Paul Henman formula1 Grand Prix of Mexico – Race

Grand Prix of Mexico – Race

The end of the season is nearing – there’s just Brazil and Abu Dhabi after this weekend. If ROS wins and HAM scores less than 2 points then the Drivers’ Championship is over, unlikely as that is. (Mercedes took the Constructors’ Championship back in Japan.)

Qualifying went HAM’s way, although ROS finally pulled out a good lap after it looked like he was going to be P4.

Provisional grid: HAM, ROS, VES, RIC, HUL, RAI, VET, BOT, MAS, SAI, ALO, PER, BUT, MAG, ERI, WEH, GUT, KVY, NAS, OCO, GRO, PAL*
*PAL will start from the pit lane after a complete chassis change.

Haas have changed the floor of GRO’s car, so he’ll now start from the pit lane. (He was P21 so not much of a penalty.)
Ferrari have replaced RAI’s engine without penalty, so he’ll still start P6.

HAM is sitting at the end of the pit lane
Lights turn green, and HAM does a practice start – nice and clean – hope he can do that again at the real start
Stream of cars doing practice starts before they head to the grid
Seems like a lot of the marshals are made up for Day of the Dead

Air temperature 19°C; track 48°C; 20-30% chance of showers later in the race

Grid: HAM, ROS, VES, RIC, HUL, RAI, VET, BOT, MAS, SAI, ALO, PER, BUT, MAG, ERI, WEH, GUT, KVY, NAS, OCO, PAL*, GRO*
*PAL isn’t starting from the pit lane after all! However GRO will, after the team replaced his car’s floor.

With the Mercedes pair starting on soft tyres, and the Red Bull pair behind them on supersofts, it could be an interesting battle into the first turn.
Most of the rest of the grid are starting on softs, but NAS is on mediums.
HAM leads everyone (except GRO) away on the formation lap
It’s a long run down to Turn 1 – longest in the calendar

1/71: Clean starts from HAM and ROS
HAM cut the first turn but he didn’t gain an advantage
Contact between WEH and ERI
Radio from VET – puncture
Virtual Safety Car deployed because WEH’s car is in a dangerous position

02[VSC]: RIC pits, as do PAL, ERI
Safety Car deployed (replacing VSC)
VET didn’t pit, despite saying he has a puncture
Replay of the start shows ROS also took to the grass in T1

03[SC]: HAM, ROS, VES, HUL, RAI, MAS, VET, BOT, PER, SAI, ALO, MAG, BUT, GUT, NAS, OCO, RIC, KVY, GRO, PAL, ERI
ROS and VES under investigation – replay shows ROS was running a bit wide and then VES gave him a tap
Radio from HAM – vibration; team say they’re not worried as long as he can live with it
SC in at the end of this lap

04: PER looking for a way round BOT
Radio for SAI telling him to box

05/71: HAM fastest lap 1:23.397
MAG steals P12 from BUT

06: HAM f/lap 1:23.045
DRS enabled
BUT looking for a way to reclaim P12 from MAG

07: RIC (on mediums) is up to P14; next target is BUT
No further action in the ROS/VES investigation

08: VET all over the gearbox of MAS’ Williams

09: RIC past BUT for P13

10/71: HAM, ROS, VES, HUL, RAI, MAS, VET, BOT, PER, SAI, ALO, MAG, RIC, BUT, GUT, NAS, KVY, OCO, GRO, ERI, PAL; retirements: WEH
RIC now past MAG for P12
Incident involving ERI, GUT & WEH under investigation (from lap 1)
Also under investigation is the ALO and SAI collision

12: HAM has a 3.8sec lead over ROS
RIC is catching up to ALO
GRO pits; switches from soft to medium tyres

13: VES pits from P3; moves to medium tyres
SAI, MAG and GUT all pit
VET nearly runs into the rear of MAS as he harries the Williams for P5
Radio from VET – “he’s stupid, he’s slowing himself down”

14: No further action in the ERI/GUT/WEH incident
BOT and PER are catching VET as he is still stuck behind MAS

15/71: HUL pits, as does MAS
5-second penalty for SAI – forcing ALO off track

16: Radio for ALO – “push now, push now”; “I’m pushing since lap 1” and then just to push the knife in “You do your job – I’m doing my job”

17: ALO pits; clean stop
Mercedes mechanics getting ready for..?

18: HAM pits; mediums; 2.1sec stationary; rejoins P4 between VET and BOT
BUT pits

19: ROS doesn’t pit
PER has another go at passing BOT but the Williams holds on to P5

20/71: Radio for RIC telling him he needs to get past PER quickly
HAM f/lap 1:22.993
BOT pits, which releases PER
RIC is almost immediately on the rear of PER
Radio for PER telling him to give it everything he’s got

21: ROS pits; mediums; rejoins P3
RAI pits too; mediums; rejoins P6
PER pits as well
VES is looking to pass his teammate – will the Red Bull pit wall tell RIC to let VES through?
Radio from VES asking what to do (about RIC) “now I am stuck”

22: VES has DRS but he’s not quite close enough to pass RIC
RIC lets VES take P4
Radio for ROS telling him they didn’t finish the wing adjustment so he has a bit more front wing than planned
VES pulling well clear of RIC

23: PER now stuck behind MAS and BOT

25/71: VET, HAM, ROS, VES, RIC, RAI, HUL, BOT, MAS, PER, NAS, ERI, PAL, SAI, ALO, BUT, MAG, KVY, GUT, GRO, OCO; retirements: WEH
PER dives inside MAS but locks up, runs wide, and MAS remains ahead in P9
Radio for ROS warning him VES is pushing hard; ROS asks why, is he stopping again; told no, he’s trying to put ROS under pressure

27: Radio from HAM – medium tyres are graining
Radio for ALO telling him they won’t use this engine again “so consider using tricks on the straights”

28: Radio from PER asking why they pitted him so late

29: PER still looking for a way around MAS

30/71: VET, HAM, ROS, VES, RIC, RAI, HUL, BOT, MAS, PER, NAS, ERI, PAL, SAI, ALO, BUT, KVY, MAG, GUT, GRO, OCO
Ferrari mechanics were expecting VET to pit but he didn’t

31: BBC report ALO told his team “do your job properly”!!!

32: VET is still posting good times (identical to ROS) on those old soft tyres

33: VET now pits; mediums; rejoins P6

35/71: HAM, ROS, VES, RIC, RAI, VET, HUL, BOT, MAS, PER, ERI, NAS, PAL, SAI, ALO, BUT, KVY, MAG, GUT, GRO, OCO; retirement: WEH
HAM is 4.2sec ahead of ROS, who in turn is 1.3sec ahead of VES

Half distance

36: Radio for VES telling him to “keep it clean” behind ROS, which probably means to look after his tyres
MAS locks up and PER gets closer but not close enough to challenge for P9

38: Radio for RIC telling him to keep up the pace in order to keep his tyres warm

39: PER is all over MAS’ rear wing again

40/71: HAM, ROS, VES, RIC, RAI, VET, HUL, BOT, MAS, PER
Radio for HAM telling him track temp is dropping so everyone’s pace is picking up
PER attacks but MAS clings to P9

44: ROS f/lap 1:22.792
BOT fastest through the speed trap 372.54km/h (231.5mph)
Radio for HAM warning him that he’s catching a group of eight back markers – KVY will be the first one he encounters

46: RAI pits; mediums; rejoins P7

47: ALO pits – slow stop
Radio for HAM confirming he can use overtake (power boost) to pass the back markers

48: VET f/lap 1:22.659
RAI f/lap 1:22.512
Radio from ALO asking if others are going to the end; they think RIC might

49: Radio from GRO – “front brake doesn’t brake any more – what’s going on?”

50/71: Radio from RIC – left rear tyre suffering
ROS locks up as he thinks about lapping SAI
VES dives inside ROS but locks up and runs wide
ROS keeps P2; VES recovers but it slows SAI so BUT steals P14

51: RIC pits; softs; rejoins P6

52: Strong move from GUT to take P20 from OCO
RIC past HUL for P5
Radio from VES – hit some debris (part of OCO’s front wing?)

53: RIC f/lap 1:22.252

54: Incident involving GRO & KVY under investigation – they both ran wide as KVY passed GRO
RIC f/lap 1:22.134

55/71: HAM, ROS, VES, VET, RIC, HUL, RAI, BOT, MAS, PER, ERI, PAL, BUT, SAI, ALO, NAS, KVY, MAG, GUT, GRO, OCO
VES falling back a fraction from ROS

56: KVY given 5-sec penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage

57: HAM is over 7secs clear of ROS
BUT lining up to pass PAL

60/71: HAM, ROS, VES, VET, RIC, HUL, RAI, BOT, MAS, PER

61: BUT uses DRS and finally makes the pass on PAL stick to take P12

62: RAI closing on HUL

63: Radio for VES telling him VET is closing; “I see him coming”
VET is 0.5sec/lap quicker than VES, but RIC is 1.0sec/lap faster than VET

64: ALO now closing on PAL

65/71: HAM 8.6sec ahead of ROS

67: ALO attacks but PAL successfully defends P13 again

68: RAI attacks HUL; HUL spins – was there contact?
VES locks up and runs wide across T1; rejoins still just ahead of VET
Radio for VES telling him to let VET pass

69: Radio from VET – “he has to let me go – he has to let me go!”; “Stay calm”
The stewards haven’t said VES has to let VET pass yet

70/71: Incident involving VES and VET will be investigated after the race
RIC is right under VET’s rear wing
Radio from VET still whining instead of focusing on his race
RIC attacks; VET moves under braking; RIC locks up and VET keeps P4

71 = final lap: VES trying to open a gap in case he gets a penalty

HAM takes the chequered flag
ROS is P2, so still in the point lead (19 points ahead of HAM)
Radio from VET is mostly full of bleeps, including some bleeps aimed specifically at Charlie Whiting
Incident involving RIC and VET will be investigated too
VET pulls alongside VES and wags a finger
Apparently VET said he’s going to hit someone!

VES has been given a 5-sec penalty, which means he drops from P3 to P5
However, he’s already parked in front of the podium and he’s in the pre-podium room
Sounds like VET is running towards the podium
VES has left the room – good idea too, before VET arrives

Provisional result: HAM, ROS, VET, RIC, VES*, RAI, HUL, BOT, MAS, PER; ERI, BUT, ALO, PAL, NAS, SAI, MAG, KVY, GUT, GRO, OCO; DNF: WEH
*VES’ penalty drops him to P5

VET has made it through the crowd and is in the pre-podium “cool down” room but will he cool down?
ROS is wearing the P1 cap; nice try, but you’re P2

VET is announced first (as he’s P3) but I wonder how many of the crowd are confused?
That’s not a very big trophy for the winner
Were there boos for HAM?

Juan Pablo Montoya is doing the podium interviews
Big cheer for ROS – didn’t see that many Mercedes flags in the crowd though

I don’t disagree with VES’ penalty for running wide & gaining an advantage, but I suspect VET might get a financial penalty for his language especially the comments directed at Charlie Whiting

RIC says VET made a move under braking, which VET’s been complaining about others (mostly VES) doing
RIC points out VES got a penalty but HAM did the same thing on lap 1 and didn’t get a penalty
(ROS also cut Turn 2 on the first lap without a penalty)

VES points out HAM and ROS both cut the corner on lap 1 without a penalty
VES suggests VET should go back to school to learn better language

I think VES was right to wait to be told officially to give up the position – both ROS and HAM avoided a penalty, and if VES had let VET pass without a penalty he’d be giving away points

3 thoughts on “Grand Prix of Mexico – Race”

  1. Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo summoned to the stewards – Vettel alleged to have driven “dangerously or erratically” – tweet from official F1 account

  2. “Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has been given a ten-second time penalty for driving ‘dangerously or erratically’ while defending fourth place from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in the closing stages of Sunday’s Formula 1 Gran Premio de Mexico 2016.” [FIA]
    “In addition to a 10-second penalty, Vettel was also handed two penalty points on his license, bringing his total to six points in the last 12 months.”

    I’m glad to see VET getting a penalty and losing the 3rd place that I don’t think he deserved. But I’m disappointed he didn’t get an additional penalty for his language.

    What more amusing is the quote from Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene who said ‘bureaucracy’ had robbed his team of a podium, adding that the decision was “too harsh and somehow unfair.” Yeah, but remember who was the loudest voice pushing for that rule … it was Vettel 🙂

    This makes the final result of the Grand Prix of Mexico: HAM, ROS, RIC, VES*, VET*, RAI, HUL, BOT, MAS, PER; ERI, BUT, ALO, PAL, NAS, SAI*, MAG, KVY*, GUT, GRO, OCO; DNF: WEH.

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