With it being the best-attended Mexican race weekend in F1 history, Sergio Pérez got to drive under the watchful eyes (and the Checo-chants) of more than 395,900 fans. But the home hero wasn’t the only one on the grid, curious as to how your favourite drivers got on? Catch up on the results with the latest report cards!
Top of the class:
Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen – Qualifying: 1st | Race: 1st
Sergio Pérez – Qualifying: 4th | Race: 3rd
Once again beating the odds and breaking records, that’s pretty much Max Verstappen’s weekend in Mexico for you. Winning the event for the fourth time in five years, breaking the record for most points in a season, winning 14 races in a season, first win for a pole-sitter in Mexico for five years, all in a day’s work for the Dutchman – and he even made it look easy!
Sergio’s Saturday was hampered by an electrical issue, but cheered on by his home crowd he managed to make up a place to move onto the podium whilst the two Mercedes drivers were busy squabbling among themselves, a feat well worth celebrating if you ask Papa Pérez!
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton – Qualifying: 3rd | Race: 2nd
George Russell – Qualifying: 2nd | Race: 4th
This seemed to be Mercedes’ best hope for a win this season, especially with the curse which has rested on pole position here in Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but unfortunately neither driver could quite make it stick. With the Bulls starting on softs and the Silver Arrows starting on mediums it was clear that they were aiming for a one-stopper whilst everything made it sound and seem like the Austrian team was going for a two-stopper instead – but with how Max and Sergio were nursing those tyres Lewis and George didn’t get the chances they were hoping for. Still, that they didn’t go for a win doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a superb result.
Racing at altitude seems to suit the W13, as Mercedes replaced Ferrari as Red Bull’s nearest competition. Lucky for them, Brazil is another race track at altitude, so they might get another shot at a podium or even a win there.
Then for a honourable mention…
The honourable mention of the day goes to Daniel Ricciardo, after the collision with Tsunoda, which resulted in a retirement for the Japanese driver and a 10-second time penalty for the Australian, a spot amongst the top of the class wasn’t entirely justified, but Danny’s otherwise excellent race needs to be acknowledged.
A long opening stint left room to go to the chequered flag on softs, which allowed Daniel to not only fight his way into the points and up to seven, but also pull a gap big enough to mitigate his penalty. It definitely was a superb performance, and with you being only as good as your last race in the world of F1, this is most definitely a stand-out result on his CV with his eyes on the future.
The struggle bus:
Ferrari
Carlos Sainz – Qualifying: 5th | Race: 5th
Charles Leclerc – Qualifying: 7th | Race: 6th
This really wasn’t a weekend for the Italian team to write home about, but it surely will have been a weekend which has filled the Italian papers, because the prancing horses had a pretty anonymous and lonely race where they never looked in contention for the podium, let alone a win.
With only 40 points between them and Mercedes behind, they’ll be keen to perform better in the last two races to keep a hold of that second position in the constructors’ championship. Then again, with another high-altitude race up next, they’ve got some serious figuring out to do.
Haas
Mick Schumacher – Qualifying: 16th (started 15th) | Race: 16th
Kevin Magnussen – Qualifying: 15th (started 19th) | Race: 17th
The one positive note of this weekend is that Mick’s deleted qualifying lap would have been good enough for a top 10, so Haas has improved on their one-lap pace. Then again, that pace was nowhere to be found on Sunday, and the fact that the execution of Mick’s pitstop was less-than-ideal and longer than one might hope for certainly didn’t help the matter.
KMAG got out of Q1 on Saturday, but that was only positive as a 5-place penalty for a new ICE sent him to the back row. Resulting in him bringing it home last-but-one.
Then for dishonourable mentions…
The first dishonourable mention goes to Fernando’s Alpine, as another mechanical issue ended the Spaniard’s race prematurely, this for the fifth time this season. The second and last dishonourable mention goes to Aston Martin. With Seb Vettel wondering where the grip has gone, the run of three races in the points has come to a screeching halt with Vettel and Stroll finishing 14th and 15th respectively.
For the penultimate race on the 13th of November the drivers will be heading to Brazil. With banked corners, a half oval and some camber changes the track is classical in design, comparable to other pre-World War two tracks. Even without a local driver to cheer on, the grand prix will certainly be a carnaval-esk party on and off track. Tune in at 6 PM for all the action on race day, but there’s the final installment of the Sprint format for 2022 to keep an eye on aswell!
