2025 Race 20 - Mexico

[F1nKS]

5 Races to go.

Quick turnaround. Ferrari did well in Mexico last year with Sainz winning and Leclerc finishing 3rd. Norris was a respectable 2nd. Sainz probably won't be repeating as he already has a 5-spot grid penalty.

Verstappen and Piastri struggled and finished 6th and 8th, respectively. Norris would not mind similar results.

It will be interesting to hear how the chatter evolves over the week.

[F1nKS]

Just to show the psychological warfare that is going on...The FIA has fined Red Bull for:


“failing "to follow the instructions of relevant officials”

The story is that Norris relies on the team to put tape on the pit wall so he can properly put his car on the grid. Red Bull had somebody go back on the grid and try to remove the tape during the formation lap, but they got caught. There are no rules for or against this "tape", so they fined RB on a technicality (not a sporting violation).

It sounds like this war has been going on for a while, as I heard that McLaren has been perfecting how they install it so it cannot be removed without difficulty.

[airshifter]

The tape on the wall thing seems strange, but they must have it figured out so that it works well. And it's the FIA, so yeah, they fine everything they can when it falls in these grey areas!


Only a few hours until the practice sessions start.

[Matthew]

9 out of 20 are all rookies in this FP1. I wonder what's the highest number of rookies in a session in F1.

[F1nKS]

9 out of 20 are all rookies in this FP1. I wonder what's the highest number of rookies in a session in F1.

Lindblad, sitting in for Verstappen, was faster than Tsunoda in FP1.

[F1nKS]

Aston Martin has admitted it breached the cost cap on a technicality. They will not receive a penalty.

Another team is rumored to have a major violation of the cost cap. Nobody has admitted who it was yet. FIA says they will report who it was when all submissions have been received.

[airshifter]

Aston Martin has admitted it breached the cost cap on a technicality. They will not receive a penalty.

Another team is rumored to have a major violation of the cost cap. Nobody has admitted who it was yet. FIA says they will report who it was when all submissions have been received.

If there is a major breach, the FIA will have to decide on how much they can extort from the team. I think RB paid something like 3x the cost breach in fines, plus a loss of wind tunnel time. But really since we know in most cases the teams have money to pay fines, if anything the punishments should be more against points or development.

Only a few hours until FP3.

[F1nKS]

Piastri looks to have been beaten down by McLaren. Huge gap between Norris and Piastri.

Ferrari had a good day of qualifying. They have a good shot at getting their first win of the season.

[F1nKS]

Piastri looks to have been beaten down by McLaren. Huge gap between Norris and Piastri.

Ferrari had a good day of qualifying. They have a good shot at getting their first win of the season.

[airshifter]

Yep, Oscar on the back foot and Lando making it happen in Mexico City. That was a fantastic lap for pole by Lando, and he seems confident in his race pace. With the Ferrari drivers and George in front of Max, and even more drivers in front of Oscar, this is the type of weekend Lando needs to get back on top of the championship fight.

It will be interesting to see who gets to the first corner first, with that long start straight it can be dicey.

Hoping the mixed up grid provides us with some good racing.

[N. Jones]

Absolute mayhem. That VSC saved Charles' 2nd place.

[N. Jones]

Yep, Oscar on the back foot and Lando making it happen in Mexico City. That was a fantastic lap for pole by Lando, and he seems confident in his race pace. With the Ferrari drivers and George in front of Max, and even more drivers in front of Oscar, this is the type of weekend Lando needs to get back on top of the championship fight.

It will be interesting to see who gets to the first corner first, with that long start straight it can be dicey.

Hoping the mixed up grid provides us with some good racing.

Everybody got to the first corner first! Hahahaha

[airshifter]

Well that one got interesting quickly. Four wide into the first turn!

Action through most of the race due to the differing strategies and strange qually results. George moaning got old really quick, he was at least a couple car lengths back by the braking zone and then expected to advance due to it. I'm not sure what got into Jolyon Palmer on the F1TV coverage, he kept saying Max was screwed and going to be way down when he was on the mediums. I could see everyone not running fast on the mediums, why he couldn't I don't know. But it all inverted at the stops, and Max was quick again.

I think that VSC saved either Charles or Ollie, maybe both. I haven't watched back as I never noticed where Sainz car ended up, since I never spotted it while watching the first time.

Amazing job by Bearman. He ran a solid race and took that Haas to a finish most of us wouldn't have predicted. The VSC might have saved him a position, but either way he worked hard to get it there. As for Lando, cruising out front in clean air he made it almost look easy. But he seemed really positive this weekend and he was right, complete control of the race start to finish.


Only 1 point now in the WDC between Lando and Oscar, and Max is 35 points farther back. I have a feeling that the end of the season could get spicy!

[Bagwan]

Big change in the Mac camp , with Oscar not able to cope with the direction they've taken with the car to keep it competitive , and Lando seemingly making the right moves to justify it .

I'm not surprised that Lando is happy about it but I am a little amazed by how much wind it seems to have taken out of Oscar's sails .
I kind of expected a little defiance from him , but he just sounded plain beaten .

George whined , and maybe he had a point , but , as I said to the Trophy wife during the broadcast , by the point Kimi let him by , it would have helped the situation for the whole team , had he stayed in DRS range for the lad to help him fend off his opponent , rather than the futile run up he tried .
George's team has apologized , which is , I hope , just to appease his ego .

[F1nKS]

Just to show the psychological warfare that is going on...The FIA has fined Red Bull for:



The story is that Norris relies on the team to put tape on the pit wall so he can properly put his car on the grid. Red Bull had somebody go back on the grid and try to remove the tape during the formation lap, but they got caught. There are no rules for or against this "tape", so they fined RB on a technicality (not a sporting violation).

It sounds like this war has been going on for a while, as I heard that McLaren has been perfecting how they install it so it cannot be removed without difficulty.

So there was more information on "tape gate." Even though FIA doesn't have a sense of humor nor the ability to manage a race effectively, there has been some funny story about tape gate. It has been going on all season, and had the RB person not got caught out it would probably be still going on.

1. McLaren once put down two pieces of tape. When the first piece of tape was removed, it revealed a message to RB that said, "better luck next time".

2. McLaren put down tape that would only come off in pieces.

3. FIA produced a photo showing only a hand reaching around the wall attempting to remove the piece of tape. McLaren produced a wanted poster for the "hand".

4. RB produced signs that said "Lando Park Here!"

5. McLaren would have at time people stand guard over the tape.

They were having all good fun until the FIA stepped in.

[airshifter]

Big change in the Mac camp , with Oscar not able to cope with the direction they've taken with the car to keep it competitive , and Lando seemingly making the right moves to justify it .

I'm not surprised that Lando is happy about it but I am a little amazed by how much wind it seems to have taken out of Oscar's sails .
I kind of expected a little defiance from him , but he just sounded plain beaten .

George whined , and maybe he had a point , but , as I said to the Trophy wife during the broadcast , by the point Kimi let him by , it would have helped the situation for the whole team , had he stayed in DRS range for the lad to help him fend off his opponent , rather than the futile run up he tried .
George's team has apologized , which is , I hope , just to appease his ego .

I always find it amazing how often the driver behind has "so much more pace" until given a chance to prove it. I do think the team first told him he was free to pass, but then later ordered the switch. And then the switch back of course.

[N. Jones]

If the driver behind has more pace, he should show it by passing his teammate.

[Steve Boyd]

I always find it amazing how often the driver behind has "so much more pace" until given a chance to prove it. I do think the team first told him he was free to pass, but then later ordered the switch. And then the switch back of course.


If the driver behind has more pace, he should show it by passing his teammate.The problem is that they don't make the decision soon enough, or even have it in the plan before the race. The guy behind who's just come out on fresh tyres & is 2 seconds a lap faster needs the call to pass before he's in DRS range so he can get through at the first opportunity. What usually happens is that the quicker guy behind closes to DRS range, fails to pass within a lap and then gets in a battle that slows them both down. He then gets on the radio and starts the discussion about being allowed to pass. That goes on for about 5 laps by which time his tyres are rooted and he's no faster when he gets the permission to pass. If they were more decisive, both cars would have a shorter race time.

[airshifter]

The problem is that they don't make the decision soon enough, or even have it in the plan before the race. The guy behind who's just come out on fresh tyres & is 2 seconds a lap faster needs the call to pass before he's in DRS range so he can get through at the first opportunity. What usually happens is that the quicker guy behind closes to DRS range, fails to pass within a lap and then gets in a battle that slows them both down. He then gets on the radio and starts the discussion about being allowed to pass. That goes on for about 5 laps by which time his tyres are rooted and he's no faster when he gets the permission to pass. If they were more decisive, both cars would have a shorter race time.

The problem is the team politics come into the picture once they start doing such things. The car in front has an advantage in some cases but if they always allow the driver with fresh tires the advantage then at some point if it's not "paid back" the team has too much influence IMHO.

I like when drivers have to race.

[Steve Boyd]

The problem is the team politics come into the picture once they start doing such things. The car in front has an advantage in some cases but if they always allow the driver with fresh tires the advantage then at some point if it's not "paid back" the team has too much influence IMHO.

I like when drivers have to race.I agree for McLaren - the politics between two drivers in the title hunt are too much

For all the others, particularly those chasing places in the manufacturer championship, there's a need to minimise the race time across the team. Having one car holding up the other team car just seems a bit dumb to me.

[airshifter]

I agree for McLaren - the politics between two drivers in the title hunt are too much

For all the others, particularly those chasing places in the manufacturer championship, there's a need to minimise the race time across the team. Having one car holding up the other team car just seems a bit dumb to me.

I mostly agree. Fragile driver egos might drive quite a few of the calls though.