The first free practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix didn’t show any particular anomalies in terms of on-track performance, considering it’s only the first session of the weekend. However, there were several signs that this weekend might not be a walk in the park for everyone, especially for the engineers.
The Autodromo in Mexico City, with its altitude close to 2000 meters above sea level, poses a significant challenge for Power Units and braking systems, as has been discussed many times. The thin air practically forces the teams to tackle the track with maximum aerodynamic load since a substantial percentage of it doesn’t come into play while on track. In this configuration, Red Bull has always shown its strength, with an unbeatable efficiency-to-load ratio for others. This session was no exception, with Verstappen leading and Sergio Perez proportionally closer to him than what we’ve seen on other tracks, demonstrating a car already in good form with a balanced setup.
We compared the data of Verstappen, Norris, and Leclerc to get an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the various top teams, excluding Mercedes, which didn’t shine yet but had to make an important setup change with Lewis Hamilton midway through the session in search of better balance.
Source: Federico Albano for formulapassion.it
Max Verstappen not always the fastest but the most consistent
From the data, we immediately notice the strength of the RB19 on the straight with the DRS open, with Verstappen’s speed continuing to rise to a peak of 349, while Charles Leclerc stopped at 344 and Norris at 342. It’s evident that the McLaren’s body has more resistance, while the Ferrari seems to have good Power Unit torque that provides early delivery but doesn’t match Red Bull’s efficiency at top speeds. In the slow sections, especially in the second sector, Leclerc defends himself well, with excellent braking and traction performance (a sign of a suspension package that absorbs pitch better than roll for now). Lando Norris, as expected, excels in the middle part of the track, with fast corners where the McLaren reaches speeds between 170 and 175 km/h, leaving Verstappen and Charles Leclerc behind (the Monegasque even -12 at turn 9). Charles Leclerc loses almost three-tenths in this sector, while Max Verstappen only loses one, confirming the overall completeness of the car package, which is not something new in Mexico. In the last sector, the stadium area, Max Verstappen is “relentless” for now, thanks to the tires still in good condition at the end of the lap and the Red Bull’s high mechanical grip.
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Source: Federico Albano for formulapassion.it
Race pace: Max Verstappen starts well and then fluctuates. Lando Norris shines
In the short race pace test, Lando Norris shines, being fast and consistent with both the soft and hard tires. McLaren seems to be in great shape regarding tire management, of course, without considering the fuel loads that we don’t know. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz seem to experience initial tire degradation, but they gradually recover their performance, indicating a need for measured tire management but not excessive degradation. Lewis Hamilton also shows a similar pace to Ferrari, so it seems that the challenge between the Brackley team and the Maranello team will depend a lot on optimizing the setup from here on. Finally, Max Verstappen covered the first four laps of his race pace simulation in an extremely consistent manner, but then he began to fluctuate and lose a lot, which appears almost anomalous compared to the others. It’s difficult to say for now whether there was a tire issue or a particular aspect of car management.
In general, the impression is that the on-track values are not too different from expectations for now, especially on sections of the track where one car prevails over another. However, the Mexico City track offers more uncertainties than certainties from various perspectives, including reliability, power usage, brake management, and rapidly changing track conditions that can favor one car over another. We’ll see if the second free practice session provides more certainty.
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