- Olly Shakesby
- Nov 2, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 8, 2024
Formula One - Chaotic title clash in Mexico City
A second successful weekend for Ferrari sees Red Bull slip to third in the constructors as Perez's woes continue to pile up.
PRE WEEKEND NOTES
McLaren official filled for a right to review following the incident at the US Grand Prix between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris where the latter received a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. McLaren's report argued that the FIA had not informed the team of any requirement to cede position to Verstappen, and until the penalty was issues, the team believed that Norris was at least alongside, if not ahead at the apex. The FIA ultimately denied McLaren's right to review, stating that there was no new of significant evidence to present to the stewards for a full appeal. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella clarified that the team accepted the penalty, while the decision to pursue the review originated from higher levels within McLaren's management.
PRACTICES
A busy weekend saw five rookie drivers taking part in Free Practice One, followed by an extended Free Practice Two for Pirelli's tyre test. Alex Albon would see his practice schedule cut short after a collision with the Ferrari rookie driver, Ollie Bearman, which resulted in substantial damage to Albon's Williams. The incident prevented Albon from completing the second half of FP1, and he was unable to participate in FP2 altogether.
QUALIFYING
Qualifying one saw an action packed session as one favourite and a driver under pressure were knocked out in the initial stage of qualifying. The session saw a surprisingly mixed order, with Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas, and Pierre Gasly in the Alpine running as high as second before the final runs. Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri found themselves at risk in the bottom five before their final attempts. Leclerc managed to push Perez into the drop zone, and when Kevin Magnussen crossed the line with just a minute remaining, Piastri was also eliminated.
Out in Q1: Colapinto, Piastri, Perez, Ocon, Zhou.
Qualifying two saw a return to a more predictable order as Norris, Hamilton, Russell, Leclerc and Sainz fought over the top five positions. Yuki Tsunoda in the VCARB crashed at turn twelve, locking up and struggling with oversteer before hitting the wall. This crash brought out a session-ending red flag, halting any further improvements in times or changes in the order.
Out in Q2: Tsunoda, Lawson, Alonso, Stroll, Bottas.
A pole shootout in qualifying three featured both Mercedes, both Ferraris, Verstappen and Norris, all in contention for pole. Initially, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz held provisional pole with teammate Charles Leclerc in second as Verstappen’s fastest time was deleted for a track-limits violation. In the final laps, Sainz found even more pace to solidify his pole position, meanwhile Verstappen recovered to take second, while Norris finished third despite setting the fastest time in sector two - falling short in a weekend where he needed to outscore Verstappen significantly to keep his championship hopes alive.
Top 10: Sainz, Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Hamilton, Magnussen, Gasly, Albon, Hulkenberg.
RACE
Esteban Ocon’s Alpine took a grid penalty for power unit changes, relegating him to twentieth. At the race start, Max Verstappen seized the lead from Carlos Sainz at turn one, while mid-pack chaos erupted. Pierre Gasly’s Alpine squeezed Alex Albon’s Williams into Yuki Tsunoda’s VCARB, causing Tsunoda to spin into the wall. Both Tsunoda and Albon retired immediately, ending their race weekend early, while a safety car was deployed to manage the aftermath. Under the safety car, Sergio Perez’s Red Bull was investigated for a false start, as replays showed him positioned over the white line in his grid box. Although Perez insisted his start was legal, the FIA handed him a five-second penalty, marking the start of a difficult race for the highly pressured Red Bull driver.
After the safety car, Sainz used DRS and the aero-efficient Ferrari to reclaim the lead from Verstappen before turn one. Shortly after, Lando Norris closed in on his title rival Verstappen, saving battery for a strategic pass. Norris went for an outside pass at turn four, but Verstappen forced him off, pushing Norris to cut turn five and rejoin further ahead. Verstappen retaliated with an aggressive dive at turn eight, forcing both cars off track, enabling Charles Leclerc to blast past. Verstappen was quickly penalised with a ten-second penalty for forcing Norris off, while Mercedes’ George Russel overtook teammate Lewis Hamilton for fifth, and Fernando Alonso retired with overheating brakes in his milestone 400th Grand Prix. More drama unfolded as Perez clashed with Liam Lawson, a driver rumoured to be vying for his seat. Lawson, who was fully alongside at turn four, was squeezed off track by Perez, damaging Perez’s car in the process, and was faced another test on the following lap as Lance Stroll attempted an outside pass, only for Perez to once again push his competitor off track, though without contact, forcing Stroll to stay behind.
Verstappen received a second ten-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, bringing his total time penalties to twenty seconds, which would be served at his pit stop. Perez escaped penalties for his incidents with Lawson and Stroll, however a slow pit stop relegated him to last place, while Verstappen rejoined the race in fifteenth after his extended stop. Verstappen struggled on his second stint as Red Bull fought with a car that continued to underperform on the hard tires.
On lap fifty-nine, Norris made his intentions clear as he closed the gap to Charles Leclerc, while saving battery power to mount a serious challenge. By lap sixty-two, Norris was within DRS range, pressuring Leclerc until the Monegasque driver ran wide at the final corner, allowing Norris to blast past, taking second place.
Ultimately, Sainz took the chequered flag for Ferrari, clinching an impressive win. Norris secured second, hoping to gain crucial points over Verstappen. Leclerc finished third, rounding out a Ferrari double podium, while also boosting Ferrari beyond Red Bull in the constructors’ standings, and closing the gap ahead to McLaren. Hamilton and Russell rounded out the top five, showing another positive weekend for Mercedes. Verstappen managed to recover to sixth position, after his twenty-second penalty to come sixth, meaning that Norris only gained ten points on the reigning champion. Magnussen crossed the line in seventh in an uneventful, yet successful race for the Haas, while Piastri recovered from seventeenth to eighth in a valuable damage limitation drive. Hulkenberg came home in ninth to secure Haas’s second consecutive double-points finish, while Gasly completed the top ten in a relatively quiet style.
DRIVER OF THE RACE
An easy choice here, Oscar Piastri maximised his car’s potential to climb from seventeenth to eighth after an extremely poor qualifying. This enabled Piastri, as well as McLaren to minimise the constructors’ points deficit to Ferrari.
FLOP OF THE RACE
Sergio Perez - with pressure mounting on his seat at Red Bull, Perez qualified eighteenth, clashed with multiple drivers including Liam Lawson (who could replace him), suffered car damage, and failed to deliver in a critical race weekend for the team, with his fastest lap over a second slower than Leclerc on fresh tires.
LOOKING AHEAD TO BRAZIL
The Formula One season heads into its final stretch at the much-loved Autodromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. This weekend features a sprint format on a freshly resurfaced track, setting the stage for an unpredictable grid order. The early weather forecast calls for 60% chance of rain on Sunday morning, and 30-40% on Friday and Saturday, evoking memories of wet and challenging conditions of Turkey 2020.
With limited time to find the ideal setup, free practice one will be crucial, as changing track grip throughout the weekend means that even small setup adjustments could significantly impact each team’s performance. Lando Norris will be aiming for a strong points haul, needing to once again outscore the title leader Max Verstappen by at least thirteen points to keep his hopes of a first World Drivers’ Championship alive.
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