The 20th round of the F1 season in Mexico ended with the world champion Max Verstappen’s to overwhelming victory. The Red Bull driver took his fourteenth win of the season, with which he also broke the record for wins in a single season.
Alfa Romeo entered the race in sixth place Valtteri Bottas finished in tenth place after a long time for points. The last time Bottas was in the points was in June at the Canadian GP.
Urheilu went through the weekend’s events and talking points with an F1 expert Jukka Mildhin with.
How did the race end?
Max Verstappen had a great start and held the lead in the first corners. However, the decisive difference was seen in the tire choices, as Verstappen started with a soft tire compound and changed to a medium-hard tire compound at the end of the race.
Mercedes, on the other hand, started the race with medium hard tires and changed to a hard tire compound at the end. When Red Bull didn’t have to pit a second time, Mercedes’ tactics looked miserable.
– Red Bull made a better choice of tires in this race. Sure, it was faster than the car too, but the tires decided quite a lot. Due to the high altitude and very warm conditions, we had to play with quite a lot of risk and Red Bull managed the situation best, Mildh commented.
What are we talking about?
There are still two races left in the F1 season and Mercedes can still rise to second place in the Manufacturers’ World Series. Ferrari is currently 40 points ahead, but the course of the Italian team has been in a downward direction since the beginning of the season.
– Mersu even has a chance to come second in the World Cup. It’s so funny when you remember how the season started.
Before the start of the season, Ferrari’s engine was even considered the best in the series. Now the situation has turned upside down. Red Bull has gotten more out of its power source.
– This shows how Ferrari has not been able to participate in the development. They had significant problems with the engine in this race as well. Drivers complained that the car cannot be driven and the power source does not respond to the gas properly. This reflects through Ferrari.
What about Bottas?
Bottas started on grid six, but lost two places after accelerating at the start in the following corners. Bottas was stuck in eighth place and couldn’t overtake Fernando Alonso.
However, according to Mildh, it was great that Bottas drove to the points after a long time.
– Bottas started off the line nicely. The start went extremely well, but the car froze after the initial acceleration and he dropped a couple of places.
Bottas, who started with medium speed, stretched out his stop, which is why he stopped earlier Esteban Ocon got to Nastola’s position and finally passed. According to Mildh, driving a longer stint is typical for Alfa Romeo from similar starting points.
– On the other hand, it was the means by which they secured one World Cup point, which is valuable at this stage. Alfa Romeo is competing with Aston Martin and everything is heading home at this point.
This is how Jukka Mildh commented on Valtteri Bottas’ race.
In the end, Alonso had to stop. Bottas was finally tenth after McLaren Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris got through.
According to Mildh, the time trial promised a lot, but in the end Alfa Romeo did not have a fast enough car compared to other competitors.
– The time trial was very promising. If you start sixth and finish tenth, that’s a disappointment. It could have gone better, mirroring the starting settings. But quite a lot was solved during the first curves, when he already dropped a couple of notches, Mildh said.
Surprise
The seven-time world champion who drove second Lewis Hamilton was not a favorite with Mexican audiences. The British driver was booed surprisingly violently during the field interview. It surprised the expert.
– The home crowd was on the side of Peréz and Red Bull and they certainly consider it their national team. However, Hamilton received quite a few boos. It was surprising.
– Sure, Hamilton has his own profile, but perhaps unsportsmanlike behavior from the public, which was otherwise very involved. They are starting to surpass even the tifosi in their passion.
A flop
Mexican circuit and boring race.
We started the race with high expectations, because based on the qualifying times, the three top teams seemed to be very close to each other. In the end, the differences grew very large.
Verstappen won the race by 15.1 seconds. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was almost a minute behind the Dutchman.
The track did not see a lot of overtaking when the drivers were driving on the same tire compound.
Mildh believes that the teams’ lack of experience with new cars in difficult conditions affected the race negatively.
– Aerodynamics has changed so decisively in cars. When it was hot, the brakes and engine temperatures got tough. They also influenced the nature of this competition.
– Mexico has been a challenging track for the teams and that is due to the thinner air. When all the other elements were put into it, the competition was pretty boring. I believe that next year we will know better how to act.