MEXICO: Battles here, there and everywhere.
NUMBER TWENTY
Mexico. Absolute fiesta.
No denying it, Ferrari is flying.
Having lost pole at lights out, Sainz nabs it straight back from Verstappen using sheer pace, as his teammate slots in behind him. The two of them lead the race comfortably, until Norris gets on their tails in the closing laps. Leclerc makes a lightning quick save as he loses his Ferrari in the final corner of Lap 62, avoiding the barriers but losing P2 to the McLaren. A great win for Sainz in his final few races in red.
Further down, there are battles everywhere.
Firstly, Verstappen and Norris. Crikey. Bit of déjà vu from Texas, the 2 of them go wheel-to-wheel in a rather chaotic fashion not entirely on track. This time it’s Verstappen who gets hit with a penalty. 20 seconds worth of penalties, in fact. Yikes. Penalty served, he manages to climb back up to take P6 – not bad, but it’s clear Red Bull are struggling on pace. Norris, on the other hand, is very much is not, and finishes P2.
Next up, Hamilton and Russell. The Mercedes boys find themselves fighting for P4. It’s Russell who holds the position throughout the race, managing to fend off his teammate even with a dodgy looking front wing and much older spec on his car. Team orders allow them to compete, but Hamilton isn’t able to make the move stick right up until Lap 66. A good, if not slightly nerve-wracking, P4 and P5 result for the team.
Thirdly, Lawson and, well, a few...
His first opponent is Perez, who is less than impressed when he finds himself wheel-to-wheel with his sister teammate in a battle for P10. The battle results in a spot of damage to Perez’s Red Bull (and possibly his ego).
Piastri is next as he finds himself up in the top 10 alongside Lawson, causing chaos as late pitters amongst the front runners. The 2 fight it out before both finally heading into the pits.
Colapinto is the last in Lawson’s sights. The youngsters have had some impressive battles so far, but this one sees Lawson having to pit from front wing damage and Colapinto suffering a 10 second penalty, resulting in neither of them ending up in the points.
Elsewhere, it’s a good day for Haas with Magnussen finishing P7 and Hulkenberg P9. Another top 10 finish shows their increasing consistency, and solidifies their place at the top end of midfield. Gasly puts in a great effort for Alpine, finishing P10.
It’s a bad day for Tsunoda and Albon who suffer an immediate end to their races in Lap 1, as a moment of contact sends the RB driver backwards into a barrier, taking the Williams driver out with him. Alonso has a premature end to his 400th race as he is forced to retire in Lap 16 due to overheating issues. But perhaps the worst day of all belongs to Perez who, at his home race, suffers a Q1 knockout in qualifying, a false start, damage to his car, a failed attempt at fastest lap, and finishes the race last.
For the rest – we’ve got Colapinto making some good moves but missing out on the points at P12, just behind Stroll at P11 and just ahead of Ocon at P13. Piastri does well to climb up from his P17 start, but finds himself sandwiched between the Haas drivers at P8. Following his battle wounds, Lawson has a disappointing P16 finish just behind the Saubers.
The battle is very much on for the last 4 races.
Red Bull a shocker last week. Max Verstappen nearly tried to wipeout the Mclaren of Lando Norris twice and that T8 Lunge was so badly timed and Sergio Perez well was just dreadful again. I may be a Mclaren fan so this will sound very bias however I have been very critical of Red Bull and Christan Horner lately and I don't want to offend the fans. It seems to me that its clear things are not working out well with the management and structure of the team after Newey and Wheatly's departures so they really need to rethink their goals for 2025. They are costing themselves with Sergio finishing readly badly in the Constructors.