Tag: Results

Amid all of the glitz and glamour in Las Vegas, there is a Grand Prix to be won and you are probably thinking it’s going to be another Max Verstappen and Red Bull walkover.

Well, think again. New tracks in F1 are always a head-scratcher for the teams and engineers because they can’t rely on any past data from the track.

Vegas being a street circuit makes the track hard to learn for the drivers too because one mistake and you are in the wall.

Verstappen comes into the weekend looking to equal Sebastian Vettel’s 53 career wins, which would put him joint third on the all-time Grand Prix winners’ rankings, with Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (103) only having more.

His confidence will be at as high as Vegas’ Stratosphere Tower but even he will have some big obstacles to overcome if he wants to make it three wins from three in the USA this year.

Coldest F1 race ever?

Us Brits love to talk about the weather, it’s a copout when it comes to small talk. As excited as everyone is about the Las Vegas Grand Prix, most people won’t be too happy about the single digit temperatures at night.

In the day, temperatures will be around 20 Celsius, but this will drop to 8-10 Celsius at night, when practice, qualifying and the race take place.

The coldest F1 race was the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix when an air temperature of five Celsius was recorded in Montreal. It’s no surprise to see Pirelli have brought the softest tyre compound to Vegas but it’s going to be a nightmare for the teams to build tyre temperature.

Motorsport fans will know that one of the challenges of the famous Le Mans 24 Hours race is the tyres cool down on the long straights, something that will also be a problem in Vegas because there are three lengthy straights, including a 1.181mile (1.900km) flat-out section on the Las Vegas strip.

No event this year has seen temperatures anywhere near as what’s forecast for Vegas, so the teams that can fire up their tyres quickly, like we sometimes see in the rain, will have a big advantage.

“It’ll just depend on exactly how cold it is,” said Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin. “If the track is down in single figures, that’s often a region where you go winter testing.

“You do a run, it’s very difficult for the tyres to either get them switched on, or there may be graining and things. And then sometimes you just wait until it warms up a bit. So actually having to sort of race and qualify in those conditions, it will be interesting.

“You just try and identify the risks with the new circuit, work out what your contingencies will be, whether you need any sort of specific car spec to deal with that and we’re going through that at the moment.

“But as I said, if it’s at the very cold end of predictions, it’s difficult to know how the tyres are going to work.”

Will a Red Bull weakness be exposed?

Red Bull openly got things wrong for the heat and humidity in Singapore earlier this year, the only event they have failed to win. Vegas is at the other extreme end of the spectrum, cold and not many corners.

One of the strengths of Red Bull this year is the tyre wear, or lack of. In the hands of Verstappen, he is able to set a searing pace without too much tyre degradation and has cruised to victory on multiple occasions.

However, it might mean in the cold temperatures, which we haven’t really seen this year, Red Bull are vulnerable, especially over one lap, because they can’t generate enough tyre temperature.

Remember Sergio Perez’s Saturday at the Australian Grand Prix? I don’t blame you if you don’t. He had a nightmare day after going off three times in final practice and crashed out in Q1.

Perez’s actual accident was likely down to a problem with the engine, but the way he struggled in practice, and Verstappen’s own drivability woes that weekend, suggests the combination of cold weather and the 2023 Red Bull F1 car may not add up.

Temperatures in Melbourne were around the 16-20 Celsius mark and we haven’t seen colder conditions in the dry this season, therefore any Red Bull weakness in the cold hasn’t been fully exposed.

“We have no experience there. We don’t know the track grip, it is all new, so maybe it will give a few surprises,” commented Verstappen, who has won a record 17 races this season.

So who could beat Red Bull?

Lando Norris is in the form of his life with four podiums from the last five events. The one time he wasn’t in the top three saw him brilliantly fly through the field in Mexico to finish fifth from 17th.

But, the biggest weakness of the McLaren car is slow-speed corners, which is going to be a problem around Las Vegas, where most of the turns are slow.

That said, McLaren didn’t think they would be competitive last time out in Brazil, where there are consecutive slow-speed corners, but Norris is playing down his chances.

“I don’t think we were expecting to be as competitive in Brazil as we have been. So we’re still surprising ourselves. I gave up on guessing where we’re going to be nowadays,” said Norris.

“I mean, probably after Bahrain I didn’t want to think of where we’re going to be. But, it comes and goes. I think everyone expected Mercedes to be extremely strong in Brazil and they were nowhere.

“[Everyone] expected Ferrari to be a bit more competitive and weren’t, so I think no one really knows. Everyone just guesses and presumes but no one knows until we just get on track. So just let’s wait and see.”

Ferrari are the only team to beat Red Bull this year and I’m going to roll the dice and say they will push Verstappen for the win this weekend.

The most similar track to Las Vegas is Monza – long straights and slow-speed corners – where Carlos Sainz took pole position.

It was clear at Monza that the Ferrari has good mechanical grip and the drivers have confidence when flicking the car from left to right in the chicanes over the kerbs.

We saw this at Singapore too when Sainz was able to ride on top of the kerbs without any instability, which helped him on his way to victory as he held off Norris and the two Mercedes.

Charles Leclerc is a demon over one lap, especially on street tracks, just look at some of his laps around Baku and Monaco from the last five years – two of the most challenging venues on the F1 calendar.

He will be eager to bounce back from an engine issue which lost the car’s hydraulics last time out in Brazil and the very best drivers can respond from setbacks with a big performance.

What about Mercedes?

Toto Wolff labelled Brazil as Mercedes’ “worst weekend” since they returned to F1 in 2010 as George Russell retired and Lewis Hamilton dropped down the order to eighth.

Worryingly, Mercedes were down in the speed traps at Interlagos, which doesn’t bode well for the long straights in Las Vegas. It’s likely that Brazil was an outlier as Mercedes set the car up wrongly and the ride height was too high, following their disqualification in USA two weeks earlier.

Traditionally, Mercedes fare well in cold conditions and Hamilton is exceptional on the brakes, another key area to crack in Las Vegas with five big braking zones.

Hamilton has the ability to brake very late and his the brakes hard, without locking up, almost rolling the car into the corner, but still has good exit speed. That feeling is something you can’t teach and if we get a repeat of the slippery Turkey 2020 conditions, where Hamilton claimed a seventh world title, Mercedes could come into the game.

The likelihood though is that the actual track surface will have enough grip and it will just be about bedding the tyres in, perhaps doing multiple warm-up laps in qualifying before going for a flying lap.

When to watch the Las Vegas GP live on Sky Sports

Thursday November 16

• 5:30am: Drivers’ Press Conference (reshown at 8am and 10:45am)
• 1:45pm: Las Vegas GP Opening Ceremony

Friday November 17

• 4am: Las Vegas GP Practice One (session starts at 4.30am)
• 7:45am: Las Vegas GP Practice Two (session starts at 8am)
• 9:15am: The F1 Show: Las Vegas

Saturday November 18

• 4:15am: Las Vegas GP Practice Three (session starts at 4.30am)
• 7am: Las Vegas Grand Prix Qualifying build-up (also on Sky Showcase)
• 8am: Las Vegas GP Qualifying (also on Sky Showcase)
• 10am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday November 19

• 4:30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Las Vegas GP build-up (also on Sky Showcase)
• 6am: THE LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Showcase)
• 8am: Chequered Flag: Las Vegas GP reaction (also on Sky Showcase)
• 9am: Ted’s Notebook (also on Sky Showcase)

Get ready for the big one: Formula 1 in Las Vegas! See drivers race down the Strip, and past landmarks like Caesars Palace and the Bellagio, on F1’s newest street track. Watch the whole Las Vegas GP weekend live on Sky Sports F1, starting this Friday with lights out on Sunday at 6am. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW

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Damon Hill has expressed doubt over whether the Mercedes aerodynamics department is capable of closing the gap to Red Bull under Formula 1’s current regulations.

Red Bull have dominated since radical changes to the regulations were introduced at the start of the 2022 campaign, romping to back-to-back constructors’ titles after Mercedes had won the previous eight in a row.

Mercedes compounded their problems by retaining their flawed 2022 design concept for the 2023 campaign, before finally moving away from it – as much as possible under the sport’s budget cap – in the early stages of the season after realising they were once more significantly off the pace.

While the expectation is that Mercedes will move towards a design more similar to the class-leading RB19 for next year, Hill appears to have doubt over whether they are capable of executing the changes.

“My anxiety is this, which is that for a long time, Mercedes’ dominance really was down to their power unit. They had the best power unit for a very long time,” Hill told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.

“And the aerodynamics were always slightly different to Red Bull’s. And if you remember towards the end of the previous Formula 1 regulations, they persisted with their relatively flat looking rake on the car, whereas Red Bull were absolutely huge.

“They led the way and everyone started following Red Bull with this very high rake. It looked like a rat running along the car. It had a very high back.

“But Mercedes stuck persistently or doggedly with their with their other… they looked like they were running a different aero concept on their car in the previous regulations, and then along come a new set of regulations…

“What I’m saying is, is the Mercedes aero department missing a trick here?

“And they’ve lost quite a few good aero people to other teams as well, over time.”

Hill’s comments come the week after Mike Elliott left his position as Mercedes chief technical officer, months after he had been moved away from the role of technical director.

Schiff: How can Mercedes be outperformed by customers?

Mercedes’ decision to change design comes significantly later than some other teams, with the likes of Aston Martin and McLaren, both of whom have their engines supplied by Mercedes, appearing to have benefitted hugely from conforming towards Red Bull’s design.

While their in-season development has let them down, Aston Martin surprisingly came from seventh in last year’s constructors’ standings to start the 2023 season as Red Bull’s closest challengers.

Meanwhile, updates brought to the McLaren midway through the campaign have established Lando Norris as world champion Max Verstappen’s most consistent challenger over the second half of the season.

Naomi Schiff told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast: “You’ve got to ask how has a team like McLaren, who from at least the power unit perspective is a customer team of Mercedes, how have they so dramatically been able to turn it around? How were Aston at the beginning of the season, so dramatically able to turn it around and why is a team like Mercedes still struggling?

“Obviously, they didn’t bite the bullet at the beginning of the year or during the winter period last year to completely change their concept, and I think there are some major regrets about that because they could be much further forward today.

“But when you’re essentially working on a mechanical base that is faulty and you’re just trying to make the best of a situation, it’s not going to be great.

“At the end of the day, they’re a team who’s won multiple world championships. They know how to build a car.

“I have some faith that they will be able over this winter to turn their situation around. But then again, as I say, Red Bull is so far up the road and they’re doing the same thing over the winter period.

“So it’s always going to be a question mark to see where they end up next year.”

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Get ready for the big one: Formula 1 in Las Vegas! See drivers race down the Strip, and past landmarks like Caesars Palace and the Bellagio, on F1’s newest street track. Watch the whole Las Vegas GP weekend live on Sky Sports F1 on November 17-19. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW

Max Verstappen says it would be “great” to have either Sergio Perez or Daniel Ricciardo as his Red Bull team-mate next season, amid continued speculation about the former’s future with the team.

Verstappen has produced a stunning season to secure a third successive drivers’ title, but Perez, after a strong start to his campaign, has struggled and is only 20 points clear of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in second place with three rounds remaining.

Perez is contracted to remain with Red Bull until the end of next season, but his poor form, which has seen him manage just one podium in the last seven races, has led to speculation that the team could opt to replace him sooner.

Meanwhile, after joining Red Bull’s junior squad AlphaTauri mid-way through the season, Verstappen’s former team-mate Ricciardo has been open about his ultimate goal of regaining the seat he chose to give up at the end of 2018, and at last weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix put in an eye-catching performance by taking seventh.

“I always had a great relationship with Daniel when we were team-mates, when of course we weren’t,” Verstappen said ahead of this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil.

“But at the same time also I have a great relationship with Checo so I find it a bit unfair to now sit here and say who I would prefer as a team-mate.

“They have been great team-mates and it’s not up to me, at the end of the day, to make these kind of decisions, because I’m very focused on my own performance.

“If it’s Checo next year, then great. I have a great working relationship with him but also personally think he’s a great guy.

“If it’s Daniel then also we will get along fine and have a great time. But yeah, F1 can be tough sport. You ask these kind of questions, but maybe also nothing happens right? So we’ll see.”

Verstappen hopes to avoid needing to help Perez

In a rare 2022 off-day for Red Bull, Mercedes secured a one-two at last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, but the disappointing display was worsened by a furious row between Verstappen and Perez as the world champion refused to help his team-mate in the closing stages of the race.

Verstappen was instructed to let Perez through in the closing stages to give his team-mate sixth place, with Perez at the time in a close contest with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second in the drivers’ standings, but the Dutchman refused, sighting an incident from earlier in the season.

Leclerc would ultimately pip Perez to second by just three points, which means the Mexican holding onto second this season would give Red Bull a first ever one-two finish in the drivers’ standings.

Asked whether he would be willing to help Perez this time around, Verstappen said: “I think it shouldn’t always matter on me to get the points. I’m confident in Checo that he can stay ahead because I do think that on average we have the faster car.

“I think also last year, it wasn’t really well spoken about before we got into the race weekend.

“Let’s just hope that we don’t get into that situation, I think it’s better for everyone.”

Perez confident of having Verstappen ‘support’

Perez says that such a scenario reoccurring hasn’t been discussed, but that he is confident of having “support” from Verstappen if he needs it.

“We haven’t thought about it,” Perez said. “But if the situation arises. I’m sure I will have support from Max.”

Perez suffered a disastrous home race last weekend as he crashed out of the Mexico City Grand Prix at the opening corner when attempting to pass Verstappen and Leclerc around the outside for the lead.

The 33-year-old says he is relieved to be able to get straight back to action for the final leg of the Americas triple-header, with Sao Paulo hosting a Sprint weekend.

“It’s the best,” Perez told Sky Sports F1. “I’m so lucky that we don’t have two weekends off. I’m happy to be back here and just put everything that happened in Mexico behind me.

“I have the pace to do that (keep second). I’ve just been extremely unlucky the last few weekends, so I think it’s time to get a clean weekend and show what I can do, because I think the pace in the last few weekends has been a lot better than the results we’ve been getting.

“I really feel that we’ve made a lot of progress so we should be back in form this weekend.”

Ricciardo: No talks with Red Bull about 2024 seat

Ricciardo replaced rookie Nyck de Vries 10 races into the season, but then in just his third race back crashed and suffered a hand injury that would keep him out of five races.

The Australian returned at the US Grand Prix, before qualifying fourth – ahead of Perez and fractionally behind Verstappen – in Mexico, and backing it up with P7 in the race to deliver a statement performance.

However, Ricciardo insists that he has had no discussions with Red Bull about replacing Perez next season, and that his contract for 2024 is solely to drive for AlphaTauri.

“I haven’t (spoken to Red Bull),” Ricciardo said on Thursday. “All the stuff around my contract next year has been related to AlphaTauri. I would say that’s honestly as far as that goes.

“For me personally, having a weekend like Mexico is just definitely good for the soul.

“Also for the team, I haven’t been here long, but for them to be 10th in the constructors’ (standings) and to jump two places in the space of two weekends was huge.

“I think that kind of creates a very happy atmosphere around everyone, so kind of happy doing that and just trying to keep charging on where I am.”

When to watch the Sao Paulo GP live only on Sky Sports F1

Friday November 3

• 2pm: Sao Paulo GP Practice (session starts at 2.30pm)
• 5.30pm: Sao Paulo GP Qualifying build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
  6pm: Sao Paulo GP Qualifying (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
• 8pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Saturday November 4

• 1.30pm: Sprint Shootout build-up
• 2pm: Sao Paulo GP Sprint Shootout
• 5.30pm: Sprint build-up
• 6.30pm: SAO PAULO SPRINT
• 8pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook

Sunday November 5

• 3.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Sao Paulo GP build-up
• 5pm: THE SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX
• 7pm: Chequered Flag: Sao Paulo GP reaction
• 8pm: Ted’s Notebook

F1 heads straight to Brazil for the final leg of the Americas triple header and the last Sprint weekend of the 2023 season. Watch every session from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday, with Sunday’s race at 5pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW

Sergio Perez insisted he had “just wanted to give it all” and so “totally went for it” when sensing a chance to seize the lead of his home Mexico City GP, after he made a dramatic exit from the race in a first-corner collision with Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari’s Leclerc, meanwhile, directly addressed the boos he received from the Perez-supporting crowd as he was interviewed after the race on the track by saying he “had nowhere to go” in the incident.

In a rapid getaway from fifth on the grid on the long run down to the circuit’s first corner, Perez placed himself on the outside of pole-sitter Leclerc, who had Verstappen attacking for the lead on his inside, but as he turned into the right-hander, tagged the Ferrari’s front-left wheel.

The impact sent Perez’s car briefly up onto three wheels and flying off the circuit. Although he was able to drive back to the pit lane, the damage sustained was such that Red Bull had to immediately retire his car.

Perez appeared crestfallen in the cockpit as Red Bull wheeled his car back into the garage but, speaking to Sky Sports F1 a short while later, the Mexican struck a defiant tone when discussing why he felt he was right to launch a challenge for the lead.

He said he would have regretted not trying the bold around-the-outside move at his home race and was “proud” of how he had driven this weekend, even if he was “sad” about how it had ultimately ended. He also said that although he had expected Leclerc to brake earlier he felt the accident was a “racing incident”.

“I had a tremendous start. The gap was there and if I’m fully honest, since I was starting the race, I would be really disappointed to be on the podium today knowing I had a chance to go for the lead and I didn’t take it,” Perez said.

“I just went for it. To be honest, I didn’t expect Charles – he was in the middle, he had less room to manoeuvre – to brake as late as Max and I did.

“I think simply there was no room for three cars. It was a total racing incident and with hindsight…I shouldn’t say that…but in hindsight, I should back off and go home. Especially at your home Grand Prix and two times in a row on the podium. I just wanted to give it all and totally went for it.”

Perez, who has never won his home race in eight attempts and has found himself coming under increasing pressure and scrutiny over his performances in recent months next to Verstappen, insisted: “I’m very sad with the end result because on the first lap, to end the race at your home Grand Prix it’s definitely really sad.

“On the other side, I am extremely proud of myself because I gave it all. I’m very proud of my team. We gave it all for the whole weekend and probably the best start of the year, so we just went for it.”

Horner defends Perez: ‘You can’t blame him’ for trying for lead

Red Bull have continued to back Perez, who has a contract at the team until the end of next season, amid a run of form which has not only seen him drop a long way away from runway champion Verstappen in the points standings but fall into the clutches of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in a battle for second place.

By finishing runner-up to Verstappen in Sunday’s race, Hamilton is now just 20 points behind Perez with three Grands Prix and one Sprint to come over the season’s final four weeks. Indeed, had the Briton not been disqualified from the runner-up finish in Austin last week on technical grounds, the pair would now be level on points.

Perez’s latest setback came on a weekend that Daniel Ricciardo, who has made clear his desire to return to the seat next to Verstappen in future, produced a brilliant drive to take seventh place for his first points since returning to AlphaTauri in the summer.

Perez’s Red Bull team boss, Christian Horner, defended the Mexican’s right to attempt the overtake.

“For Checo, just absolutely gutting. [His] home race,” Horner told Sky F1. “He had a rocket-ship launch and had so much momentum going into that first corner, you can’t blame him for going for it to try and take the lead at his home race.

“He’s got 13 years of experience in Formula 1 and when you’re going through a difficult moment it’s important to support him. He was having a great weekend up until that point and he was going for the lead at his home race, in Mexico City. It’s insane the amount of support behind him. Three into one doesn’t go and unfortunately, he was just on the wrong side of it.”

The verdict of the Sky F1 pundits on the Perez-Leclerc collision

Martin Brundle:

“Sergio rolled the dice a little bit. He instinctively thought he was on the racing line, he would brake later, had a lot of momentum, those on the inside, the dirtier part of the track and more acute angle into the first corner might brake a little bit earlier.

“But Charles Leclerc didn’t. He braked every bit as late, as he’s entitled to do. Leclerc had a few centimetres to his right but nowhere near enough to avoid that contact with Perez.

“Perez said he ‘went for it and was proud of myself. I would have hated myself if I hadn’t had gone for it’. I feel very sad for him and sad for the crowd.”

Danica Patrick:

“Sergio had a run and I understand you’re trying to do what you can with that run. Maybe he thought that Charles was going to lift [off the throttle] because he had momentum but, at the end of the day, the last one in, first one out, and three wide is not going to work.

“He’s got to just trust that he has an incredible car. He has a Red Bull car – just be patient and let the race play out a little bit and get a solid finish and get on the podium.”

Jenson Button:

“Three into one through here does not work. Charles had nowhere to go.

“I think Checo thought he had enough room for Charles on the inside, else he wouldn’t have turned in. He didn’t want to crash, but he just didn’t judge the situation of two cars inside him.

“This is the issue when you have cars that start really well and cars that don’t start so well, and the drag is so long to Turn One. What is Checo supposed to do? He couldn’t just lift off before the corner and pull in behind because looking at that [replay] there were cars there. So they would have had the opportunity to drive down the outside of him and cause mayhem,

“So it’s tricky but it’s when you get to that point of deciding ‘I’m going to turn in now but I need to give them room. Maybe I’ll just run off track a bit and come back on.'”

Leclerc: ‘I couldn’t do anything’ to avoid crash

Leclerc, who sustained front-wing damage in the collision but was able to continue and finished third, said he felt sympathy for Perez but stressed the incident was out of his hands.

“I tried my best to stay on the right as close as possible to Max but I think Checo didn’t know that, started to turn in and we collided,” said the Ferrari driver.

“It’s a bit of a shame that it happens to Checo at his home race. I could hear that many fans were disappointed, and I can understand that, but on the other hand, I couldn’t do anything better, unfortunately.”

Podium finishers react to the crash | Hamilton: ‘He did me in Qatar!’

Watch in the video above as Verstappen, Hamilton and Leclerc react to the sight of Perez’s flying Red Bull in replays of the start collision, in the cool-down room at the end of the race.

Hamilton can be heard likening the incident to the one he took fault for at the Qatar GP on October 8, when he crashed out at that race’s first corner after clipping team-mate George Russell’s wheel as the Mercedes drivers went three abreast into the first corner with Verstappen.

F1 heads straight to Brazil for the final leg of the Americas triple header and the last Sprint weekend of the 2023 season. Watch every session from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday, with Sunday’s race at 5pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW

Very few people expected Ferrari to lock out the front row for the Mexico City Grand Prix but Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz performed when it mattered most at the business end of qualifying.

The Ferrari duo got their tyres into the optimal working range as Max Verstappen admitted his Red Bull car got away from him as he pushed a little too hard.

But, given Red Bull have only been beaten once on a Sunday all season, world champion Verstappen inevitably remains favourite for the 71-lap race – which starts at 8pm live on Sky Sports F1 – when he will aim to beat his own record of 15 wins in a single campaign

Much of Ferrari’s hopes will likely rest on the race’s opening seconds and holding one-two formation on the long run down to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez’s first corner.

In 2019, Leclerc started from pole alongside then-Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel and they kept the field at bay after the 811m charge to the opening right-hander. But, it can get very feisty there as Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen showed in that same race when they made contact just behind the leaders.

In 2021, Verstappen made a stunning move late on the brakes to overtake the Mercedes of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, so don’t be surprised if we see a three-wide moment going into the first corner.

“It’s a very difficult race. Everything can happen, especially with the cooling. Whichever car is behind can do a bit more management, so it can play in our favour but for that, we need a good start,” said Leclerc.

“Starting first here is always tricky to keep that position into the first corner but we have had pretty good starts here, so I’m confident we can keep that place.

“This year Max has been extremely strong on the race pace so at the moment we still have a lot of work to do to match them with our race pace.

“It’s a very special track for strategy, especially with high altitude, tyre management will be a huge thing. We will have to be on top of this. For the strategy, we will adapt on the go to try and keep that first place.”

How might Ferrari play the start to keep Verstappen behind?

If all goes to plan for Ferrari, Leclerc should immediately move over to the right-hand side from pole to tow team-mate Sainz down to Turn One and leave Verstappen with no slipstream, potentially leaving the Dutchman vulnerable to Daniel Ricciardo – who qualified a superb fourth for AlphaTauri – or the Mercedes’ of Hamilton, sixth, and George Russell, eighth.

Then, Sainz should go to the outside of Leclerc in the braking zone and not race his team-mate too hard so the Ferrari pair can retain their one-two positions.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 if the team-mates can work together at the start, Sainz said: “If we can of course. But it’s impossible to predict whether we will be able to do so. A few metres better start than Max or Charles and suddenly we cannot play with slipstreams anymore.

“I will just try and do the best possible start because I am starting on the dirty side so my start will be weaker than Max and Charles, then we can see where we are at.”

Will Ferrari be able to manage their tyres?

On paper, strategy shouldn’t be too difficult for the Mexico City Grand Prix because it’s a low-degradation track, so a one-stopper should be the way forward.

The only big threat Ferrari will face if they are one-two is from an undercut or overcut. It’s likely that Verstappen will have to overtake one, or both, of Leclerc and Sainz on the track – perhaps in a similar fashion to Monza back in September when he overcame both to win.

It’s tyre management where Ferrari could be vulnerable compared to the usually exceptional wear Red Bull have had this year. Keeping the tyres in the right window will be just as important as the wear though given the altitude of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which is 2.2km above sea level.

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur suggested that there could be other factors that come into play due to the nature of the track.

“On the long stints, we mainly focused on cooling (on Friday), like Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull. Everyone will be more focused on the brakes and engine,” said Vasseur.

As for Sainz, he may have to play rear-gunner behind Leclerc in order to keep Verstappen behind and he is not too optimistic about his chances.

“It will be very difficult because of the race pace they have. Normally one way or the other, or by simply offsetting their pace with a tyre advantage, they can finish ahead,” admitted the Spaniard.

“Given their race pace, at one point or another, he will have a chance to overtake us and it will be up to us to manage the strategy and situation to keep him behind.”

As for Verstappen, he didn’t have much to say post-qualifying and appeared to be quietly confident about his chances of winning as long as he can get through the opening corners unscathed.

“I always learned that you can never repeat the same start,” said Verstappen in response to a question about whether he could repeat that surging Mercedes-beating getaway from the same position on the grid two years ago.

“Of course you can look at it. Depends on how good your start is, the line into the first corner, track conditions.

“It’s more just an instinct and once you do your start you make your mind up on what you want to do. It’s a long race. It’s not won or lost at the first corner.”

Asked about his confidence in winning he said: “Good. Yep. I also have two hard tyres. Nobody else has them around me, so that could be an advantage.”

Ferrari certainly caused a surprise on Saturday and victory for them on Sunday would be a shock going by Verstappen’s calm manner.

When to watch the Mexico City GP live only on Sky Sports F1

Sunday
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP

F1 is in Mexico for the middle leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the Mexico City Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes’ car feels “night and day” different at the Mexico City Grand Prix compared to last weekend in Austin, yet is hopeful of being close to the front row in qualifying.

Hamilton was seventh in second practice, the most representative session of the day, while Mercedes team-mate George Russell was 10th after missing first practice as Formula 2 driver Frederik Vesti took over his car as part of F1’s mandatory rookie regulations.

Toto Wolff told Sky Sports F1 after the first session that the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez looked as though it would be “a good track” for Mercedes, with the team predicting that Hamilton would have been in the top three in that opening practice with a clean lap.

Several hours on, and reflecting on the opening day as a whole, Hamilton highlighted how different the W14 felt on track compared to last week, when he came close to a first victory in almost two years before being disqualified for excessive plank wear at the United States GP.

“Not that great. Not dodgy, just not the greatest. A bit of a struggle in the car,” said Hamilton.

“The car is night and day different compared to last week. I don’t really know what to say. You just never know what you’re going to get with this one. Some days she’s great and some days she’s not.

“It’s hard to extract the lap. I think there definitely is performance there, it’s just trying to extract it and it’s quite peaky this weekend maybe just with the aero map or whatever it may be.

“So we’re going to work on it overnight but it definitely wasn’t a fun day compared to P1 in Austin. We were a bit off but hopefully overnight we can find something and tomorrow maybe the car will be nicer to drive.”

Asked how much Mercedes can improve going into Saturday, he added: “Not sure. Again, you just never know what to expect with this car. Maybe we’ll make the changes and we’ll pick that pace up.

“I think there was definitely some performance in there to be closer to maybe [being] in the top three but we’ve got to figure out [how] to make it easier for us to extract that performance. So that’s what we’ll work on.”

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez has been one of Mercedes’ less successful tracks since the event returned to the F1 calendar in 2015, although amid a difficult season last year they did run Max Verstappen close in qualifying before Hamilton finished second in the race.

Russell admitted he had “no idea” where Mercedes would be in qualifying this time around but is targeting a top-four spot for Sunday’s grid ahead of the long run down to Turn One.

“There is potential but we have a lot of work to do overnight. It’s very tight, especially with some very unexpected cars,” said Russell.

“We saw some cars in the top 10 that we weren’t expecting to be there. But we feel like we have got a lot to prove and have got the opportunity to do it as well.

“It’s all about the tyres then on the long run you are managing the engine, the brakes and that has an impact on the tyres. It’s going to be a very tricky race on Sunday and I think that’s why qualifying will be key.”

The British driver was also asked what the team need to work on and stated: “Faster race car. We were probably in the wrong window. Lewis and I were on two different setups and we probably both weren’t in the right window, so that has given us an indication that probably halfway between both is the right place to be.

“It’s frustrating in the moment to have a negative car and not the best of days but through those difficult moments you probably learn more than when the car is in a better place.”

Red Bull expect close qualifying

The top eight cars were split by less than four tenths of a second in the second session, with Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri, Mercedes and Alpine all represented.

Verstappen has been imperious in Mexico City in the past, with dominant victories in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022. If he stands on the top step of the podium this Sunday, he will break his own record of 15 wins in a single campaign.

Over one lap, Verstappen has been beatable this year but Sundays have generally been all about the three-time world champion, a trend he thinks will continue this weekend.

“Of course we look competitive, so that’s good. There are always a few things to still improve but overall, a positive start to the weekend – probably a little better than I expected, so that’s always good,” said Verstappen.

“The track is very slippery, like always, tyres are very difficult to manage as well on the long run, so there are still a few things we can work on.

“McLaren have been close for a few races now, so for me there’s no surprise there. It’s going to be incredibly competitive over one lap and the race pace, again, that’s a different story.”

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez enjoyed the roars of the crowds at every corner of the track as he looks for his first podium since Monza in September.

Perez, who was fifth in second practice, says he forgot he was driving on home soil when in the car and reckons he has more potential in the RB19 after a mistake on his best lap at the last corner.

“We didn’t have a straightforward day. We didn’t get a good read on the soft over a single lap. I had a yellow flag on my lap, so I ended up doing it on the second timed lap and it was not very straightforward,” explained Perez.

“So plenty of things to understand. We also went with different compounds to understand them for Sunday. Overall, we are looking in a good position. We have a good direction that we need to take.”

Norris: Things could swing very quickly either way

Lando Norris is looking for a fifth consecutive podium this weekend and was Verstappen’s closest challenger, finishing 0.119s behind the Dutchman.

But Norris is not expecting to be able to catch Verstappen, stating “things could swing very quickly either way”.

Asked if there were many changes McLaren could make to close up to the lead Red Bull, Norris answered: “Not a lot. I think we started the weekend off well. We generally do and always have a good idea of where to put the car to begin with and it’s not far off where we end the weekend.

“There’s not a lot to gain through the weekend. There’s always little things and little things add up. So still stuff to improve and also my driving, little things here and there, but to challenge Red Bull will be tough around here.”

Charles Leclerc was third quickest in the second session on Friday and Ferrari have been very fast over one lap at times this season. The car has good mechanical grip and rides kerbs well, which should suit the characteristics of the Mexico City track.

However, Leclerc feels Ferrari will not be in the fight for pole position on Saturday despite knowing the areas they need to work on.

“It would be a huge surprise if we are on pole position but never say never. It’s a difficult track to put a lap together but I feel like this weekend we are a bit too far away,” said the Ferrari driver.

“We still have a lot of work to do because McLaren, Red Bull and Max seem to be strong. Mercedes is a bit more difficult to read into for now.”

When to watch the Mexico City GP live only on Sky Sports F1

Saturday
6.15pm: Mexico City GP Practice Three
9pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying (also on Sky Sports Main Event)

Sunday
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP

F1 is in Mexico for the middle leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the whole Mexico City Grand Prix weekend live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW

Lewis Hamilton believes more cars other than just his and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc would have been disqualified from the United States GP due to excessive plank wear had post-race scrutineering checks been widened beyond just four cars.

Hamilton lost his second-place finish in Austin last Sunday after the skid blocks on his Mercedes were found to have worn too thin. Leclerc’s Ferrari, which had finished sixth, fell foul of the same regulation.

Due to the nature of the FIA’s long-standing random spot-check policy on certain areas of cars for rules compliance, only four cars were checked for their plank wear after the race – with half of them failing.

“Basically that was the first time we’d had a Sprint race there [in Austin] and they had only tested a few cars and 50 per cent of them got disqualified,” said Hamilton to Sky Sports F1 ahead of this weekend’s Mexico City GP.

“There are far more driver’s cars that were illegal [but weren’t checked].

“The skid is not a performance element. Of course, if you have a flat surface everyone is going to be pushing their car to be as low as possible. But it’s mostly some cars handle the bumps better than others and you know we have had a very stiff and bumpy car for the last two years.

“But ultimately it failed the regulation and that needs to change.”

Speaking to the written press later on Thursday, Hamilton continued: “Firstly, I’ve heard from several different sources that there was a lot of other cars that were also illegal, but they weren’t tested so they got away with it.

“I’ve been racing here 16 years. There’s been many other scenarios like this where some people have gotten away with certain things and some people have just been unlucky that they’ve got tested.

“So I think ultimately there probably needs to be some sort of better structure in terms of making sure it’s fair and even across the board.”

Other drivers agreed that had more cars been checked after the race in parc ferme then similar issues with plank wear would have been discovered.

Williams’ Alex Albon said: “I do think maybe you don’t need to check every car every race all the time.

“But if there’s one driver in one team illegal there’s a very, very high chance that the other car, the team-mate of that driver, is going to be illegal as well.”

Lando Norris’ McLaren was of the two cars tested which was found to be within accepted limits for plank wear – Max Verstappen’s race-winning Red Bull was the other – and it was the Briton who inherited second place from the excluded Hamilton.

“Always I guess a little bit surprised [to see the disqualifications],” Norris told Sky F1.

“I would have loved if they checked more cars.”

Asked if this should therefore have been the case, Norris replied: “They should have done.”

And Alpine’s Esteban Ocon said: “I’m sure it’s not the first time that there were cars illegal like that on such Sprint weekends.

“I think on the normal format it’s a lot less likely to happen but I’m sure on the other races there was as well.”

So why were only four cars checked for plank wear? The FIA explains…

While all cars are weighed during parc-ferme scrutineering after a Grand Prix, and other compulsory checks are carried out too, different areas of the car are tested at every race on a random basis in order to test for compliance.

In an explainer piece published on the governing body’s website on Thursday, the FIA outlined why it was impractical to test every single aspect of every car against the regulations each race weekend.

“In conducting these tests, a huge amount of work goes on in the limited time available after a Grand Prix finishes and before the cars need to be returned to their teams for disassembly and transportation to the next race,” said the governing body.

“However, even though a wide array of checks are made, it is impossible to cover every parameter of every car in the short time available – and this is especially true of back-to-back race weekends when freight deadlines must also be considered.

“This is why the process of randomly selecting a number of cars for post-race scrutineering across various aspects of the regulations is so valuable. Each team is aware that selection is possible and understand that the chance of any lack of compliance being uncovered is strong.”

All cars checked? Just team-mates of those in breach? Drivers weigh in on DSQs debate

World champion Verstappen sees the complications for the FIA in the scrutineering process, but nonetheless thinks that at least a team’s second car should be checked too if the first falls foul of a technical rule.

“But then you only get the race result on Tuesday I guess, when you have to check every car,” said Verstappen. “The problem is that it’s just impossible to check everything.

“The thought process from every team is that no one wants to be illegal, so no one sets up their car to be illegal. But then of course you have these random checks that get carried out. Sometimes it’s the top four, sometimes it’s in the middle of the field, the back – that’s just how it goes.

“You can’t check every car for every single part, otherwise need 100 more people to do these kind of things.

“I think the only thing is that when you check one car of a team and it’s illegal, then I think you should check the other one as well. That’s for me the only thing. Because then you DQ one, and then the other one position moves up “a position where normally you always run quite similar setups.”

Albon suggested: “I don’t know how much it would take to check a couple more cars, but I don’t think that would be such an issue. But I don’t know, I’m not a scrutineer.”

Mercedes and Ferrari accepted they made mistakes and were caught out in the setting up of their cars, on a Sprint weekend teams have to lock in their set-ups after just a single practice session. Normally, teams have three one-hour sessions to hone their cars for qualifying onwards and time to simulate more race-like conditions.

While accepting Mercedes got it wrong with their W14’s ride height, Hamilton believes what he termed “ridiculous” post-race situations like the one last Sunday with cars being excluded could be more easily avoided.

“I think the sport really had such an amazing weekend, there was such a great turnout and a great race, and then every time we take steps forward within the sport something like that really taints it,” he said.

“So we’ve got to do something. Hopefully they will learn a little bit for the future.

“Rather than checking everybody and over 50 per cent of the cars failing, which I would put all my money on it that they would have, instead maybe for example if we’re having a Sprint race maybe we should just be able to change the skid [block] or the floor on Saturday night so on Sunday you don’t have this ridiculous kind of event afterwards.”

When to watch the Mexico City GP live only on Sky Sports F1

Friday 27 October
7pm: Mexico City GP Practice One
8:45pm: The F1 Show
10:45pm: Mexico City GP Practice Two (also on Sky Sports Main Event)

Saturday 28 October
6.15pm: Mexico City GP Practice Three
9pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying (also on Sky Sports Main Event)

Sunday 29 October
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP

F1 is in Mexico for the middle leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the whole Mexico City Grand Prix weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday, with Sunday’s race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW