Mark Hughes: How Mexico quirks changed F1's lead fight - The Race

Mexico City’s utmost altitude ever tends to lend to immoderate absorbing show dynamics betwixt the cars. When the aerial is 25% little dense than astatine oversea level, the quality betwixt a Formula 1 car which is usually draggy and 1 which is not is acold little than usual. For the aforesaid reason, the simplification successful downforce means that each other increment that is produced is other valuable.

That goes a precise agelong mode to explaining wherefore the high-downforce but draggy Mercedes – a car which was astir 0.6 seconds disconnected the gait astatine Austin past week – was bang connected the gait present and lone a amended last thigh by Max Verstappen secured the Red Bull rod from George Russell’s Mercedes. Here it was Ferrari which was nowhere, 5th and seventh and 0.6s disconnected the pace.

For reasons mostly unconnected to the aerodynamics, the altitude is besides wherefore the Ferrari isn’t astatine its champion here, arsenic suggested by Carlos Sainz: “We suffer a batch of show successful precocious altitude,” helium said, “but I deliberation it’s a one-off. Altitude for this motor is not precisely however we’d privation it. We knew earlier coming present we were going to request to instrumentality immoderate compromises.”

He’s referring to the Ferrari’s unsocial intake and turbo configuration. With super-long inlet tracts (which summation the turbulence and flammability of the inlet charge), a lower-revving MGU-H and a smaller turbo (which takes little electrical vigor than the others to rotation up quickly), it usually has a important acceleration vantage retired of the corners, adjacent if astatine the disbursal of earlier clipping astatine the extremity of the straights. With Mexico’s 25% simplification successful the density of the air, this vantage disappears. A bigger turbo is ideally needed.

The Ferrari’s front-loaded powerfulness transportation (at mean altitudes) is adjacent portion of its handling strengths successful low-speed corners. Take a look astatine immoderate Charles Leclerc telemetry from this twelvemonth and it tin beryllium seen conscionable however overmuch helium overlaps the throttle and brakes into the slower corners, utilizing this to spool up the turbo. It’s an incredibly intricate benignant and 1 that Sainz has travel to emulate done the season. It has implications connected the set-up of the car, requiring a beardown beforehand end.

So determination are the basal traits of the 3 apical cars – and however their strengths and weaknesses are changed by Mexico City’s unsocial challenges. The Red Bull is simply a large all-round operation of debased drag, bully powerfulness and accordant downforce passim each thrust heights. The Mercedes is draggy but has precise bully downforce if it tin beryllium tally debased capable – but tricky slow-speed handling due to the fact that of the compromise made indispensable by its rear suspension successful combining low- and high-speed country performance. The Ferrari has large downforce, is determination betwixt Red Bull and Mercedes successful drag, and usually has a low-speed acceleration advantage. But not here.

Now factor-in the peculiar circumstances of the day. The teams were unusually reliant connected FP3 due to the fact that of Friday’s 2023 Pirelli trial successful FP2. The way somesthesia this greeting was astir 39C. But it takes lone a small prima to nonstop the way temperatures soaring astatine this altitude and by the clip qualifying began it was up to 50C. As Russell pointed out, that not lone lowers wide grip, “but it besides changes the regulation from the beforehand to the rear of the car”.

In FP3 the Red Bull was struggling for a beforehand extremity and the Mercedes was successful a precise blessed place, with Russell and Hamilton heading the times 0.4s wide of Verstappen and 0.7s wide of the Ferraris. But astir a way 11C hotter, the equilibrium regulation switches to the rear arsenic the rear rubber rapidly overheats. This was cleanable for bringing the Red Bull into its saccharine spot, little bully for Mercedes and adjacent worse for the already oversteery Ferrari.

But adjacent then, the Mercedes was inactive afloat competitory with the Red Bull, fundamentally faster successful the corners, slower connected the straights and astir adjacent implicit the lap. Both Sergio Perez and Hamilton suffered powerfulness portion derating problems (another hazard of this altitude) and with the Ferraris struggling, truthful the conflict for rod distilled down to Verstappen vs Russell, particularly aft Hamilton had his archetypal Q3 clip deleted for way limits.

“Arrgh,” screamed Russell successful vexation aft his past thigh got distant from him. “Pole was determination for the taking.” He was near relying connected his archetypal tally time, which was 0.304s slower than Verstappen’s last flyer.

Fresh retired of the car, Russell was convinced he’d mislaid the thigh with an oversteer infinitesimal betwixt Turns 4 and 5 and that his aboriginal run-wide infinitesimal crossed the kerbs arsenic helium entered the stadium was conscionable from trying to marque up the clip mislaid successful the earlier incident. But a look astatine the GPS of each thigh shows that the speedy oversteer drawback outgo him astir thing and that done the archetypal portion of the Esses (Turns 7-8-9) the Mercedes’ greater downforce had clawed Russell backmost ahead, with the Red Bull’s greater straightline velocity past pulling Verstappen backmost level connected the attack to the stadium section. There was thing successful it betwixt them arsenic Russell past took excessively overmuch velocity into Turn 10 and ran crossed the exit kerb.

It whitethorn good person been Verstappen’s rod adjacent without the Russell mistake, arsenic the Red Bull had consistently been the quickest done the last sector. But Russell was not mistaken successful feeling that rod had been possible.

In the end, the champion all-round operation of car traits and driving secured Verstappen the pole.