or the race. As is usually the case, the drivers will be given three exceptions (combined, rather than three at each corner) before being shown a black and white flag. This will not apply to situations where a driver is deemed to have been forced off the track.

Read More

130,000 fans show up in central Mexico to see Perez

Kevin Peterson02 mins

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez demonstrated Red Bull’s title-winning RB7 along the Paseo de la Reforma and around the iconic El Ángel de la Independencia. Perez ended Mexico’s 50-year wait for a Formula 1 victory last season when he triumphed for Racing Point at the Sakhir Grand Prix. Perez switched to Red Bull Racing for 2021 and added a second career win in Azerbaijan. He was joined at the event by Mexican riders Didier Goirand and Ivan Ramirez, along with rally driver Benito Guerra. “It feels amazing to back here in Mexico City, I never really imagined a moment like this, I think as an athlete and a driver you always think about being on track making memories, but today was crazy, we took over Mexico City,” said Perez. “It was such a special way to start my home Grand Prix weekend. Everyone was full of energy and the people have been amazing, even camping here since last night. “I am really looking forward to seeing all the fans back at track this weekend too. “My ambitions for this weekend are to be in the mix to win the race on Sunday and it would mean everything to me to come out on top in Mexico.”

Read More

Mexican GP press conference line-up

Kevin Peterson02 mins

Thursday’s press conference schedule for the Mexican GP is out, and as usual there are a few interesting pairings to look forward to. The first pair-up that catches our attention is Lewis Hamilton and Nikita Mazepin. The veteran and the rookie have been exchanging words through the media ever since Hamilton slammed F1 for prioritizing billionaire’s kids over talented drivers. Hence, there is a bit of uneasiness going on between the duo and the reporters are definitely going to bring up questions related to the seven-time world champion’s pay driver comments. So, only time will tell if the press conference brings the two closer or drags them farther from each other. The other pair-up combination is Daniel Ricciardo and home hero, Sergio Perez. Both carry a special place in their hearts for the American continent. Also, there’s Ricciardo‘s charisma and Perez’s excitement for his home race, setting a very positive mood in the room. Hence, amazing content to look forward to from the duo. Drivers’ press conference schedule for Mexican GP Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) – Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) – Esteban Ocon (Alpine) Fernando Alonso (Alpine) – Charles Leclerc (Scuderia Ferrari) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – Mick Schumacher (Haas) Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) – Lando Norris (McLaren) Nikita Mazepin (Haas) – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG) Carlos Sainz (Scuderia Ferrari) – Nicholas Latifi (Williams) Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) – Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes AMG) Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) – George Russell (Williams)

Read More