quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:
So a fast lap earns no point if you finish out of the top ten. It should have no bearing on awarding that point for fast lap because you have nothing to lose going for it. Mostly there's little chance a sub-top ten car has the speed to earn that point but yeah, no risk, no reward, you don't get to play.

Yep, you have to finish in the points positions (top 10) to also earn the FL point. VB snagged it to take it from RBR, and as a result MB leads RBR by 1 point going into Brazil this weekend.

Not a terribly entertaining race, except for the Mexico City location and the excitement in the crowd for Pérez. It’s great that there seems to be genuine friendship between Max and his teammate, something notably absent in the AMG-Merc garage.

quote:

Originally posted by berto:
First turn exciting. Then boring.

Exactly. There was certainly no excitement surrounding first place. There was the potential for a race for second, but it didn't really materialize.

Still, cheers to Perez for placing in the Mexico race!

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Not a terribly entertaining race, except for the Mexico City location and the excitement in the crowd for Pérez. It’s great that there seems to be genuine friendship between Max and his teammate, something notably absent in the AMG-Merc garage.

LH & VB get along fine, much better than the rivalry between LH & Rosberg, but outwardly not necessarily a buddy-buddy pairing.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by berto:
First turn exciting. Then boring.

Exactly. There was certainly no excitement surrounding first place. There was the potential for a race for second, but it didn't really materialize.

Still, cheers to Perez for placing in the Mexico race!

First Mexican to ever lead a GP, and first Mexican to podium at his home race (of the 6 ever Mex GP drivers)

We saw RBR strategy was to go long and try the overtake, but with their pace I was really surprised they didn't have Checo tear off a mx lap as LH pitted and come in right away. it look from the stats like he might have been ahead, just barrrrrely, and with their pit crew had a legit shot.

I was hoping DR & VB would've had a bit more pace after their very early stop & would've been a thread at the end.
Not sure if DR was holding VB up, or if their pace was so similar (MB PUs) that VB just couldn't get by.

Then, the atrocious MB pit stop.

If Bottas didn't have bad luck, he'd have no luck.

Not exciting to be sure but tense throughout as the season winds down. Little fun to sit and watch.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Not a terribly entertaining race, except for the Mexico City location and the excitement in the crowd for Pérez. It’s great that there seems to be genuine friendship between Max and his teammate, something notably absent in the AMG-Merc garage.

Gotta wonder if that will be affected by them giving Checo the damaged wing off Max's car for Qualfication.

Checo said the car felt completely different. A Checo win in Mexico City would have been stunning and would no have negatively affected RB in the Manufacturer's Championship

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Not a terribly entertaining race, except for the Mexico City location and the excitement in the crowd for Pérez. It’s great that there seems to be genuine friendship between Max and his teammate, something notably absent in the AMG-Merc garage.

Gotta wonder if that will be affected by them giving Checo the damaged wing off Max's car for Qualfication.

Checo said the car felt completely different. A Checo win in Mexico City would have been stunning and would no have negatively affected RB in the Manufacturer's Championship

Didn’t seem to at the end of the race, besides, Max was very “quick” yesterday, and you have to know that a World Championship for Max, breaking Hamilton’s 4 straight and 6 of the last 7 Championships would have to be on the same level as the Manufacturer’s. Don’t you think?

I also think that if Verstappen wins the WDC, the Manufacturer’s trophy would likely come hand in glove with it. Pérez is having a great season with RBR (1 win, 5 podiums) with 3 straight P3s and will be a big factor for team goals, but 1 win against 8…

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:


LH & VB get along fine, much better than the rivalry between LH & Rosberg, but outwardly not necessarily a buddy-buddy pairing.

A few weeks back at Zandvoort --

Maybe next year, if the new cars can really follow closer, they will have a more exciting race there.
The DRS zones with the long straight should have made overtaking possible but the aerodynamic wash out made following close almost impossible.
Perez still had around a second advantage when he caught Lewis and was able to run close for a little while but then had to drop back or ruin the tires and overheat.
The extra point for fastest lap is a gimmick and should just go away next year.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Not a terribly entertaining race, except for the Mexico City location and the excitement in the crowd for Pérez. It’s great that there seems to be genuine friendship between Max and his teammate, something notably absent in the AMG-Merc garage.

Gotta wonder if that will be affected by them giving Checo the damaged wing off Max's car for Qualfication.

Checo said the car felt completely different. A Checo win in Mexico City would have been stunning and would no have negatively affected RB in the Manufacturer's Championship

Didn’t seem to at the end of the race, besides, Max was very “quick” yesterday

That was after he got Checo's rear wing

quote:

...and you have to know that a World Championship for Max, breaking Hamilton’s 4 straight and 6 of the last 7 Championships would have to be on the same level as the Manufacturer’s. Don’t you think?

Not really...just personal vindication for Max

F1 teams have always espoused that the Manufacturer's Championship was the Top Priority...partly for the prestige, mostly because that determined their split of the prize money

quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:


LH & VB get along fine, much better than the rivalry between LH & Rosberg, but outwardly not necessarily a buddy-buddy pairing.

A few weeks back at Zandvoort --

As a VB fan:

I firmly believe that Checko gave 100% effort to try and pass Louie, but he just couldn't get close enough without problems with his tires and engine. I believe that he did an awesome race, and I think RBR have realized they made a wise choice in getting him.

quote:

Originally posted by GT-40DOC:
I firmly believe that Checko gave 100% effort to try and pass Louie, but he just couldn't get close enough without problems with his tires and engine. I believe that he did an awesome race, and I think RBR have realized they made a wise choice in getting him.

He had a pretty lackluster start to the season, but has either adapted to the RBR or the RBR has been adapted to him & he's had a great run the past few races.

Lewis has gone on record saying Bottas was the best teammate he ever had and publically bandwagonned to keep Bottas at Mercedes.

quote:

Originally posted by DanH:
Lewis has gone on record saying Bottas was the best teammate he ever had and publically bandwagonned to keep Bottas at Mercedes.

I'm a Bottas fan.
But, I'm not overly surprised Lewis would want to keep him. He hasn't truly been a WDC rival (Like Nico was), and together they make a stable team & rake in the points for MB.

I've seen their partnership compared to Schumacher & Barrichello.

I will say that Bottas' racecraft has improved since his future became certain.
Not having to worry about if you have a job next year surely weighs on you & your performance.

Lew got a new engine with a 5 place grid penalty to start the sprint race.
Now he's being investigated for a DRS issue. His opens too wide and that would mean a pit lane start instead.

Lewis Hamilton has been excluded from Formula 1 qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, resigning him to a back of field start for Saturday’s sprint race.

Hamilton topped qualifying at Interlagos on Friday afternoon, beating title rival Max Verstappen by four-tenths of a second at the end of Q3.

But FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer found in his post-session checks that the DRS (drag reduction system) on Hamilton’s Mercedes W12 car was not in compliance with the rules.

Max was also visiting the stewards about his touching the Mercedes car in impound. The result is a 50K Euro ($57,256.75 US) fine.
Ouch!
Hamilton's rear wing failed the test for the 85mm opening out at the ends but not in the center at the actuator. They determined that showed it wasn't intentional but he still goes to the back, or maybe pitlane, for the sprint race start.