Tag Archives: Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Results & aftermath

Verstapen surges to record 16th win in Mexico City with spectacular race start; Hamilton overtakes Leclerc for P2 after Red Flag restart; luckless Perez out early after Lap 1 contact with Leclerc

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made his typically aggressive opening lap moves stick and converted a Lap1, Turn 1 pass on both leading Ferraris into an eventual victory in Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix. Despite being out-qualified by the pole-sitting Charles Leclerc and P2 Carlos Sainz, Verstappen used his P3 grid spot to launch a ferocious, right down the middle attack between the two Prancing Horses, emerging as the race leader after the very first turn at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. His teammate Sergio Perez tried to manage the same trick along the outside of Leclerc but ran out of room, touching tires with the Monegasque’s mount as he tried to avoid being sandwiched by the twin Red Bulls, which sent his Perez’s car airborne and into a hard landing in the runoff area. The crowd of his countrymen, so excited all weekend long, watched in mounting despair as Perez first limped his car back to the pits and then retired a few laps later when the damage was deemed too great to continue. It was another shocking result for Perez, whose season has completely unraveled after a strong start, and at the most painful venue imaginable for the proud Mexican driver.

Verstappen’s pace advantage was such that he not only pulled out a solid lead over P2 Leclerc right from the get go but was also able to doff his first set of Medium Pirellis tires in favor of the Hards much earlier than most of his competition, coming in on Lap 19 of this 71-lap contest. While he emerged in P7, he easily passed the Mercedes of George Russell for P6 on Lap 22 and then the McLaren of Oscar Piastri for P5 a lap later. As Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton pitted his Silver Arrow on Lap 25 for his own set of Hards, Verstappen made another overtake on the overachieving AlphaTauri of Daniel Ricciardo to get up to P3. The reigning World Champion then methodically hunted down Carlos Sainz’s P2 Ferrari, getting by the Spaniard on Lap 29. Ferrari then concluded that they had extended their first stint long enough and brought first Sainz in on Lap 31 and then the race leading Leclerc a lap later to give Verstappen P1 once again.

On Lap 33 the orderly sequence of events was disrupted by a massive shunt into the barriers at Turn 8 by Haas’s Kevin Magnussen. While Magnussen was gratefully uninjured, the race was quickly Red Flagged to clean the debris from his destroyed car and repair the heavily deformed Tecpro barriers. After a 20-minute delay, the race resumed on Lap 36 with a standing start and Verstappen once again breezed away, rapidly gapping the trailing Leclerc. Hot on that P2 Ferrari’s tail, though, was now Hamilton, who had changed to fresh Mediums during the Red Flag and now had the early stint advantage over Lecerc and his Hards. By Lap 40, Hamilton had made up enough ground in methodical pursuit to make a forceful lunge down the start finish straight, going wide along the outside of the track and kicking up dirt but successfully pulling past Leclerc while steaming into Turn 1. With the remaining 30-odd laps being somewhat uneventful at the front, Hamilton was never able to truly challenge Verstappen, who cruised to his record-extending 16th victory of the season out of 19 races run by a whopping 13.875 seconds over his closest nemesis of years gone by. P2 was still a fine result for Hamilton after having started from back in P6, while teammate George Russell seemed to lack for raw pace against the other elites and had to settle for P6. Leclerc came home in third place, as once again the Ferrari could not sustain their one-lap qualifying pace over the long haul. Still, he survived a partially broken front wing after the first lap incident with Perez and was able to fend off teammate in the closing laps to keep his feet on the podium and relegate Sainz to P4.

Perhaps the best drive of the day was by McLaren’s Lando Norris, who started a lowly P17 after a messed up Saturday qualifying by both team and driver. But Norris was spectacular in optimizing a clever strategy and benefitted from a little luck and a lot of skill to finish all the way up in P5. Such was Norris’ pace that the team moved Piastri out of his way on Lap 56 so Norris could hunt down Daniel Ricciardo and Russell ahead and maximize his points on the day. This the young Briton did with aplomb, getting by the Aussie’s AlphaTauri on Lap 60 and then Russell’s Silver Arrow on Lap 67. That secured Norris a mighty fifth place result, with Piastri scoring decent points for McLaren’s Contractors’ aspirations in P8. Ricciardo also had a fine day to finish P7, scoring the first points of his rather injury and rust disrupted 2023 campaign. Rounding out the Top Ten, Alexander Albon also had an excellent drive to pull his Williams up from a P14 start after a poor qualifying effort to a P9 finish, while Esteban Ocon salvaged a point for Alpine in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Mexico City GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 71 2:02:30.814 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +13.875s 19
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 71 +23.124s 15
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 71 +27.154s 12
5 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 71 +33.266s 10
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 71 +41.020s 8
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 71 +41.570s 6
8 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 71 +43.104s 4
9 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 71 +48.573s 2
10 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 71 +62.879s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is but a week away as the three race weekends in a row culminated in Brazil for the São Paulo Grand Prix at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, aka Interlagos. While Mercedes seem to be creeping closer to Red Beull’s phenomenal pace and Ferrari also look competitive anew, it’s hard not to bet on Verstappen coming out on top yet again in his amazing 2023 campaign. But, as they say, that’s why they run the race’s — and with only three of them left before the long, cold winter break I hope to see you then to savor the late season action and find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Qualifying results

Ferrari lock out front row in Mexico City with surprise qualifying pace — Leclerc on pole, Sainz P2; Verstappen only good enough for P3: Norris bounced in Q1

In a bit of a Saturday surprise, Ferrari found unexpected pace during the final qualifying session at the high altitude and quite technical Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, with Charles Leclerc laying down a blistering lap midway through Q3 that stood all other subsequent challenges to earn the Monegasque pole position for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix. His Scuderia stablemate Carlos Sainz was just a tick behind him in P2 and, to the surprise of F1 fans everywhere, as well as team Ferrari themselves, Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen could never close the gap to the Prancing Horses and had to settle for an uncharacteristic P3. Once again, it remains to be seen whether Ferrari can turn their one lap speed into race victory when confronted by what has been the outright superior long run pace of the Red Bull in Verstappen’s championship hands. But with hometown hero Sergio Perez only able to qualify his RB19 in P5, Ferrari have the ostensible advantage in the team game to try and thwart what is sure to be an aggressive challenge by Verstappen come Sunday.

Splitting the Red Bulls in another massive surprise was the AlphaTauri of Daniel Ricciardo. The affable Aussie, who missed several races with a fractured hand and hasn’t looked up to his old standard in the races he had driven after sitting out last year, managed to hustle his ride all the way to the fourth fastest lap in Q3. Starting from P4, Ricciardo might be asked to help out Verstappen and Perez come race day, as AlphaTauri are Red Bull’s sister team. But one has to hope that Ricciardo will be free to fly to see if can earn his own honors against the big boys at the front like in his glory days with Red Bull. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton got as much as he could out of his Silver Arrow with a P6 time, while George Russell could only manage P8, a sign that the W14 is having real problems dealing with the thinner air at this high altitude circuit. Oliver Piastri slotted his McLaren behind Hamilton in P7 but was the lone McLaren to make it into the top ten due to teammate Lando Norris getting unceremoniously bounced out in Q1 after botching his hot laps and the team then botching their strategy in getting him out for a final flier before time expired on the young Briton. After taking an impressive P2 in the US Grand Prix at COTA a week ago, Norris will have it all to do to even score starting from way down in P19 here in Mexico.

The two Ferrari-engined Alfa Romeos of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu also found a little something extra at altitude, with Bottas setting a final time good enough for P9 and Zhou content to save tires for the race and run only a few desultory laps en route to the tenth fastest time of Q3. Alfa Romeo’s success in quali came at the expense of Aston Martin and Alpine, with Aston’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll knocked out in Q2 and Q1 respectively and Alpine’s and Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon following that exact suit.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Mexico City GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:18.401 1:17.901 1:17.166 17
2 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:18.755 1:18.382 1:17.233 17
3 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:18.099 1:17.625 1:17.263 15
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1:18.341 1:17.706 1:17.382 15
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:18.553 1:18.124 1:17.423 16
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:18.677 1:17.571 1:17.454 18
7 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:18.241 1:17.874 1:17.623 18
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:18.893 1:17.673 1:17.674 19
9 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:18.429 1:18.016 1:18.032 17
10 24 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:19.016 1:18.440 1:18.050 15

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live on ABC beginning at 4PM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Ferrari can convert their strong starting position into a win over Verstappen and Red Bull amidst the thin air and demanding challenges of Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Results & aftermath

Red Bull’s Verstappen cruises to victory in Mexico City; Hamilton out-duels teammate Russell P2 to P4 in strong showing for Mercedes; Perez P3, Ferrari far off the pace

2022 Formula 1 Champion Max Verstappen continued his winning ways at Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, setting a new record  with his 14th victory of the season and doing so with relative ease. With the peerless Red Bull ace starting from pole, the now two-time champ lead the field from the moment the lights went out in this 71-lap contest at Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez and never really looked back. Verstappen made the most of a one-stop Soft-to-Medium Pirelli tire strategy on a day where tire degradation was less than expected and Mercedes appeared to guess wrong by betting on the Hard tires for their second stint after starting on the Mediums. With Verstappen’s Mediums holding up well despite being swapped out on Lap 25, it was really all over but the shouting as both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were left to lament lack of performance on their Hards in their radio calls back to the Mercedes pit wall while the lead Red Bull disappeared into the distance. Hamilton had executed a flawless pass for P2 on stablemate Russell on the opening lap, forcing his junior teammate to ride the curbs off the racing line and seizing P2 from Russell, but the English seven-time champ was left over 15-seconds adrift of Verstappen by the time the checkers flew.

That opening lap tussle with his Silver Arrows teammate cost Russell not only a position to Hamilton but also a podium, as the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was able to capitalize on that pivotal loss of momentum and take P3 from Russell shortly thereafter on Lap 1 to the delight of his countrymen in the stands. The veteran Mexican pilot then followed suit on tire strategy to his teammate, having come in two laps earlier on Lap 23 for the same Soft-to-Medium switch. Perez used that tire advantage to run away from Russell and secure a satisfying P3 podium finish at his home race. Further back of the top four, Ferrari had a majorly off day and were never seriously in contention. Perhaps dialing back their engines to save them for another day or perhaps just struggling at the high altitude and thin atmosphere of this Mexico City circuit, the Prancing Horses never really looked like contenders. Carlos Sainz struggled to a P5 finish some 9-seconds behind Russell and Charles Leclerc, who seems to have lost a bit of the fire since his championship dreams were extinguished a few races back, muddled through to P6. One can only hope that Ferrari put up more of a fight once back at sea level for the next race in Brazil in a couple of weeks.

Rounding out the Top 10, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo drove his best race of the season, making a slew of aggressive overtaking maneuvers after wheel banging contact with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda on Lap 51. Despite being handed a 10-second time penalty as a result of the contretemps, the affable Aussie drove like a man possessed to secure P7, making the most of a final stint on Soft tires to maximize the McLaren’s performance and dust his midfield competitors. Teammate Lando Norris was for once overshadowed by Ricciardo and could only muster a P9 finish, still adding up to solid points for McLaren in their battle with Alpine for fourth in the Contractors Championship. They were aided in that quest by Alpine’s increasing reliability issues, which saw Fernando Alonso retire with an engine issue with just six laps to go. That left Esteban Ocon as the lone Alpine to score, coming home P8, and it will be all to play for for the big fourth-place payout between the French team and McLaren in the final two rounds. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas hung on for the last point in P10, not really having the race pace in his C42 despite qualifying P6.

Top 10 finishers of the Mexico City GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 1:38:36.729 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +15.186s 18
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 +18.097s 15
4 63 George Russell MERCEDES 71 +49.431s 13
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 71 +58.123s 10
6 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 71 +68.774s 8
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 70 +1 lap 4
9 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 2
10 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 70 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight’s time — the Sao Paolo Grand Prix at Interlagos in Brazil. Can Mercedes maintain their improved performance back t sea level and possibly grab a win off of Red Bull or will Verstappen continue to add to his race-win record? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Qualifying results

Red Bull’s Verstappen pips Russell for first pole in Mexico City, Hamilton P3 as Mercedes show late season strength; Ferrari adrift at high altitude Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez

After struggling for grip at the always tricky high altitude/thin air Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen hooked up a lap to perfection when it counted most, as he so often has this championship season. Trailing the suddenly resurgent Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell late in Q3, Verstappen was able to lay down an untouchable final fast lap at the death during Saturday qualifying to secure pole for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix. With the Red Bulls struggling for grip in the hot, high altitude conditions and Mercedes paying less of a penalty for what has been a draggy car this season, it seemed that Hamilton might snatch his first pole of 2022. But it was not to be, as the English seven-time champion ultimately fell short not only of the flying Dutchman’s pace but also his teammate Russell, who will slot in alongside Verstappen on the front row with Hamilton settling for P3. Despite that momentary disappointment, this could be Mercedes best chance to win that elusive first race of the already 19-round-old campaign. In addition to Hamilton’s recent personal resurgence and Russell’s slowly improving consistency, if they can keep their tires under them for the duration of the GP, Mercedes may actually have the pace under these conditions to best Verstappen for once.

While Verstappen’s teammate and local hero Sergio Perez struggled to a P4 qualifying effort in front of his home fans, it was worse for Ferrari. The Prancing Horses seemed unmoored at high altitude, with Carlos Sainz only setting the fifth best time in the final quali session and stablemate Charles Leclerc even further off the pace in P7. The loss of downforce here really seemed to effect the F1-75 when putting power down through the low speed corners, of which there are many at this twisty 4.3 kilometer circuit. Such were their struggles that Valtteri Bottas, representing Ferrari’s secondary team Alfa Romeo, split Sainz and Leclerc with a superb P6 effort. Rounding out the top ten qualifiers, McLaren’s Lando Norris was eighth quickest and the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon qualified P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Mexico City GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:19.222 1:18.566 1:17.775 16
2 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:19.583 1:18.565 1:18.079 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:19.169 1:18.552 1:18.084 19
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:19.706 1:18.615 1:18.128 18
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:19.566 1:18.560 1:18.351 17
6 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:19.523 1:18.762 1:18.401 18
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:19.505 1:19.109 1:18.555 18
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:19.857 1:19.119 1:18.721 19
9 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:20.006 1:19.272 1:18.939 15
10 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:19.945 1:19.081 1:19.010 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix airs live on ESPN beginning at 4PM Eastern here in the Sates. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Results & aftermath

ECSTASY FOR RED BULL, AGONY FOR MERCEDES: Verstappen earns dominant win in Mexico City; Hamilton holds on for P2 over Perez but pole-sitter Bottas spins out of points in opening lap contretemps

Red Bull’s superlative pilot Max Verstappen took another step closer to earning his first Formula 1 Drivers’ title by cruising to a dominant victory at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday. The Dutch wunderkind, who started from P3 on the grid after Mercedes surprised the paddock by locking out the front row during Saturday qualifying, made an outstanding overtaking move going on the outside into Turn 1 against the pole-sitting Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and the P2 car of Lewis Hamilton. To compound the Finn’s misfortunes, Bottas was promptly spun around after contact from the rear by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, completely wrecking both fo their days although no penalties were assessed. With Verstappen also scooting around the outside of the English seven-time Champion in that impressive two-for-one maneuver, he took a lead in the race that he would never really relinquish again. As the lead Red Bull scampered away from him in the distance, Hamilton was forced to defend his vital second place for the latter portion of this 71-lap contest against Verstappen’s teammate and hometown hero Sergio “Checo” Perez. The hard charging Mexican harried and harassed Hamilton as best he could in an effort to strip even more points from the number two man in the Championship and aid Verstappen’s title hunt but Hamilton had enough left to hold on for those valuable P2 points when the laps ran out.

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2021 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Qualifying results

Bottas seizes pole in Mexico, Hamilton P2 for Mercedes front row lockout; Verstappen P3 as Silver Arrows’ pace surprises Red Bull

Despite looking faster than their key rivals during all the practices and the early qualifying rounds for tomorrow’s Mexico City Grand Prix, Red Bull was bested by their nemesis Mercedes when it mattered most during Saturday qualifying. Valtteri Bottas, who has ironically driven better than ever since being told by the team that his serviced would no longer be required in 2022, put his Silver Arrow on pole position in the thin and very warm air of the high-altitude Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Bottas was the only man to set a sub-sixteen second lap on the day, besting his more heralded teammate Lewis Hamilton by a fairly sizable .145-seconds. Better still for the Mercedes factory team, they locked out the front row and relegated the formidable Red Bull of Max Verstappen to P3. The Dutch points leader was not helped when he was forced to lift on his final effort due to a contretemps just up the road between his teammate Sergio Perez and the AlphaTauri of rookie Yuki Tsunoda as time expired in Q3. The hometown hero Perez’s lap, and his attempt to become the first Mexican to claim pole at his home GP, was completely ruined but his earlier fast lap was still good enough for P4, where he will be in the best possible position to help Verstappen get back on terms with the fleet Mercedes duo in general and his arch-rival Hamilton in particular.

Behind that fast four, the second AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly was mighty impressive and qualified P5, while teammate Tsunoda had to settle for P9 after his off that balked Perez’s final charge. Carlos Sainz headed his Ferrari stablemate Charles Leclerc P6 to P8 and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo did the same to his teammate Lando Norris, P7 to P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Mexico City GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:16.727 1:16.864 1:15.875 23
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:17.207 1:16.474 1:16.020 22
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:16.788 1:16.483 1:16.225 18
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:17.003 1:17.055 1:16.342 18
5 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:16.908 1:16.955 1:16.456 22
6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:17.517 1:17.248 1:16.761 23
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:17.719 1:17.092 1:16.763 17
8 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:16.748 1:17.034 1:16.837 22
9 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:17.330 1:16.701 1:17.158 19
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:17.569 1:17.473 1:36.830 19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

 Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 2PM Eastern on ABC here in the States. With only five races to go in 2021 and Verstappen’s lead over Hamilton a thin twelve points, maximizing performance and keeping it clean in Mexico City will be key for the two top title contenders. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Results & aftermath

Hamilton seizes victory in Mexico City, holds off P2 Vettel for Mercedes’ 100th F1 win; Bottas stays alive with P3 finish; pole-sitter Leclerc undone by poor pit stop

Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton edged closer to his amazing 6th Drivers’ Championship with a decisive win at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City on Sunday. Utilizing a daring one-stop strategy, Hamilton pitted on Lap 24 of this 71-lap contest, shucking off his original Medium Pirellis for a set of durable but pokey Hard tires. With 47 laps left to run Hamilton could be heard over the radio agonizing over that strategy and second-guessing the team’s timing. But even without the calming precense of his usual race engineer Pete Bonnington, who is on medical leave for the next few races, the Silver Arrow braintrust was able to collectively nurse Hamilton through his moments of doubt. Then they were rewarded by watching their ace driver easily hold off the pursuing Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel as the laps wound down. With the current Formula 1 spec being particularly ill-suited to close pursuit due to brake overheating issues and the ambient temperature at this extremely high altitude circuit close to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the top 5 drivers had to essentially hold station during the last third of the Grand Prix. And so Hamilton was able to convert a P3 start, as well as surviving some opening lap wheel-banging with Red Bull’s Max Vertsappen, into Mercedes’ 100th overall F1 victory. It also left the English superstar just 4 points shy of his sixth title and all but guaranteed secure that milestone next week in Austin, Texas.

For archrival Ferrari it was day of missed opportunities. After being gifted a front row lockout when Verstappen was stripped of his pole position for inexplicably failing to slow under a waved yellow flag on the last lap of Saturday qualifying the legendary Scuderia decided to split their tire strategy between their two drivers, the pole-sitting Charles Leclerc and P2 starter Sebastian Vettel. Vettel would attempt the one-stopper, matching Hamilton but running deeper on his opening stint, and Leclerc went Medium to Medium tires on his first stop on Lap 16 , which meant he would definitely have to stop again. When Vettel finally pitted on Lap 37 after being held up by a battle between midfield runners Carlos Sainz of McLaren and Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso, he switched from his starting set of Medium tires onto the Hard compound to finish the race. But he also emerged in P4, well behind his teammate Leclerc, who now led the race, as well as Hamilton’s P2 Mercedes and the third place Red Bull of Alexander Albon. A little over halfway through, it appeared the race was now Leclerc’s to lose.

But Ferrari managed to lose it for him. When Leclerc made his second stop for the mandatory switch to a second tire compound, for the Hards like the other front runners, the Prancing Horse pit crew uncharacteristically botched the tire change at the rear left, making for a 6.2 second stop, about four fat seconds longer than the other contenders. That shuffled Leclerc back behind Bottas in P4 and that was where he would finish the race. Vettel came home P2 behind the voctorius Hamilton and Bottas drove effectively after his big qualifying shunt to come home P3 after starting from sixth on the grid. That podium finish meant that Bottas also delayed the inevitable Hamilton coronation at least until the United States GP next week.

Albon drove arguably his best race since going the senior Red Bull team mid-season, keeping his nose clean and showing impressive race craft for a rookie to take P5. Albon’s teammate Verstappen saw his self-inflicted demotion from pole compounded by tangling with both Mercedes during the opening laps. The Dutch wunderkind lost positions after coming together with Hamilton going into Turn 1 and being bounced off track. He then suffering a total tire de-lamination while dicing with Bottas on Lap 5 when the Finn’s front wing contacted the Red Bull’s right rear. After crawling around the circuit en route to the pit lane for critically needed fresh rubber Verstappen emerged dead last. But he had a typically superb recovery drive to will his way all the way back up to P6 as the checkered flag waved. But Verstappen had to be rueing what might have been had he only used a bit more common sense throughout his ragged weekend in Mexico.

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2019 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Qualifying results

Verstappen takes lightning pole in Mexico City but faces investigation; Leclerc P2 & Vettel P3 for Ferrari, Hamilton P4 but P6 Bottas crashes heavily for Mercedes

Red Bull’s Max Vertsappen avenged last year’s disappointment when he was mere hundredths of second shy of pole position in Mexico City to outclass all other competitors and grab the top starting spot for tomorrow’s Mexican Grand Prix. However, Verstappen also set his fastest lap time as a yellow flag was being waved at the end of Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s race after Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas crashed heavily while approaching the final turn. The Dutchman inexplicably failed to slow at all through the yellow zone despite already having a mega-fast banker lap that no one else could top. And so the stewards are investigating and Verstappen may face a penalty that once again denies him pole at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

The pace of the Red Bull in Verstappen’s supremely skilled hands must have been a shock to Ferrari after dominating in all practices so far. But when it came time for the lap times to count and determine the grid rising star Charles Leclerc found himself about half a second behind the pole-sitting Red Bull despite absolutely throwing his Prancing Horse into corners and ostensibly starting alongside him in the front row at P2. Leclerc’s senior teammate Sebastian Vettel was third fastest while Mercedes seemed to struggle in the thin air of this high altitude venue and their ace Lewis Hamilton could do no better than P4. While Bottas was heavily winded by the harsh deceleration of his Silver Arrow’s impact head-on with a protruding Techpro barrier and was examined after sustaining such heavy G-forces he appeared unhurt. Such was not the case for his badly mauled Mercedes and while his initial time in Q3 before the shunt was good enough for a P6 start it’s possible the necessary rebuild might require enough parts replacements to push him to the back down the order or even force a start from the put lane come Sunday.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Alexander Albon again showed his promise to qualify P5, while the improving McLaren team had another strong outing in their bid to lay claim to being “the best of the rest” with Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris taking P7 and P8 respectively. Daniil Kvyat was P9 and an ailing Pierre Gasly was P10 for Toro Rosso to round out the top 10 starters in Mexico.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Mexican GP:

POSNODRIVERCARQ1Q2Q3LAPS
133Max VerstappenRED BULL RACING HONDA1:15.9491:16.1361:14.75816
216Charles LeclercFERRARI1:16.3641:16.2191:15.02418
35Sebastian VettelFERRARI1:16.6961:15.9141:15.17018
444Lewis HamiltonMERCEDES1:16.4241:15.7211:15.26220
523Alexander AlbonRED BULL RACING HONDA1:16.1751:16.5741:15.33618
677Valtteri BottasMERCEDES1:17.0621:15.8521:15.33818
755Carlos SainzMCLAREN RENAULT1:17.0441:16.2671:16.01419
84Lando NorrisMCLAREN RENAULT1:17.0921:16.4471:16.32220
926Daniil KvyatSCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA1:17.0411:16.6571:16.46922
1010Pierre GaslySCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA1:17.0651:16.6791:16.58622

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race will be broadcast live on ABC starting at 2:30 PM Eastern here in the States. We’ll have to wait till then to find out whether Verstappen keeps his coveted number one grid spot or faces sanctions from the stewards for not slowing under yellow that push him further back in the field to start the race. Hope to see you then!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Results & aftermath

Hamilton finishes P4 doing enough to earn fifth world title in Mexico

Red Bull’s Verstappen cruises to victory; Vettel a hard fought P2, Raikkonen P3 in consolation podium for Ferrari

Despite not winning the race and coming home a disappointing fourth place, Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton scored enough points to claim his remarkable fifth Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City on Sunday. By dint of his consistently superlative season, which includes 9 victories out of the 19 contests so far, Hamilton’s P4 at the Mexican Grand Prix still put him mathematically out of reach of his nearest pursuer, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton joins 1950s legend Juan Manual Fangio and Michael Schumacher as the only drivers to win at least 5 World Championships and only Schumacher has more with a record 7. Of course, F1 fortunes can change quickly but at only 33-years of age and piloting the superlative Silver Arrow it is quite conceivable that Hamilton might tie or even break the great Schumacher’s seemingly untouchable benchmark for championships. We shall see. But for now let us appreciate one of F1’s greatest careers in any era and a man as suited to this period of the sport as Fangio, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Schumacher were to theirs. Once again, in 2018 Ham is the man.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Despite Hamilton’s massive career accomplishment it was not really Mercedes’ day. Both Hamilton and his wingman, Valtteri Bottas, struggled on the softer, quick-degrading Pirelli tires on offer for this high altitude race. Along with Hamilton’s subpar P4, Bottas would come home a lackluster P5 and a full lap down. No, the race belonged to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who made a dynamite start from P2, pipping his pole-sitting teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, for a race lead he would never really relinquish. Verstapppen easily held off a late charge by a desperate Vettel to make it two wins in a row in Mexico, where the Red Bull really seems to thrive on the thin air, and log his fifth GP career victory. With a little better mount next year look for the Dutch wunderkind to challenge Hamilton and make a serious run for his first Drivers’ Championship.

But all was not completely well for Red Bull. With their veteran Ricciardo looking like he too would podium and doing his best to hold off Vettel for P2 as the race wound down, the Australian’s engine began to smoke ominously on Lap 62 of this 71-lap contest. Continue reading →

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Qualifying results

Ricciardo seizes pole in Mexico with mega lap, leads Red Bull front row lockout pipping Verstappen in P2; Hamilton P3 ahead of Vettel in P4

Just when it seemed that Max Verstappen would earn his first ever Formula 1 pole in Saturday qualifying from Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, the talented wunderkind saw that elusive goal snatched from him by his Red Bull teammate. Daniel Ricciardo bested Verstappen’s seemingly untouchable sub 1:15-second fast lap by 3-one hundredths, leaving the Aussie giddy with a new track record and the 21-year-old Dutchman suddenly deflated. After looking the fastest man up until that the very last moments of Q3 Vertsapen was also looking to become the youngest pole-sitter in the sport’s history. But that dream will have to wait at least a couple of more weeks. Despite Verstappen’s disappointment, Red Bull were thrilled to have the front row lockout at a track that really seems to suit their chassis and Ricciardo was especially elated. They may have issues holding those high flying positions in the race, however, because the Red Bulls’ straight line speed is still not nearly as good as Mercedes’ or Ferrari’s, not to mention the doubt added by Ricciardo’s recent string of DNFs due to poor reliability.

Speaking of Mercedes, their ace and points leader took another step towards clinching his fifth World Championship, taking the checkered flag just behind the two Red Bulls and in front of his last remaining title rival, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton will line up P3 on the grid right beside Vettel in P4 and if he scores a mere 5 points in the race he will mathematically eliminate his German rival and claim the 2018 Championship. That makes their respective getaways tomorrow all the more intriguing, especially considering Vettel’s recent propensity for crashing into his nearest opponents. Hamilton’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, had the fifth fastest time, while Vettel’s stablemate and last week’s race winner in Texas, Kimi Raikkonen, could do no better than P6.

Further down the order, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz qualified P7 and P8 respectively, while the two Saubers both made it into Q3 for the first time since Russia. Charles Leclerc set the ninth fastest time while Marcus Ericsson will start in P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Mexican GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:15.866 1:15.845 1:14.759 16
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:15.756 1:15.640 1:14.785 15
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:15.673 1:15.644 1:14.894 20
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:16.089 1:15.715 1:14.970 16
5 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:15.580 1:15.923 1:15.160 22
6 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:16.446 1:15.996 1:15.330 20
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:16.498 1:16.126 1:15.827 18
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:16.813 1:16.188 1:16.084 18
9 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 1:16.862 1:16.320 1:16.189 20
10 9 Marcus Ericsson SAUBER FERRARI 1:16.701 1:16.633 1:16.513 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 2:30PM Eastern on ABC in here in the States. With so much on the line and so much speed amongst the front runners, the dice among the top 6 on the opening lap should be epic. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!