For Carlos Sainz, Sunday in Mexico couldn’t have been better. PETER COSTER reports on a Grand Prix that saw drivers bang heads and bang cars.
The Mexico Grand Prix on the Day of the Dead showed there was more than a flicker of life in Carlos Sainz.
The Spanish driver gave a master class in qualifying and in the race on Sunday, his fourth Grand Prix victory since his first race in Melbourne 10 years ago.
It becomes difficult to know why he was dropped by Ferrari unless it was because they could not resist the opportunity of picking up a seven times world champion in Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes.
In a season where young drivers are being pushed into F1 seats, Sainz Jnr, the son of the former world rally champion, has just turned 30 whereas Hamilton is about to turn 40.
It is also worth noting that Hamilton has been outqualified and outraced this year by his younger teammate George Russell at Mercedes.
At Mexico City, the driver known as the Smooth Operator was on pole after not one hot lap, but two that would have seen him take top sport on the grid.
Even more puzzling than being tossed out so summarily by the Scuderia is that none of the other top teams in Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes seemed willing to take him on.
Red Bull have spent the year trying to extract better performances from Sergio Perez only to see the Mexican fail again, this time in his home race before a crowd swaying to mariachi bands in its unique celebration of its culture’s dearly departed.
At least, the race was won by Spanish-speaker in the world’s largest Spanish-speaking city of some 10 million in not only gasping heat but gasping for breath at an altitude of 2240 metres.
What occupied the pundits before the race was the scrap between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris at the US Grand Prix in Texas last week.
This ended with Norris finishing third on the track but relegated to fourth when the stewards decided he had gained an advantage by running off the circuit in the closing laps.
The correct decision would have been recognising that both drivers had broken track limits and that Verstappen forced Norris to run wide by a tactic which he repeated in Mexico on Sunday.
The Red Bull driver and Norris were alongside each other with Verstappen taking the lead at the apex of the corner by breaking so late he was unable to make the corner, which forced Norris to run wide.
Even Red Bull boss Christian Horner described the manoeuvre as Verstappen having “dive bombed” Norris.
The three-times world champion pulled the same stunt in Mexico, twice on the same lap. McLaren appealed, which was dismissed because no clear solution was provided in the rules and regulations now being hotly debated, but for some reason delayed for discussion until the Qatar Grand Prix in December.
That is after the Brazilian Grand Prix next week and the Las Vegas race on November 23.
The Grand Prix Drivers Association will discuss it over more than three hours set aside for what will be 20 contesting opinions from the 20 drivers on the grid.
Norris said on team radio Verstappen’s move was “dangerous” although he was less critical after the race. Grand Prix drivers don’t want to look “wussy.”
For the same reason Norris wants to take the fight for the world drivers’ championship to Verstappen without getting a free pass from teammate Oscar Piastri who passed him to win the Azerbaijan race for his second victory this year.
The Melbourne star finished eighth at Mexico after starting 17th following a qualifying mistake that saw him straddle the kerb on the 12th corner and exceed track limits on the second of his two attempts to progress from the first qualifying session.
Sergio Perez was off the pace all weekend and has become a problem for Red Bull’s hopes in the constructors’ championship where McLaren and now Ferrari have slipped ahead. Verstappen, who finished sixth on Sunday in spite of two 10 second penalties for his lunges past Norris, remains ahead in the race for the drivers championship by 47 points to Norris, who was second on Sunday, splitting the Ferraris of Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
The Perez failure before his adoring home crowd has led some to suggest Daniel Ricciardo could be called back next year to replace the Mexican.
That might have happened a few races ago but emerging New Zealand star Liam Lawson, who replaced the Australian in the VCARB Red Bull, is looking a more likely choice if the Mexican driver is to be dumped.
The 22-year-old Lawson is fast and aggressive, just the sort of driver the team needs alongside Verstappen.
Lawson finished only 16th on Sunday after being denied a flying lap when teammate Yuki Tsunoda crashed and qualy was red flagged.
But his fight with Perez during the race saw him get the better of the Red Bull driver in an aggressive display that caught the attention of those who see him as a future champion. Perez was not so impressed, calling the New Zealander an “idiot” over team radio but clearly outdriven.
Lawson wants Checo’s seat in the Red Bull senior team and cheekily “flipped the bird” to the Mexican after a tank slapper.
Who will drive the Red Bull second car next year involves Verstappen as well as the team management.
The current world champion does not want someone alongside him who is going to cause him problems.
Red Bull’s Thai majority didn’t want Ricciardo in the car, in spite of that being the preference of Christian Horner.
It might also explain why Red Bull didn’t to put Carlos Sainz alongside Verstappen next year. The Smooth Operator might have been seen as being just too smooth.
That potential issue was resolved when Sainz signed for Williams, ending months of speculation.
That in itself was strange enough when you consider the team is only mid-field in F1 but hopes the Ferrari driver will set them on the road to greatness once again.
But forget Daniel Ricciardo going back to Red Bull. Once in the top five drivers on the grid, the Perth winner of eight GPs will be an onlooker.
Liam Lawson is now laying down the law.
Mexico Grand Prix Results
Pos | Driver | Car | Time/retired |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 40:55.8 |
2 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | +4.705s |
3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +34.387s |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +44.780s |
5 | George Russell | Mercedes | +48.536s |
6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | +59.558s |
7 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | +63.642s |
8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | +64.928s |
9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | +1 lap |
10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | +1 lap |
11 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | +1 lap |
12 | Franco Colapinto | Williams Mercedes | +1 lap |
13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | +1 lap |
14 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | +1 lap |
15 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | +1 lap |
16 | Liam Lawson | RB Honda RBPT | +1 lap |
17 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | +1 lap |
NC | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | DNF |
NC | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | DNF |
NC | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | DNF |
PETER COSTER is a former editor and foreign correspondent who has covered a range of international sports, including world championship fights and the Olympic Games.
Discussion about this post