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Welcome to the Mexico City Grand Prix

News & Analysis Welcome The Grand Prix

“driving like a muppet” led to Verstappen battle – Norris

Lando Norris has conceded that “driving like a muppet” at the start of last weekend’s United States Grand Prix ultimately led to the controversial battle with Max Verstappen. On the opening lap in Austin, the McLaren driver made a lunge into the first corner forcing them both wide and allowing Charles Leclerc to take a dominant victory.

While Verstappen’s move could have brought repercussions for its forceful nature, the fact it was on lap one meant the race stewards dismissed the case. When the duo met again at the end of the race with Norris trying to take the final podium .spot, the three-time champion again pushed his title rival wide and, despite both running off-track, it was the McLaren that was penalised for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Norris told Motorsport.com,  “Turn one, I didn’t do the correct thing but I feel like what happened at the end of the race was more on my side. Otherwise, it was a good battle, and I enjoyed it. We just didn’t come out on top because I didn’t do a good enough job. If I defended better in turn one and wasn’t driving like a muppet, then I should have led after Turn 1, and we shouldn’t have this conversation in the first place…”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was very careful not to direct anger towards Verstappen in his comments after the race, underlining his frustration was with the stewards and the state of F1’s rules.

Norris was also full of respect for his rival, saying that Verstappen drove very well and it is hard to do side-by-side and judging where to braking points are

“You’re going quicker than you have before because you use the battery, the tyres are older, there’s different bumps, there’s a lot of dirt, we’re battling and fighting hard… so I respect the battle that we had, it was a good one, it was enjoyable, I think it was respectful.”

 

Stella accuses rivals of psychological warfare

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has accused rivals of an “attempt at psychological warfare” over the controversy surrounding its rear wing at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Since the start of 2023, the team has gone from back marker to leading the constructors with five races to go.

But changes have had to be made to its rear wing since Oscar Piastri’s win in Baku after rivals pointed to video evidence of what they deemed excessive aerodynamic flexing, with the situation paraphrased as a ‘mini-DRS’. Tweaks were initially made for the Singapore Grand Prix but further changes were added at the United States Grand Prix, where Motorsport.com reported other teams had also had to revise designs after the fallout.

Speaking to Motorsport.com in relation to the topic, Stella said: “Our wings were compliant with the technical regulations and passed all the flexibility checks in force, at the same time we had conversations with the international federation receiving all the necessary reassurances.”

“Obviously, we read a lot of comments in the media, opinions that came mainly from our opponents, not necessarily from journalists, and certain articles seemed to be a vehicle to spread the voice of some of our opponents on the track.”

He says that it appears its rivals wanted to use the media to paint McLaren in a bad light after they addressed the regulations which he called, ‘psychological warfare aimed at weakening the opponent.’ But says it has strengthened the team and distracted its rivals as they got distracted by their solutions.

Last weekend, McLaren fired back over Red Bull’s psychological warfare aimed at weakening the opponent, which has strengthened the team as they were distracted thinking about our technical solutions

 

Mercedes reveals true cause of the disastrous Austin

Mercedes chief technical officer James Allison believes his team’s torrid United States Grand Prix weekend was down to having the car “too low” and “too stiff” rather than the latest upgrade package. Mercedes saw both of their drivers crash during the race weekend in Austin.

Last weekend George Russell crashed out of GP qualifying meaning he started from the pit lane, while teammate Lewis Hamilton spun out at the same corner early on in the race. This has led to speculation that the upgrades introduced in Austin has created handling issues.

However, Allison has confirmed that the difficulties the team faced at the Circuit of the Americas were setup-related.

He said in a video on Mercedes’ YouTube channel: “We had a bumpy weekend, and we had our new clothes on the car, our so-called update 19 that we were quite excited about and still are quite excited about. But we also had a whole heap of things that are not normal. Lewis spun in Free Practice. We had George nearly lose the back end of the car as well. George crashed in qualifying. Lewis spun off in the race.”

But Allison says the upgrades did work as expected and created more downforce, with nothing before the spins broke the flow structures on the car. He conceded that played a role in ensuring Mercedes had “less time” to “dial” the car in.

He added, “Because it was a Sprint weekend, you get less time to dial that in than you normally would. We will find out in the coming races because we will persist with the upgrade package and if it persists in winding up in the gravel, then we will put two and two together. But my guess is it will not.”

 

Antonelli given second FP1 outing

Kimi Antonelli will replace Lewis Hamilton in FP1 tomorrow ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix, CEO and team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed. As per F1’s regulations, all 10 teams are permitted to give rookie drivers two outings across the 2024 campaign. Antonelli replaced George Russell in FP1 at Monza but crashed heavily early on.

The Italian will get another opportunity to drive the W15 as he prepares to make his F1 debut next year. He was announced during the race at Monza as Hamilton’s replacement for 2025 when he moves to Ferrari.

Wolff said, “With its high altitude, Mexico presents a unique challenge. The power unit has to work harder and, to counteract the thin air, we run at maximum downforce. It will provide another opportunity to evaluate our recent update package. Kimi will also be in the car for his second FP1 session and we look forward to him continuing his development on track.”

Reflecting on last weekend in Austin where both drivers had a difficult weekend, Hamilton spinning out early on and Russell finishing sixth following a pit lane start, he says Mexico was the opportunity to immediately bounce back but the car has inherent performance. The challenge for Mercedes remains the inconsistency of the car.

 

Talking Points Mexico City

Round twenty brings F1 to Mexico City and the 2.6-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, since its return a decade ago it has been one of the highlights of the season thanks to the carnival atmosphere and the Day of the Dead festival.

The circuit is similar to Monza on paper and in characterises but is equally as fast given its being the highest altitude with the circuit at 2,238m above sea level the thin air means more straight-line speed and teams normally run higher downforce setups. we know places high demands on brakes and the cars overall, meaning accidents can happen and getting the performance right is key as the thinner air means there is less oxygen for the engines levelling out the performance advantages.

Going into the final six races much of the focus had been on Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, but has Charles Leclerc joined the race for the championship. Norris in theory could take the lead if he wins here and next weekend the sprint and Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, if Verstappen fails to score. The gap is fifty-seven points with a maximum of a hundred and forty-six to play for.

That breaks down as 130 in the five grands prix (25 for a win and one for the fastest lap in each race) and 16 across the two Sprint races still to come (eight points for a win) in Brazil and Qatar. That average gain could be achieved per race by Norris, for example, by finishing first and Verstappen fourth (13 points difference), for example.

While the focus is on Verstappen and Norris, Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz are still mathematically in the title race but are unlikely to challenge. Though, Leclerc could still fancy a run at the McLaren driver for second place with the Briton only 22 points ahead of him. And Ferrari too, 48 points behind McLaren, are eyeing up a late run at the first constructors’ title in 16 years.

But it was Ferrari that stole the show with an impressive one-two finish in Austin, led home by Leclerc.

Verstappen and Red Bull have won on F1’s last three visits to Mexico City but, as in Austin, that past formbook is not counting for much right now with the competitive order of the leading teams regularly changing from track to track.

Sergio Perez is a national icon on home soil and he’ll be desperate for an overdue upturn in form in front of his own fans to not only help Red Bull’s faltering title challenge but try to solidify his own future at the team beyond the end of the season.

There was a stage in the season when Perez’s future was uncertain but Red Bull have stuck by him and were very nearly rewarded with a big result in Azerbaijan before a final lap crash with Carlos Sainz ended both of their races.

 

Honda “prepared for some conflicts” Adrian Newey

Honda is “prepared for some conflicts” with design legend Adrian Newey on how to best approach the 2026 regulations as they join forces at Aston Martin. Newey was announced last month as joining the team from Red Bull next year after resigning in May after nearly twenty years with the team.

Honda had been in partnership with Red Bull since 2019, albeit leaving F1 in an official capacity at the end of the 2021 season and instead becoming a technical partner to the world championship-winning constructor. But, in spite of that, Red Bull and Honda have won each drivers’ championship since 2021 and taken the constructors’ title in the past two seasons.

The marriage faced the biggest issue, teams other than Ferrari, Mercedes and Alpine have in that the requirements from the chassis designers and the power unit design team can often clash, meaning compromises need to made rather than having a harmonious build process.

Aston Martin will face the same challenge in 2026, but speaking to Motorsport.com, Honda Racing president Koji Watanabe said he hopes Newey’s arrival could spark a replication of the Japanese marque’s achievements this decade with Red Bull.

Watanabe told Motorsport.com, “We’re pleased to see Aston Martin taking steady steps to strengthen their competitiveness as a team. We’re very encouraged that they have solidified their management structure, including Newey’s involvement. I’ve worked with Newey before, and he has an incredible passion for building fast cars.”

“While we build the PU and they build the car’s chassis, there are times when our visions don’t always align. In such cases, there are conflicts between what the chassis team wants and what the PU team wants, but together, we’ve managed to create the best car in the world.”

“With Newey now at Aston Martin, I expect similar challenges to arise, but I hope this will lead to the Aston Martin Honda team becoming the best in the world. We’re prepared for some conflicts. Of course, it’s not just with Newey.”

 

Sauber to decide line up by mid-November

Sauber says it hopes to have next season’s driver line-up sorted by mid-November but that looks like one of the easier challenges facing new boss Mattia Binotto at what will become Audi from 2026.

The Swiss-based outfit is last with five rounds to go and has not scored a point for more than a year, a novel situation for the former Ferrari principal who arrived at the start of August. Audi are heavily investing in the team and Binotto has been tasked with turning the team around.

However reports from within the team amid personnel changes and a loss of morale pre-dating Binotto’s arrival, but the Swiss-born Italian is confident he can deliver. He will be drawing heavily on his experience at Ferrari, and in particular the influence and inspiration of those he worked with during a golden era for the sport’s oldest and most successful team.

Binotto told Reuters, “When I started in Ferrari it was 1995. At the time, compared to expectations, we were far behind. It was many years that Ferrari was not winning. The foundations were not there, the culture was not there, the mindset was not anymore there. So I think in that respect there are a lot of similarities.”

The Italian was at Ferrari in the mid-1990s when the team was reorganising under the leadership of Jean Todt, with Michael Schumacher arriving in 1996 and Ross Brawn following as technical director in 1997. Ferrari had not won a driver’s championship since 1979 and failed to win a race in 1991, 1992 and 1993.

In 1994 and 1995 they won once in each year but 1999 began a run of six constructors’ titles in a row. Binotto said they were “the best of days,” with Schumacher a leader in and out of the car. But he admitted that it could be more difficult thirty years later to do the same thing with Audi/Sauber.

Adding, “We know as well it will take many seasons and to look back at the other teams, how long it took them to create solid foundations and win, normally it’s from five to seven years. So let’s say that our aim is by 2030 being capable of, or aiming, to fight for a championship… there is a clear objective for the end of the decade.”

Sauber’s most successful season since their debut in 1993 was 2007, when they were owned by BMW and finished second to Ferrari, after McLaren was disqualified over the Spygate scandal.

 

Ricciardo’s exit not handled well admit RB

RB Team Principal Laurent Mekies has admitted that Daniel Ricciardo’s departure from the team was not handled in a “good enough manner.”  The Australian’s departure from the team and promotion of Liam Lawson was announced via social media, having become an open secret across the Baku and Singapore weekend’s despite no official confirmation emerging from either Red Bull-owned team.

Ricciardo himself was unable to formally announce the news at the event, or stage a formal public goodbye, despite having to answer repeated media questions over his future. Almost one month on and speaking to Sky Sports at last week’s United States GP, Mekies conceded the eight-time race winner’s departure should have been handled differently.

The RB team principal told Ted Kravitz, “Of course we are not happy, you are absolutely right, we are not happy and we don’t think we have done it in a good enough manner. The reasons behind [how it was handled] would be excuses.”

“I don’t want even want to go into the reasons but what is clear is that we have had many discussions with Daniel and both the team and the driver were aware we were going in to that weekend with this impossible situation to deal with.”

“We chose rightly, wrongly – probably wrongly – we chose together for many decent reasons to keep it confidential until the end of the weekend. Obviously it meant it went through such a difficult weekend that we quickly realised it was not the thing we would have liked.”

Mekies admitted he regretted the way  the situation was handled, he was pleased with the response to the departure of the hugely popular driver. Saying that Ricciardo has proved he was bigger than being a driver and is loved by everyone in the sport.

Max Verstappen, who drove alongside Ricciardo at Red Bull from 2016 to 2018 and has become firm friends with the Australian, agreed that his former team-mate “deserved a nicer exit”.

Adding “I think it was quite clear for me, for Daniel that it was the last race. From my side, I think it could have been handled a bit differently. Also for him, because he knew it, but if you can’t say it exactly…”

Ricciardo’s departure appears to be the end of his career after thirteen years in the sport. However with Sergio Perez continuing to underperform in the main Red Bull team, the bigger question appears to be whether Lawson will do enough next to Tsunoda over the final five races to earn an immediate promotion to the world champion team over the winter.

 

You can join us for coverage of this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix with reports and analysis on our website. FP1 starts Friday 12:30 CDT / 19:30 BST, Qualifying Saturday 15:00 / 22:00 and the race Sunday 14:00 CST / 20:00 GMT
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