We said that the result of the first session of the Mexican GP could be illusory and we received confirmation on time in the second round. Max Verstappen gave a test of the potential of his Red Bull by making the void with the time of 1’17 “301 obtained in the simulation of qualifying with soft tires.
The Dutchman put everyone to almost half a second, tracing a groove that can hardly be filled by Mercedes. Milton Keynes engineers have worked hard to change the RB16B’s ground clearance, in search of maximum downforce without taking any risks in terms of reliability. Max dominates in the snake and in the stadium, showing an agility that the W12s have not found.
Valtteri Bottas, second, is 424 thousandths behind the leading Red Bull: the Finn seems to have found good confidence on a track with very little grip and which is still very dirty. The black arrow will be able to gain something when the asphalt greases, but the gap from Verstappen is very heavy, such as to cut the legs of the entire Brackley team.
Lewis Hamilton is only third at 509 thousandths from his world rival: the Englishman with medium tires has “burned” a train with a block under braking. Lewis seeks the limit, but his W12 does not go along with him as he would like. This time the predictions seem to be confirmed by the facts: the Mercedes stand out in the T1 characterized by the long straight, but then pay in the driven part, making the difference in the long run macroscopic.
Sergio Perez is confirmed fourth in the blink of an eye from the W12: the Mexican with the second RB16B is racing to himself because the pursuers pay the same half second that Checo leaves to his teammate.
The first of the others is Carlos Sainz with Ferrari: the Madrid-born who perhaps rode with the advanced power unit, while Charles Leclerc used a rotation unit, accuses a gap of more than a second. The position is good for the redhead, but not the gap. The Maranello team has not yet expressed its best and will have to work through the night to take advantage of the Mexican opportunity and the track which, at least on paper, should be favorable to the SF21.
Ferrari is not thrilling and it is not surprising that Pierre Gasly has slipped between the cars of Maranello: the Frenchman has found a good performance and also a good pace over the duration. It will be a threat to the Scuderia, as Charles Leclerc ended up behind. The Monegasque has to turn the page because his first day in Mexico was anything but exciting. Charles was unable to put together a clean lap, collecting errors and often traffic. This is not the Ferrari we expect tomorrow, because the potential is much higher.
Yuki Tsunoda is eighth with the AT02 proving that the Honda engine with the thin air breathes better as if the bigger turbo was worth a Ricola balsamic candy. The Japanese driver will have something to regret: in the appointment in which he highlights his talent he will be forced to retreat to the bottom of the grid to replace the engine which leads to a penalty.
The same fate will befall Lance Stroll with Aston Martin, but the Canadian, 17th, never raised his head, while Sebastian Vettel managed to slip into ninth place with the other verdona in front of the stainless Fernando Alonso with the Alpine . The Spaniard is always more consistent than Esteban Ocon only 14th.
Well Kimi Raikkonen 11th with Alfa Romeo: Iceman did better than Antonio Giovinazzi forced to 13th place, also preceded by Lando Norris’ McLaren. The Woking team seems to be in trouble: Daniel Ricciardo did not shoot a lot due to a gearbox problem. A similar problem has occurred to George Russell who has no time with Williams.
Positive 16th place for Mick Schumacher with Haas, as he trimmed almost a second to his teammate Nikita Mazepin relegated to 19th place. Nicholas Latifi looked colorless with Williams: the only gasp when he went straight to the barriers after a long one. He stopped in time before crashing. And it went well …
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