Losers
Fernando Alonso
It was one other irritating day for Fernando Alonso in Mexico after his newest retirement price him seventh-place.
Alonso was working comfortably within the factors on Sunday till he encountered one other engine-related difficulty.
It was clear that he was struggling when teammate Esteban Ocon powered previous him a couple of laps earlier than his eventual retirement.
“Unbelievable. What a season, what a season,” Alonso mentioned over group radio when retiring from the race on Lap 65.
Remarkably, it was Alonso’s fifth retirement of the yr, six in case you embody a problem which meant he couldn’t begin the dash in Austria.
Let’s not neglect the mechanical difficulty that price him a high 5 place on the grid in Australia.
A merciless run of dangerous luck which in response to Alonso has price him round “60 factors” this season.
Ferrari
Ferrari endured their worst weekend of the season when it comes to outright efficiency as Carlos Sainz completed over 40 seconds off the lead in fifth.
Ferrari have typically carried out greatest at excessive downforce circuits so it was shocking to see them wrestle a lot for tempo.
Charles Leclerc hinted after the race that they went within the improper path setup smart, whereas there have been murmurings that Ferrari have been pressured to show their engine down due it fighting the excessive altitude.
A poor weekend general and one which might have left the entire group confused.
Alfa Romeo
After starring in qualifying, it was a missed alternative for Valtteri Bottas and Alfa Romeo on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
A sluggish begin dropped him behind Alonso, who he was unable to cross within the first stint regardless of being clearly faster.
Bottas was considered one of a handful of midfield drivers to modify to the arduous tyre, and he struggled greater than most to get them as much as temperature.
He was overtaken by Daniel Ricciardo, Ocon and Lando Norris, practically shedding out to Pierre Gasly on the ultimate lap.
Bottas ended his personal factors drought, but it surely ought to have been much more for him and Alfa Romeo.
Provided that that they had the fourth quickest automotive in Mexico, to come back away one level is extremely disappointing.
Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly have to be counting down the times earlier than his Alpine change.
It was one other troublesome afternoon for the Frenchman, who narrowly missed out on a factors end by simply 0.6s.
Had it not been for his five-second time penalty, he in all probability would have overwhelmed Bottas to complete inside the highest 10.
Whereas the end result wasn’t too dangerous on paper, the repercussions of his newest penalty are extra extreme.
Gasly is now simply two penalty factors away from a race ban, with none of his present tremendous licence factors expiring till Could 2023.
Winners
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen continues to interrupt information in F1 as he claimed his 14th victory of the yr.
He was stored sincere by Lewis Hamilton within the opening stint of the race however as soon as Mercedes opted to modify to the arduous tyre in the course of the pit cease section, the race was completed and dusted.
Verstappen additionally broke the file for probably the most factors scored in a single season – 416 to Hamilton’s 413 in 2019.
One other unimaginable weekend for Verstappen – unstoppable.
Mercedes
It was a robust day for Mercedes as Hamilton completed second, whereas George Russell picked up fourth-place with the quickest lap.
The principle optimistic for Mercedes is that they have been clearly the second-fastest automotive in Mexico and had the tempo to problem Purple Bull had they been on the proper technique.
Mercedes merely bought it improper with technique.
Toto Wolff instructed Sky Sports activities F1 forward of the race that Mercedes plan to be “aggressive” with technique.
Utilizing the 2 most sturdy compounds wasn’t significantly aggressive from Mercedes.
In efficiency phrases (and factors scored), Mercedes are clear winners, nevertheless, they didn’t put up a lot of a combat when they need to have primarily based on the primary stint of the race.
Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren
Welcome again Daniel Ricciardo!
It wasn’t an ideal race by any means for the Australian, colliding with Yuki Tsunoda and selecting up a 10-second time penalty within the course of.
Nevertheless, Ricciardo put in his greatest drive of the season as he made the a lot of the tender tyres within the second half of the race.
Granted, the Alpines, Bottas and teammate Norris struggled on the arduous tyre, however Ricciardo made it work.
Let’s not neglect that simply over one week in the past, Ricciardo was battling Nicholas Latifi at COTA.
Technique did play its half, however that’s the character of F1.