Formula 1 in Mexico: Verstappen the bad, Norris the good

If Max Verstappen has to play the bad guy in Formula 1, then his pursuer Lando Norris wants to be the good guy. Two wheel-to-wheel duels between the two were debated. Second place was a well-deserved reward for the McLaren driver, but that only brings him ten points closer to the championship leader, who is still 47 points ahead. So the Brit prefers to be proud of always driving cleanly, although he knows: “Sometimes I probably lost points because I wasn’t aggressive enough or too fair. I have to find a better balance in this regard.” After all, after Verstappen’s attacks in Mexico, he vented his frustration with an outcry over the pit radio: “That guy is dangerous!”

Max Verstappen

Now he’s enemy number one again, matching his starting number. Which shouldn’t matter to Verstappen. During the race, he scornfully commented on the 20 seconds penalty for two excessively hard displacement maneuvers against Norris with “impressive”. But the Dutchman’s concern was not about the example that the race stewards had made of him in order to make it clear once and for all what overtaking maneuvers should look like in Formula 1 (as if that could ever really be properly regulated). He is mainly concerned about the shape fluctuations of his car. The World Cup takes a further turn after his sixth place, the spectators go wild, including McLaren boss Zak Brown. And the culprit? “I won’t cry, I won’t explain myself. It’s not about whether you agree with the punishment or not. I don’t give up that easily. But I will drive the way I have to drive.” No regrets, more revenge.

Carlos Sainz Junior

Win once more before he has to leave Ferrari and start again pretty far down at Williams: “I wanted it so much and wanted to finally get it done.” The first pole position of the racing year for Carlos Sainz junior opened up the chance, even if Max Verstappen seemed to take it away from him at short notice at the start. But a race in Mexico is not won or lost on the first corner. Sainz took Verstappen by surprise after an early safety car phase ended. The Ferrari is getting into better and better shape towards the end of the year, and at one point it looked like the Reds would have their second double success within a week. But Sainz got away from his colleague Leclerc, an additional satisfaction. And now he wants to do everything so that Scuderia can take the lead in the constructors’ championship from McLaren, 29 points are still missing. The command post certified the Spaniard as a “master class” after crossing the finish line. “I did my job. I want to enjoy my last four races in red. But if there’s another chance to win, I’ll take it.”

Sergio Perez

Already on Saturday it was almost clear how the home game, which was supposed to bring about a turning point for the second man at Red Bull Racing, would actually go. Eliminated in the first qualifying round. And the Mexican’s hopes of making amends were dashed with a false start; during his renewed attempt to catch up, he collided with Liam Lawson from the sister team Racing Bulls. With a demolished car, I only stayed in 17th place, last at the finish. The scene before the race, when he posed in front of the winner’s trophy, now seemed even more embarrassing. But the 34-year-old’s suffering may soon be over, even though he bravely points to his two-year contract. Team boss Christian Horner implied an imminent eviction: “We rely on both cars to score points regularly and have done everything that is possible. But at some point there comes a time when nothing works anymore. Then difficult decisions have to be made.”

Fernando Alonso

Even Flavio Briatore, who brought him into Formula 1 in 2001, is slightly surprised that his protégé is still there. Nobody will achieve 400 races in the premier class so quickly. Lewis Hamilton is the most stubborn pursuer in the endurance rankings, he has 352 Grand Prix. 13th place on the grid in the anniversary race didn’t bode well; Alonso is struggling through the racing year after an inexplicable drop in performance at Aston Martin and is hoping for a technical miracle cure from star designer Adrian Newey. On lap 16 at the Mexican Grand Prix, even Newey couldn’t have helped the 43-year-old’s car – debris that had been picked up had ruined the cooling system and he and the car were pushed backwards into the garage. But still: “I dreamed of Formula 1 as a little boy, and more than two decades later I’m still here. That’s a privilege.”

Nico Hulkenberg

Tenth place is the no man’s land of the Drivers’ World Championship, but for Nico Hülkenberg it is a beautiful stretch of land. The Emmericher has been in the top ten since mid-September. The reward for good qualifying results and for decent races. Because the Haas-Ferrari now allows this on a regular basis. The smallest team in Formula 1 is one of the biggest surprises of the year. This time “Hulk” came ninth, he even expected more: “But the goat didn’t want to do it like me.”

Mexico

More than 400,000 spectators over three days: regardless of the local hero’s poor performance, there is an atmosphere at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez like nowhere else. If Sergio Perez can’t be celebrated, then you just celebrate yourself. Or adopt Carlos Sainz Jr. The organizers’ contract with Formula 1 still runs for a year, and the organizers are confident that their fate is not linked to that of Perez. The city itself is the main donor and sees its commitment refinanced by the advertising value and the high number of racing tourists. The slope, slippery as ever, with its ultra-long straights usually ensures exciting races and top speeds in the slipstream of over 350 km/h. It’s just torture for the engines. At an altitude of almost 2,300 meters, the oxygen content is only 78 percent, so the aggregates are in danger of running out of air more quickly.