Sports Articles: Formula 1: Mexico Talking Points

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Formula 1: Things To Think About After Race 17 In Mexico City

1. Verstappen In Qualifying

What a mess that was, he clearly broke the rules but the FIA only looked into it because he did interviews, very grouchily, admitting he failed to slow for a yellow flag. The whole thing was bizarre, every man and his dog, hence the interviews, knew he had done it. I read someone suggesting that the FIA seem to be adjucating via popular vote and only handing out punishments if social media is in favour of them. That does seem worringly true. The right result was handed out in the end and he was dropped to 4th on the grid from pole, but it should have been done immediately by the stewards.

2. Mercedes Grasscutting

Vettel was very lucky to get away with what was clearly a piece of dangerous driving. He claimed not to have seen Hamilton, but in that case then he is clearly not up to driving at Formula 1 level. It was the start of the race he must have known there was a good chance someone would be there and should have been looking. I would not have wanted him punished, as the race was boring enough as it was, but he should have been warned to at least make sure he looks at what he is doing next time.

3. Max Torpedo At The Start

Hamilton made a joke about it, but their races could easily have been over when they came together and it was good that both survived to carry on. Though Verstappen did not take long to get in another tangle and end up at the back of the pack. It must be said he worked wonders to make his tyres last while gradually climbing back up the order. In fact, after the puncture he drove very well to put himself into a position to pick up points.

4. Ferrari Again Mess Up Their Strategy

Once more they throw away a 1-2 through poor strategy calls. They did not seem to have a clear plan of action and ended up just reacting to what was happening around them, rather than following the best strategy for their own cars. With a car that struggles to follow close behind others at the best of times, to run on a track like that where the altitude made cars overheat if they followed closely, the last thing they should have done is brought their car in early. Then to just leave Vettel out because he said to do so, just shows how uncertain they are about their calls that they can so easily change them.

5. Ricciardo Keeps On Going

He started on hards and managed to not just keep going for a huge amount of laps, but he kept getting faster and faster despite the age of his tyres. It was his times that gave Mercedes the idea to take a big risk on an early one-stopper with Hamilton. In effect the Renault driver won it for Mercedes! It worked out really well for both drivers going long on the hards. It must be said, Hamilton was not convinced by the call, but it worked out in the end as the team soothed his fears and kept him focused on smooth driving.

6. McLaren

If Ferrari had a bad day, McLaren's day was nothing short of calamitous. Norris's pit stop was badly bungled and he had to stop before leaving the pitlane, so they could pull him back to the garage and fix the error they made. By the time they got the loose wheel re-attached and got him back into the race he was at the back, over a lap down. He made no impression on the race and they retired him. Sainz had started in 7th, but showed a complete lack of race pace and just dropped down the field until he ended up 13th.

Written by Tris Burke October 29 2019 18:47:12