Mexican GP

Toto Wolf annoyed with Bottas for letting Verstappen through on Turn 1

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Toto Wolff is unhappy with how poleman Valtteri Bottas failed to prevent Max Verstappen from overhauling both Mercedes drivers at the start of the Mexican GP. Ahead of Sunday’s race, Hamilton vowed to work with Bottas to fend off any attacks from the Red Bull camp. But as the front-runners barreled down to the first corner, Bottas remained alongside his teammate in the middle of the track rather than move towards to the left towards the racing line to block Verstappen’s charging Red Bull. And to add insult to injury, the Finn was then tagged and spun around by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, a setback from which Bottas could not recover. “That should not happen,” Wolff told Sky. “I think we had two cars in front and seemed to open up the scene for Max to come around the outside.” “And even the spin afterwards, and the complete loss of points with Valtteri’s car when there could have been a third or fourth place is annoying, to say the least.” Bottas eventually secured the fastest race lap, depriving Verstappen of an extra point, but Wolff appeared indifferent to the feat. “I mean, that doesn’t really console me at that stage.” Looking back on the race, the Austrian conceded that Mercedes would have likely been hard-pressed to prevail against Red Bull in Mexico if the start had gone according to plan “You have to congratulate Red Bull because the pace was just on another level,” Wolff said. “I don’t think we could have won the race even if he would have stayed ahead in the first corner, because they could have driven circles around us around the pit stops. “In the end, I think for Lewis’s championship it was damage limitation. And for the constructors’, Valtteri spinning out at turn one was very painful.”

Mexican GP: Verstappen wins ahead of Hamilton, Perez third in home race(full results)

Kevin Peterson07 mins

Max Verstappen stretched his Formula 1 world championship lead by dominating the Mexican Grand Prix, as his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez narrowly failed to deprive Lewis Hamilton of second. Verstappen had surged down the outside of the front-row-starting Mercedes into Turn 1 on the opening lap, braking later and instantly sweeping into the lead. Polesitter Valtteri Bottas looked set to fall into third behind Hamilton, but was tapped into a mid-corner spin by seventh-place starter Daniel Ricciardo – who was passing Perez down the inside on the dusty line. The ensuing traffic chaos triggered by Bottas spinning in front of the pack led to Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher sandwiching Esteban Ocon and both sustaining race-ending damage, though the Alpine they had both bounced over continued. After a four-lap safety car period, Verstappen simply stormed away. By lap 20 he was 8s clear of Hamilton, who could not shake Perez off. Mercedes brought Hamilton in for his sole pitstop long before the two Red Bulls in the hope of gaining an undercut advantage. While that made no difference to Verstappen’s comfortable margin, Red Bull responded by extending Perez’s first stint so that he came in a full 10 laps later than Hamilton. That long run on older tyres dropped Perez 8s away from the Mercedes by the time he rejoined, but the hope was he could hunt down Hamilton on his fresher tyres. Sure enough, Perez caught Hamilton with 10 laps to go. Despite his best efforts, and amid various traffic headaches, the home favourite couldn’t quite make it a Red Bull 1-2. Verstappen’s points lead is now up to 19 as he was denied a fastest lap point by Mercedes bringing in the delayed Bottas (who had made little progress from the back after his spin then had a poor second scheduled pitstop) for two extra pitstops for fresh tyres late on so he could deny Verstappen that bonus point. Bottas’s first effort to take fastest lap was ironically denied when he came across Verstappen on track. The second attempt finally proved successful on the last lap. Pierre Gasly spent most of the race in a comfortable fourth for AlphaTauri, but did have to be wary of the closing Carlos Sainz late on. The Ferrari driver had left his sole pitstop very late and was charging on fresh tyres, being let through by team-mate Charles Leclerc along the way. They swapped places back as it became clear Sainz wouldn’t catch Gasly. Ferrari’s fifth and sixth places meant it swept past McLaren into third in the constructors’ championship as its rival only scored one point for Lando Norris’s 10th place – achieved from 18th on the grid. Ricciardo smashed his front wing hitting Bottas and could only recover to 12th. Sebastian Vettel took Aston Martin’s best result in nearly two months with seventh, while Kimi Raikkonen’s eighth place ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Alpine was Alfa Romeo’s highest finish all season. Raikkonen’s team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi looked like he would be Alfa’s hero as he emerged from the first-corner mess sixth, but pitting too early for his sole stop left him in the midfield and he finished 11th. George Russell and Nikita Mazepin had also leapt forward through the lap one chaos and briefly ran ninth and 11th for Williams and Haas. That proved unsustainable and they fell back to 16th and 18th respectively by the finish. 2021 F1 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX – RESULTS POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 71 Laps 2 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team + 16.555s 3 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing + 17.752s 4 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda + 63.845s 5 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 81.037s 6 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 1 Lap 7 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 1 Lap 8 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap 9 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 10 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team + 1 Lap 11 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap 12 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team + 1 Lap 13 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 14 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 2 Laps 15 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team + 2 Laps 16 George Russell GBR Williams Racing + 2 Laps 17 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing + 2 Laps 18 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team + 3 Laps DNF Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team DNF DNF Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda DNF

Verstappen says Perez and Tsunoda ruined his bid to take pole for Mexican GP

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Max Verstappen confirmed Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez running wide through the middle sector in Q3 “destroyed” his chances of pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix. Mercedes took a shock one-two spearheaded by Valtteri Bottas, with Verstappen finishing third, over three-tenths down on the Finn. Verstappen had his chance of improving in his final run taken away by the AlphaTauri of Tsunoda running wide through turns 10 and 11, followed by Perez. Despite no yellow flags being waved, Verstappen revealed he had lifted off. The championship leader explained: “On the last lap, I was on for a good lap. “I don’t know what happened in front of me but there were two guys going off so I thought there was going to be a yellow flag so I backed out and then you know the lap is then, of course, destroyed. “Even without that, I think we could have still gone for that pole lap. Third is not amazing but I think it is still better than starting second.” Red Bull had performed extensive work on the rear wings of both cars throughout the day but Verstappen ruled out any effect on qualifying from the issues. “We had to repair them but I think in the end, when we went into qualifying, everything was like normal,” said Verstappen. “Of course, it is not ideal but I don’t think it was the reason why it was a bit of a struggle for us in qualifying. “Qualifying did not go our way but we are not using these tyres [softs] anyway so still all to fight for.”

Bottas takes pole as Mercedes lock out the front row in the Mexican GP qualifying(full results)

Kevin Peterson06 mins

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas has taken pole position for the Mexican GP, leading a 1-2 for the Brackley team as Lewis Hamilton claimed second place. In what was a surprising turn of events, Mercedes proved untouchable in the final part of qualifying as Bottas set a 1:15.875 on his first run in Q3. This was over a tenth quicker than what Hamilton managed, but it was Red Bull who shocked as they fell short in the crunch part of qualifying. Having looked the favourites throughout the weekend, Verstappen was left scratching his head after falling 0.350 shy of what Bottas managed. A reasonably scruffy first flying lap put him on the back foot, while his second run was ruined when AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda went off through the esses on the final runs. This distracted Sergio Perez, with the two cars being off the track and distracting Verstappen as he arrived at the scene. Perez was left in fourth, with neither Red Bull improving on their second runs as a result of the incident. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly finished in fifth, just over a tenth shy of Perez and possibly highlighting just how far short Red Bull fell in the final part of qualifying. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished sixth, having survived a scare in the first part of qualifying when he appeared to suffer a power unit issue leaving the pits. He managed to get the car fired back up to full power, going on to make it into Q3. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was seventh, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and Tsunoda in ninth. The Japanese driver will start on the Soft compound, having been the only driver in the top ten in Q2 to use the red marked tyres to get through the second part of qualifying. Rounding out the top ten was McLaren’s Lando Norris, although he will start from the back of the grid as a result of an engine change grid penalty. 2021 F1 MEXICAN GP – QUALIFYING RESULTS POS. DRIVER NAT. TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 1 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m16.727s 1m16.864s 1m15.875s 2 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m17.207s 1m16.474s 1m16.020s 3 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m16.788s 1m16.483s 1m16.225s 4 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m17.003s 1m17.055s 1m16.342s 5 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m16.908s 1m16.955s 1m16.456s 6 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m17.517s 1m17.248s 1m16.761s 7 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m17.719s 1m17.092s 1m16.763s 8 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m16.748s 1m17.034s 1m16.837s 9 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m17.330s 1m16.701s 1m17.158s 10 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m17.569s 1m17.473s 1m36.830s 11 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m17.502s 1m17.746s   12 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m17.606s 1m17.958s   13 George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1m17.958s 1m18.172s   14 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m17.897s 1m18.290s   15 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m18.126s 1m18.405s   16 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1m18.452s     17 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m18.756s     18 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m18.858s     19 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m19.303s     20 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m20.873s     After being absent from the 2020 season calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Formula 1 returns to racing in Mexico this weekend.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.”

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)