Valtteri Bottas’ masterpiece in qualifying was ruined by a bad start in the Mexican GP: the Finn got off to a good start when the lights went out, but instead of occupying the maximum of the roadway, he moved to the right to give Lewis Hamilton the trail. meanwhile he had joined his teammate.
A beginner’s mistake, because Valtteri opened a … door outside to Max Verstappen who extended the braking and entered the first corner in command ahead of Lewis. The Dutchman had to fight everything in the long straight that led to the first corner and the “sniper” hit, swooping down the two black arrows in a single shot.
The start was the key moment of the 18th race of the world championship: Max Verstappen extends the advantage over the hepta champion to 19 points who, beyond what happened with Bottas at the start, has never been able to challenge the Dutch. Indeed, after the pit stop on lap 40, Sergio Perez went after the Mercedes with a frenzied pace and on the last lap he tried to attack Hamilton who masterfully defended himself, taking home a very precious second place.
Red Bull, after having dramatically messed up the qualifications, finds the unstoppable pace in the race and reserves a lesson for Mercedes. Lewis was good at making Perez’s attack harmless, but he could do nothing against the Dutchman who had the race in hand from the first lap. Verstappen wins for the third time in Mexico City and takes his 19th victory, giving a turning point to the most beautiful world championship in recent years. Max was perfect in handling the RB16B (there were concerns about the reliability of the rear wing) and the tires. The only thrill he experienced was when he saw Bottas split in the final, while the Finn was launched in search of the fastest lap with a set of new soft tires fitted with a third pit.
A small block by the Dutchman complicated the overtaking of Bottas who, in this way, was unable to hit the fastest lap that was Max’s. Mercedes, then, called Valtteri to the garage and mounted another train of reds for him, delaying exiting the garage to prevent it from ending up in traffic again. Bottas with a perfect last lap stole the fastest lap of the race from the world leader with a 1’17 “774. It was the only positive thing about Bottas on a Sunday to forget: he finished 15th so the point additional did not have it assigned.
The Mercedes on the high ground has also seen its advantage in the Constructors’ championship squander: the Star has only one point of margin over Red Bull, which is capitalizing on a much better trail of results than the W12s. Milton Keynes’s team would have deserved the double, but Hamilton’s experience had a good game on the local idol who, in any case, took away the pleasure of getting on the podium in front of 135 thousand compatriots who went out to support him in the arc of the 71 laps of the GP distance.
The top three did another sport, leaving the excellent Pierre Gasly with the AlphaTauri at over a minute: the Frenchman was perfect, leading a solitary race in fourth place without any flaws. It should be re-evaluated, bringing it closer to the top drivers who are the most popular.
Ferrari closes fifth and sixth but is very far behind: Charles Leclerc was the last of the drivers at full speed, while Carlos Sainz was the first of the lapped. If performance is to be judged, the Scuderia disappointed, given that Mexico was supposed to be a friendly track to the SF21, but the two Prancing Horse riders managed to take third place in the Constructors’ World Championship by gaining 8.5 points. McLaren who had to settle for the punticino remedied by Lando Norris with the asphyxiated tenth place.
The Red was not enthusiastic, but doing the homework achieved the most important result.
At one point, the order was also given to Leclerc to let the fastest Sainz pass, in the hope that the Spaniard could get on the trail of Gasly: when it was understood that he would not make it, Carlos was invited to rejoin your teammate. Right so.
Leclerc suffered from tire wear with a lot of graining on the front and suffered more than usual, a sign that Ferrari did not have one of its best days and there is still a lot of work to do to get back to the top.
Two old men emerge behind the reds: Sebastian Vettel collects a precious seventh place with Aston Martin, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who brings Alfa Romeo back to the points with eighth place.
The team from Hinwil ruined Antonio Giovinazzi’s race with an early pit that put him in traffic after a start that saw him climb up to sixth place. Antonio has once again been used as a “guinea pig” for Kimi: it’s a bad way to dump a driver you don’t want anymore. Bad attitude of Alfa Romeo towards an Italian driver.
A surly Fernando Alonso takes two points for the Alpine ahead of Lando Norris with the Mclaren. The Woking team appeared to be in trouble after Daniel Ricciardo ruined a good start by hitting Bottas in braking. The Australian overdid it and ended up in the rear.
At the start also contact between Mick Schumacher with the Haas and the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda immediately forced to retire after a tangle between the cars.
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