what a start by Max, and then again at red flag
The Red Bull is so superior that Perez could have been on the podium, had he not have brain fade at the first corner ! That's all I retain from that race. Never expected Ferrari to win, in spite of them starting from the front.
I think they got a solid result. The front row lock out was a freak accident from the track conditions, and they were aware of it themselves. They called the strategy well and had the SC not come out and given Ham and chance to switch to the mediums, I think they would've finished ahead of him the deg on what would been his hards. They're still the same distance to Mercedes in the WCC, and maximized the cars potential.
on X: "@alexescalera17 Ve este pedo JAJAJAJA https://t.co/SjIMY0uFtr" / X (twitter.com) stay classy, mexico
Ferrari still completely useless on the hards. RB is superior in Max’s hands. Needs a stronger teammate next year but no one in this field comes close to his speed and efficiency so I don’t see anyone challenging him.
The Red Bull has a better top speed, a distinct advantage on circuits with long straights. Apart from that, it's not bad on corners either !! The Ferraris had nowhere to hide !!
Honestly don't think the problem, in this race, was Ferrari on hards. Hamilton was just THAT GOOD on those mediums after the red flag! Proof? Hamilton takes fastest lap in the last lap or two. Even on mediums, Ferrari would have been no match for Hamilton today, after the red flag.
Chris Medland on X: "I’m told by F1 that the fan who attacked the Ferrari fans was ejected and given a life ban #F1 #MexicoGP" / X (twitter.com) Excellent news. The guys that attacked the Ferrari fan post race have been banned for life.
Seriously, if the stewards penalize Leclerc for going off after Checo ran into him, I'm going to question their sobriety.
Russel was also on mediums and Sainz was able to not only hold him off, but pull 8 seconds away. It shows the Ferrari had equal pace to the Mercedes, but clean air was everything today, and once you lost it, you were in trouble. Chuck's car was definitely wounded, and that's really why Ham was able to get a run on him early. Had he been able to hang on a few more laps, the dirty air likely would've began to take its toll on the mediums for Ham.
But Sainz wasn't able to catch, or even gain on, Leclerc in the last half ... so Leclerc's car wasn't that wounded. Dirty air, or just that Hamilton is better at managing tire wear than Russell? Again: fastest lap goes to Hamilton, on mediums that are ~35 laps old. Sounds to me like more of a positive to Hamilton on mediums, than a negative to Ferrari on hards. (and you guys know i'm not one to give false praise to Hamilton!)
Regarding Hamiltons fastest lap, Brundle mentioned Mercedes let Hamilton "open up" the engine by dialing in the higher power mode for just one lap to gain the fastest lap and then turned the engine down.