Nithyanandam Ramasamy
It was a fiesta at the end of the Mexico City GP as Max Verstappen claimed his 9th win of this season and increased his championship lead to 19 points. Sergio Perez was the star of the show as he became the first Mexican to step on the podium in Mexico. Post-race scenes were unbelievable as they will resonate in Mexican motorsports. However, the race was just a siesta for us as it was monotonous for the major part. Now let’s delve into the data to understand the race that was unfolded on Sunday.
Race start:
The most interesting period in the Mexico City GP was the race start. The run down to the first turn was a long straight as drivers made use of the slipstream effect. Max Verstappen made an impeccable start as he jumped Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who gracefully opened the space, to lead at the turn-1. That was a brilliant late-braking move on the outside of two cars from Verstappen. Valtteri Bottas had a day to forget as he was hit from behind by Daniel Ricciardo, which instigated both drivers to make an unplanned pit stop.
George Russell was the biggest gainer in the first lap, where he gained 7-places. Esteban Ocon and Antonio Giovinazzi had an unforgettable race start, as they made up 5-places each. However, Antonio Giovinazzi’s race had gone backwards after his first pit stop. Unsurprisingly, the Italian was palpably furious with the team on the post-race radio.
The top-6 relative gap:
The battle for second place had brought some life into the race in the latter part. Sergio Perez, after making a late pit stop, had caught Hamilton with a handful of laps remaining. However, catching is one thing and passing is another. Perez had lost a few seconds behind George Russell while lapping him. Has he lost the battle there? Nevertheless, Hamilton held off Perez impeccably till the end to finish 2nd. In hindsight, the second-place finish was a good damage limitation for Hamilton.
Stint-1:
Max Verstappen was flawless in the first stint. He passed both Mercedes and managed to create an untouchable lead over Hamilton. He lapped 0.2s a lap faster than Perez and 0.3s faster than Hamilton. Incredibly, Perez was faster than Hamilton in the first stint itself despite completing 40 laps, which is 11 more than the Brit. Only Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz. jr have managed their mediums for 40 or more laps in the first stint. Commendable tyre management from both drivers.
Stint-2:
Sergio Perez was the fastest during the second stint. He lapped marginally faster than Verstappen in the hard stint. His lap times were 0.2s faster than Hamilton. Undoubtedly, his tyre management skills in the first stint helped him attack Hamilton in the second stint. Pierre Gasly’s second stint shouldn’t be overlooked either. He managed to lap faster than Sainz. jr, who was on fresher rubber in the latter part of the race. The Frenchman is keeping AlphaTauri alive in the battle for 5th place in the constructors’ championship.
Mexico City GP was a memorable one for Red Bull Racing. They have managed to close the gap by 1 point to Mercedes and also built momentum ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. In the meantime, Ferrari have built a 13.5 points gap between them and McLaren for third place. As the Mexican party comes to an end, the Formula-1 juggernaut now moves to Brazil for the next round. Will Mercedes pull Rabbit out of the bag and surprise in-form Red Bull Racing? It will be fascinating to see who will claim the next punch in the championship battle at Sao Paulo.
