|
Max Verstappen made his
intentions for the weekend clear, setting the fastest time at the Autodromo
Hermanos Rodriguez at the end of the first day of practice for the Mexico
City Grand Prix.
The Red Bull Racing driver posted a best time of
1’17’’392, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, fastest in the first session,
second quickest just 0’’153 slower. Kimi Antonelli, second in FP1 for
Mercedes, was third fastest, 0’’174 behind the Dutchman. Verstappen’s two
rivals for the Drivers’ title, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri,
ended the day fourth and 12th fastest respectively.
THE DAY ON TRACK:
A record nine rookies took part in FP1, Frederik Vesti (Mercedes), Patricio
O’Ward (McLaren), Ayumu Iwasa (Racing Bulls), Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari). Luke
Browning (Williams), Paul Aron (Alpine), Ryo Hirakawa (Haas), Jak Crawford
(Aston Martin) and Arvid Lindblad (Red Bull Racing), the latter being the
best of the bunch, sixth fastest. This left just Sauber to run both its
regular drivers in the first hour of practice.
They and their more
experienced colleagues had to contend with the usual challenges of the
Mexican track, most of them related to its altitude – low downforce, low
grip because of the dirty surface and track temperatures 6 degrees higher
than last year in FP1.
Hadjar, Ocon and Hulkenberg opted to start on
the Medium tyre, while the rest of the field went with the Hard. While the
C2 did most of the work in the first session, with teams not willing to run
the softer compounds while the track was at its greenest, by the end of the
day it was the Medium C4 that completed the most laps, 37% of the total from
all drivers, as teams used it to assess long run pace.
The Soft
which all drivers used to set their best times did 34% of the work, with the
C2 doing the rest. As is always the case at this event, lap times are
expected to drop significantly over the next two days as the track
rubbers-in and the dirt is cleaned away. There is still some way to go to
match Carlos Sainz’s 2024 pole time set in the Ferrari of 1’15’’946.
Simone Berra: Chief Engineer:
“The track’s grip level is among the lowest of the entire season. Today’s
sessions have pretty much confirmed the data collected going into the
weekend. The circuit is rarely used during the year, which is why the
surface is very dusty and why we expect significant track evolution over the
next two days also helped by the support races and the fact no rain is
forecast.
“The Hard compound got plenty of use in FP1 and was the
one most affected by the track conditions, although it still proved
effective. The two softer compounds, which had already demonstrated their
superiority early in the day, also benefited from the cooler temperatures in
FP2 which got down to 35°C.
“That said, even in the second session,
several drivers were complaining over the radio about the lack of grip, down
mainly to the condition of the asphalt. This is also evident from the lap
times so far, which although there’s been an improvement of around a second
in the second session, are still a long way off Carlos Sainz’s pole time
from last year.
The greater mechanical resilience of this year’s
tyres has been confirmed by the absence of graining, which used to be a
regular feature in Mexico City. Tyre degradation is already easy to manage
and that should only improve still further by race day.
As for the
Grand Prix, at the moment, a one-stop strategy seems the most plausible with
the Medium doing most of the work, paired with one of the remaining two. The
choice between Hard or Soft will mainly depend on how long the drivers can
extend their opening stint on the yellow-banded tyre, as well as on track
temperature and, of course, track evolution."
|
