The outcome of the third free practice session, which had seen Max Verstappen trim six tenths of a second behind Lewis Hamilton, seemed to be the starter of a qualifying under the banner of Red Bull, quoted as the favorite for the conquest of pole position . Instead, surprisingly, the two Mercedes of Bottas and the British have monopolized the entire front row of the GP of Mexico City, with the Silver Arrows that will start right in front of the two Austrian cars of Verstappen and of the local idol Sergio Perez .
A result that has displaced the Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, who expressed his first feelings immediately after the session ended: “Mercedes is very fast on the straight – commented – And it will be very hard. Yesterday it was seen that they focused on the engine problems, which they had already had here in Mexico in the past. They got to work and we, at the same time, lowered our pace in Q3. Tomorrow will be a very complex race. During PL3 we had noticed some small problems, and for this reason we wanted to increase the level of protection on the wings. It was nothing serious, just a precaution, and above all nothing that would have impacted on performance ”.
For the race – scheduled for 20:00 Italian time – the British manager hopes to see his drivers as protagonists of a good start, which could prove decisive for the development of the GP: “Tomorrow the first big opportunity will be at Turn 1 – he added – but we have to be careful of potential contacts, as happened in 2019. We will arrive at that point with the group still compact, and it is necessary that our riders make a great sprint. Also, be careful not to stay behind a car for too long, otherwise the temperatures would get out of control. Max was never satisfied with the soft tires over the course of the weekend, unlike the Mercedes. At the same time, we got along well with the tough ones. Our goal is to have a great start to find us in the best conditions at the first corner. The guys will be analyzing the cars tonight, but the biggest concerns have already been addressed. It is true that we have Valtteri and Lewis ahead of us – concluded Horner – but it is equally true that Max will start from the clean side of the track. We have a car with a valid set-up for the race. We will evaluate the strategy on the basis of what will happen during the first lap ”.
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