2021 Mexican Grand Prix - Race Thread

[tifosi1993]

P5 and P6. Well done.

We had no answer to Honda. They have the best energy harvesting unit in F1. AT's pace is the biggest testament of Honda's awesome energy management.

[elnano14]

Still don't understand, based on what some people here had optimism that we are going to do great?! Don't get me wrong, with this car 5th and 6th is more than max!

Hmm, maybe based on Monaco and Baku ?

[ntukza]

Ferrari swap again

So Carlos does a 1:29.344 to let Charles through. As I've said, that was a totally pointless team order.

Agree. Totally unnecessary and another example of poor driver management. I favour Leclerc over Sainz but this was very unfair. Sainz earned P5 through a better strategy and good driving. He was faster than Charles so he should have stayed in front. If the team had allowed them to race in the first place chances are Sainz would have passed Charles, so this swap at the end is really unnecessary.

[Lesky]

Red Bull handed Merc the 2nd place by not doing the undercut with Perez, why not let Lewis have to overtake Perez on track? Imagine Lewis having to be careful to not collide with Perez at any cost. Weird stuff from Red Bull. Overtaking a Merc with that engine is impossible.

And then of course butler Bottas having to pit 4 times to take away Max FL point, this is why points should be awarded all the way through the field.

[tifosi1993]

Disastrous performance, embarassingly slow, but at least a 17-point net swing in the constructors' and the woke loser falling further adrift.

Woke or not I'm enjoying Mercedes's current predicament. As many have here said it before, Ferrari had the car in 2017-2018, but not the driver.

[KimiBot]

Mercs for the first time under pressure after so many years of cruising and playing with magic buttons.

[stefa]

Hmm, maybe based on Monaco and Baku ?

I would just say that those ware strangely off! Nothing to be measured with.

[Tifoso Svedese]

Charles would've been able to stay ahead. It's very hard to overtake a similar car on a track like that.

[jgonzalesm6]

Lap 71 of 71 results

https://twitter.com/F1/status/145744...093635/photo/1

[stefa]

Red Bull handed Merc the 2nd place by not doing the undercut with Perez, why not let Lewis have to overtake Perez on track? Imagine Lewis having to be careful to not collide with Perez at any cost. Weird stuff from Red Bull. Overtaking a Merc with that engine is impossible.

And then of course butler Bottas having to pit 4 times to take away Max FL point, this is why points should be awarded all the way through the field.

Yes! Strangely!

[alfaromeo]

Good results but 1 lap behind verstapen is very big for Ferrari. And agin problem with white tires… I just hope that keep 3 rd in championship and work for 2022 …

[PURE PASSION]

Hmm, maybe based on Monaco and Baku ?

And that we expected to have lesser deflect from the ice part compare to Merc and Honda, and with the new hybrid system we expected to be closer. But as it looked we couldn't work/manage the tires !!!!

[Lesky]

Yes! Strangely!

If Max manages to win this title (which I still dont think) it will be one the greatest achievements in modern F1. He has been helped by Perez one time all season long, so basicly he is running a one man show against the most dominant team in F1 history in this engine decisive era.

[tifosi1993]

Agree. Totally unnecessary and another example of poor driver management. I favour Leclerc over Sainz but this was very unfair. Sainz earned P5 through a better strategy and good driving. He was faster than Charles so he should have stayed in front. If the team had allowed them to race in the first place chances are Sainz would have passed Charles, so this swap at the end is really unnecessary.

It was pointless because Ferrari would've finished P5 and P6 regardless. So both Charles and Carlos needed to manage their engine and car, since they had no challenge from the behind. And it's not that easy to overtake here. Carlos would've lost performance by staying in Charles's dirty air and eventually his tyres would've gone away.

[tifosi1993]

Charles would've been able to stay ahead. It's very hard to overtake a similar car on a track like that.

+1

[ferrari1.8t]

Lewis looks deflated and defeated

We are well off the pace of the Red Bull and Merc, but happy to see us making gains with our package overall and against McLaren. Forza Ferrari

[patrese86]

A good points haul today and a positive result compared to McLaren. However we seem to be struggling with performance at altitude compared to the Alpha Tauri's. Not sure in Brazil that we will be able to find the performance we need.

[springfield]

Red Bull handed Merc the 2nd place by not doing the undercut with Perez, why not let Lewis have to overtake Perez on track? Imagine Lewis having to be careful to not collide with Perez at any cost. Weird stuff from Red Bull. Overtaking a Merc with that engine is impossible.

And then of course butler Bottas having to pit 4 times to take away Max FL point, this is why points should be awarded all the way through the field.

They wanted to pit first , but Lewis drove first into the pits, so they changed tactics. I guess RB pit crew came out too soon and Merc guys could cover it.

[jgonzalesm6]

Lewis looks deflated and defeated

When there's parity among the competition, the 7x WDC title holder is'nt so great.

We are well off the pace of the Red Bull and Merc, but happy to see us making gains with our package overall and against McLaren. Forza Ferrari

agreed

[paolo lalli]

Max will dethrone hamilton.

[ntukza]

It was pointless because Ferrari would've finished P5 and P6 regardless. So both Charles and Carlos needed to manage their engine and car, since they had no challenge from the behind. And it's not that easy to overtake here. Carlos would've lost performance by staying in Charles's dirty air and eventually his tyres would've gone away.

Yeah fair enough. If I were Sainz though I would have still wanted be given a chance - maybe 2 or 3 laps and then I'd accept the situation for what it is.

[Gilles]

Still don't understand, based on what some people here had optimism that we are going to do great?! Don't get me wrong, with this car 5th and 6th is more than max!

Binotto and also the drivers said that we would be competitive. They were wrong (and maybe the simulator work was wrong). Instead of that, the car was in the superior hierachie average, but not competitive at all

[aroutis]

Binotto and also the drivers said that we would be competitive. They were wrong (and maybe the simulator work was wrong). Instead of that, the car was in the superior hierachie average, but not competitive at all

If by competitive they meant FTW , no
If by competitive they meant better than McLaren, then they were right.

[jgonzalesm6]

It was pointless because Ferrari would've finished P5 and P6 regardless. So both Charles and Carlos needed to manage their engine and car, since they had no challenge from the behind. And it's not that easy to overtake here. Carlos would've lost performance by staying in Charles's dirty air and eventually his tyres would've gone away.

I think the Ferrari pitwall were pressured to make the switch after Sainz radioed that Leclerc was making mistakes. The Ferrari pitwall needs to have a backbone and show confidence to the drivers.

[Alonsomaniac]

I think it's quite simple: Charles was not able to challenge Gasly. Carlos thought he was faster and that he might be able to pass Gasly. It would mean more points for the team. So they gave him the chance to try. When it turned out that he could do no more than Charles could, they gave Charles the position back. By doing so, there will be no unnessesary tension between the drivers.

[SS454]

It's unfortunate some people hyped up Ferrari's PU upgrade to the point they would actually challenge for wins, especially at Mexico. Using the results of races like Turkey as a guide to suggest the Ferrari was able to keep up with Max and Hamilton. Back to reality and people are depressed

Gasly and AlphaTauri's performance was unexpected, but Ferrari had a good day as they put up big points over McLaren. Plus the Ferrari again looked quite a bit better than McLaren which is their goal.

[PURE PASSION]

It's unfortunate some people hyped up Ferrari's PU upgrade to the point they would actually challenge for wins, especially at Mexico. Using the results of races like Turkey as a guide to suggest the Ferrari was able to keep up with Max and Hamilton. Back to reality and people are depressed

Gasly and AlphaTauri's performance was unexpected, but Ferrari had a good day as they put up big points over McLaren. Plus the Ferrari again looked quite a bit better than McLaren which is their goal.

NOBODY talked about wins and fighting for the top places!!!
Just expected a bit better performance.
Something like to be about 0,5 and P5 in Qualtly. And finish 5-6 about 30 sec behind .Something like to be a bit better of what Gasly did. That is what I was expecting. Point wise we end up just 2-4 points worst then what maximum we where expecting. But on pure performance ,yes I was expecting something more but just what i explained !!! NOTHING MORE!!!!

[Alonsomaniac]

Don't expect overnight miracles. We are fighting for third place in the WCC this year and in the beginning it did not look as if we would be able to challenge McLaren at all. Now Ferrari is able to do that, with both drivers. Don't look at Mercedes or RBR yet, that is something for next season maybe. But the goal, third in the championship, is now becoming realistic. And that is what we wanted and thought to be very difficult.
Both Charles and Carlos perform well and the car is getting better. Forza Ferrari!

[SS454]

NOBODY talked about wins and fighting for the top places!!!
Just expected a bit better performance.
Something like to be about 0,5 and P5 in Qualtly. And finish 5-6 about 30 sec behind .Something like to be a bit better of what Gasly did. That is what I was expecting. Point wise we end up just 2-4 points worst then what maximum we where expecting. But on pure performance ,yes I was expecting something more but just what i explained !!! NOTHING MORE!!!!

Most definitely there was people claiming Ferrari could keep up with Red Bull and Mercedes, and there was some thinking Ferrari had a decent shot at a win in Mexico.

I think 5th and 6th are the targets each race. If everything goes straight forward, Max, Ham, Bot, Per is your top 4. So technically they finished the best they should have on paper going into the race.

[FerrariF60]

Finally LH has to work and not to cruise around the championship!

yup, like he did from 2017 until 2020.....fake and FREE WDC's......