[Official] Mexican Grand Prix 2015: Weekend Thread

[bjohnsonsmith]

That was an uneventful start, apart from Vettel getting a puncture, due to contact with Ricciardo but Nico' managed to hold off Lewis.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Don't know what happened there? It looked like Vettel took himself off, though only temporarily.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Vettel goes off, can't tell what caused that but it brings out the first caution of the race.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Nico, finally broke a bit of a dry run. First time both Ferrari's hadn't finished since 2006, a fact gleaned courtesy of Sky F1.

Otherwise a rather dull race, made up for by the Pirelli Sombreros on the podium.

[gert]

Nice to see (hear) that the crowd was shouting Nico's name. That will surely help his confidence.

[werner]

First of all, it's nice to finally have a new race with fully packed grandstands, and with passionate fans on them.

I watched the race in a bar, so without the sound. So I wonder, without the safetycar, would anybody have tried a one-stop strategy. I thought (well hoped at least) that Verstappen could do it. If that was possible, he might have won from the Force India's, and maybe Massa.

What an embarrasing performance of Ferrari! Both drivers really underperformed with tons of errors each. Having said that, I wonder if Vettels crash was caused by a technical issue?

[gert]

Originally Posted by werner

So I wonder, without the safetycar, would anybody have tried a one-stop strategy

I think Perez did? Not sure though ...

[gert]

Originally Posted by werner

I thought (well hoped at least) that Verstappen could do it. If that was possible, he might have won from the Force India's, and maybe Massa.

I think they would have eaten him alive on the restart and the lap after, and he would have ended up roughly about 8th or 9th, so not very different from what he has now.

[steve nielsen]

Max had bad luck his engine temps where running high so he could not atack Perez, it probably would have been a nice battle.

[gert]

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

Max had bad luck his engine temps where running high so he could not atack Perez, it probably would have been a nice battle.

I think that was the case for everybody today. Not just Max.
I know you're a (big) fan, but about everyone was struggling with higher than expected tyre wear, high brake temperatures and/or high engine temperatures.

[werner]

Originally Posted by gert

I think they would have eaten him alive on the restart and the lap after, and he would have ended up roughly about 8th or 9th, so not very different from what he has now.

But without a safetycar they would have had to bridge a gap first... When the yellow flags got out, it was pretty obvious that everybody who did not have piited twice would have to change tires.

[gert]

Originally Posted by werner

But without a safetycar they would have had to bridge a gap first... When the yellow flags got out, it was pretty obvious that everybody who did not have piited twice would have to change tires.

Except Perez? I think he only stopped once. But I am not sure, so we need to check that.

EDIT: He did. On lap 18, even before Max' first stop. He really is very good when it comes to tire management.

[S griffin]

Good race, nice to see Nico beating Lewis in a straight fight.

Few thoughts
1) I'm worried about Kimi he just seems to be running into people unnecessarily too often. A bit like Schumi 10-12

2) The blue flag rule is silly. Seb having to let Lewis through even though he could easily unlap himself and was probably faster than Lewis. And when is the FIA gonna realise this SC free pass rule just wastes laps unnecessarily. Glad Lewis didn't get by on the restart as by rights Max should have been between them

3) I feel overtaking would have been easier if we had the proper peraltada instead of the mickey mouse Baseball stadium

[gert]

Kudos to Vettel for taking the blame on his crash, and agreeing on the no-actions-taken-on-Vettel-vs-Ricciardo

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/121615

[gert]

Originally Posted by S griffin

1) I'm worried about Kimi he just seems to be running into people unnecessarily too often. A bit like Schumi 10-12

Not so sure about it. It was a fairly opportunistic move by Bottas, riding the curbs and all.

Originally Posted by S griffin

Seb having to let Lewis through even though he could easily unlap himself

But he didn't and that probably is the problem. Either you unlap yourself (from the leader) or you give way to the chasers.

I think he was faster than both Mercedes drivers, but not by much. It would have taken him a few more laps to unlap himself.
Unfortunately, the rules are like this: you have t let 'faster' cars (the leaders) pass in a certain amount of time.

[djinvicta]

This backmarker rule is crazy. Why not get them to all pull over in line till the field comes past and they are all behind the last man on the racing lap. Be a lot quicker.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by djinvicta

This backmarker rule is crazy. Why not get them to all pull over in line till the field comes past and they are all behind the last man on the racing lap. Be a lot quicker.

Great idea!

[werner]

Originally Posted by gert

Except Perez? I think he only stopped once. But I am not sure, so we need to check that.

EDIT: He did. On lap 18, even before Max' first stop. He really is very good when it comes to tire management.

Seriously? That is indeed impressive. Now I'm curious whether Hulkenberg also stayed out during the safetycarphase. I know he ran on the harder tyres at the end of the race. I thought that that was odd, assuming he had pitted under yellow. Where can you check the pitstops?

[gert]

Originally Posted by werner

Seriously? That is indeed impressive. Now I'm curious whether Hulkenberg also stayed out during the safetycarphase...

Hulkenberg did 2 stops

Originally Posted by werner

Where can you check the pitstops?

You can get them from the FIA webpage.

The timing data for Mexico is here

And the pitstop data is here

[chillibowl]

saw this pic of LH on reddit today. seems to be doing well stuck in traffic!

[sparkione]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Forget about the Mexican cuisine, a 70 place grid penalty is enough to make anyone misfire.

Seriously, what does a 70 place grid penalty actually achieve and what does it say about F1?

In our current ultra-PC, be-nice-to-everyone, don't-be-offensive, let's-save-another-bloody-polar-bear world what it says is unsayable.

It has now gone beyond parody, beyond irony, beyond believable – and beyond saving.

Rosberg's pole time was 3 secs shy of Mansell's, 23 years ago. Now that's progress.

[alan1302]

Originally Posted by sparkione

In our current ultra-PC, be-nice-to-everyone, don't-be-offensive, let's-save-another-bloody-polar-bear world what it says is unsayable.

It has now gone beyond parody, beyond irony, beyond believable – and beyond saving.

Rosberg's pole time was 3 secs shy of Mansell's, 23 years ago. Now that's progress.

The track isn't even the same as when Mansell drove their!

[dsg]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

saw this pic of LH on reddit today. seems to be doing well stuck in traffic!

Poor little bugger looks like he about to suffocate and be trampled by a Mexican gang.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

saw this pic of LH on reddit today. seems to be doing well stuck in traffic!

Lewis (Kilroy) woz here!