Grand Prix 2021 Mexican Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Andale Ariba! F1 moves 1,000 miles south for the next race, down to Mexico City and the emasculated Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

At an altitude of 2,200 metres it was a real challenge for the motors in the days of naturally aspirated engines. In this era of turbocharged, hybrid driven machines the impact on engine performance in less pronounced. However, the thin air does have the potential to impact the drivers with less oxygen compared to less elevated circuits, but it does mean the cars fly along the main straight with the cars getting up to nearly 217 mph (349 kph for the non-Brits). There is also a nearly 900 metre run from the grid to the first corner so plenty of opportunity for silliness at the start.

Both Lewis and Max have the chance to match the record of three wins in Mexico currently held by Jim Clark, although Clark's win in '62 was a non-Championship event. After the race in Austin there was an interesting interview (I use the word interesting in it's widest possible sense) with Toto Wolff who commented that Mexico was "not a circuit which suits there car". Having won three of the five races there since F1 returned in 2015 one wonders how they would have performed if the car actually went well there!

Max will be on a high after the race in the US. Mercedes lost out when Red Bull opted to pit Verstappen for new tyres earlier than Hamilton and the pace Max was able to carry took him to the win. What a shame we are back to the days of tyre stops being the deciding factor in who wins a race rather than actually seeing racing cars racing one another for position on the track. We did have a little entertainment in Austin, as Lewis attempted to catch Max but, inevitably, as soon as he was within a couple of seconds of his rivals car the handling went to pieces and he couldn't get close enough to attempt to overtake.

We are promised the rule changes next year will reduce the impact of turbulent air when cars follow one another. Let's see shall we, there have been many false dawns in the promise of close, competitive racing at the "pinnacle" of motor sport and I've watched it for long enough now to be very sceptical.

There was, of course, some racing further down the field which, shockingly, the TV director actually managed to show us and behind the title protagonist will be their rather lack lustre team mates. Anyone who says F1 is just about the car should look at the relative performance of Perez and Bottas in the same car to see just how much the driver contributes.

McLaren and Ferrari will be scrapping for the minor places behind the two top teams, and then there will be the cluttered mid-field. Apparently Haas will also be taking part, although Nikita Mazepin in particular appears to be out on track mainly to get in the way of every other driver as often as possible. Worst F1 driver since Yuji Ide.

The race is on 7th November and will be over 71 laps of the 2.67 mile circuit. Enjoy!
 
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Just watched the start.

Verstappen had prime position to take the first corner with a much faster approach speed than Hamilton, who was tight on the inside.

Bottas as useless as always ... or was it intentional?
 
Just watched the start.

Verstappen had prime position to take the first corner with a much faster approach speed than Hamilton, who was tight on the inside.

Bottas as useless as always ... or was it intentional?
Don't know. But he likely wouldn't have ended up being punted by Danny Ricciardo if he hadn't given Max a tow. Somebody should explain to him that if he wants to ever be on the podium again, he has to beat Max.
 
Can someone explain the reaction of the Mexican fans to Perez? He has the talent of Max Chilton and the charisma of Mika Hakkinen, and yet they celebrated like he had won the race, finishing third in car which his teammate used to almost lap the field.

I'm all for getting behind the local lad (actually I'm not, some of the most pathetic scenes I've seen in motor sport have been at Silverstone where the crowd has celebrated a British driver winning in a manner way beyond the reality of the situation), but doesn't this have to be tempered with a touch of realism?
 
FB i think its different here because mexicans have never had a driver at the front of the grid in the tv age. & so of course he is a hero & they are going to go mad considering the history that was made by standing on that podium. the silverstone crowd went mad for russell making Q3 in july

i think max chilton is harsh i think he is most talented pay driver F1 has since of the last 25 yrs. that indisputable with his performances at sauber & force india & i like mika hakkinen :p
 
but bottas although i will cut him alot of slack because i think that bottas had braking problems today because braked far too early & has to take a bit of blame towards riccardio crash, then you can see on the onboard when he was stuck behind riccardio for 40 laps you could tell that riccardio could brake far earlier, but what was he doing leaving such a gap on the outside max should never been allowed to go 3 a breast espically on the outside. not that affected anything because red bull wouldve won that race regardless

but on the championship its huge that hamilton managed to pull that 2nd out of the bag. because he had to & 19pt gap that couldve been 25+ is a huge thing in championship basis going into brazil, because now he could afford a 2nd in brazil & as a 4th here, max wins both couldve been the final nail in the coffin
 
F1Brits_90 I don't like or dislike Mika Hakkinen, I just don't think he had any personality or charisma.

I will leave it to others to decide where they think "Checo" fits in the league table of F1 drivers. He has been an adequate driver in often more than adequate cars, and typifies the mediocrity F1 will accept when a driver rolls up with a suitcase full of dollars.
 
Hamilton made it clear Bottas left the door open too easily and so did Toto?

I seriously think Mercedes need to drop Bottas and get Russell in ..

Back to Checo I expect him to be 💩 to the end of the season now he's had his moment

Yeah the Red Bull team play it as though Checo is the darling of the team despite being 3rd
 
I think that Checo ranks alongside Bottas in the exiting driver league. Both are at the top in the dull as ditch water league though.
I can’t see Mercedes making a comeback any time soon. Are we seeing the beginning of the end for them ? The long slow slide to the bottom of the field.
 
I think that Checo ranks alongside Bottas in the exiting driver league. Both are at the top in the dull as ditch water league though.
I can’t see Mercedes making a comeback any time soon. Are we seeing the beginning of the end for them ? The long slow slide to the bottom of the field.
Checo is at his best if you ask him to be gentle on tyres but not quite as good as Button or Prost.. he is not going to elbow Verstappen like he did with Ocon .nor will he get the chance to be world champion

The end of Mercedes dominance..yes but they won't drop like a stone given they are quitting Formula E to put more resources into F1
 
if i was asked to choose currently i would take perez over bottas. because I dont know how ludicrous this sounds as only 1 man knows, but is Bottas sabotaging Mercedes, from the inside. as he seems at the moment anything but a team player

as only re found his form once he been replaced & has arguably been a bigger help to verstappen in recent races than perez has. leaving the door wide open in sochi & Mexico
 
if i was asked to choose currently i would take perez over bottas. because I dont know how ludicrous this sounds as only 1 man knows, but is Bottas sabotaging Mercedes, from the inside. as he seems at the moment anything but a team player

as only re found his form once he been replaced & has arguably been a bigger help to verstappen in recent races than perez has. leaving the door wide open in sochi & Mexico
I too would agree about Bottas not shown the same level of commitment and it's obvious with Verstappen behind him you don't give a gap to go through surely you want Max to be hesitant and nervous on the braking by cutting him off even make him think twice about going on the grass
 
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