Mexican Grand Prix Preview: Home race win for Perez?
Mexican Grand Prix Preview: Home race win for Perez?
This weekend F1 heads to sunny Mexico City for the 22nd edition of the Mexican Grand Prix.
After Max Verstappen’s series of outstanding performances, there are no more championships to be decided, except for the competition for silver and bronze between Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc and Ferrari and Mercedes.
But can the local fans hope for a win this year after Mexico’s own Sergio Perez won the first home podium here last year?
Will Perez win his home race?
Six drivers have started a grand prix under the Mexican flag in Formula 1 history. With his third career victory at the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this season, Red Bull driver Sergio Perez overtook Pedro Rodriguez as the most successful grand prix driver of all time.
Perez, who wants a victory at his home race and for whom the grandstands around the track will be crowded, will be the centre of attention. The Mexican has already said he doesn’t want the victory handed to him as a gift. Still, if a circumstance does develop in which he is in front of Verstappen, he is convinced his teammate will support him, as he has done for Verstappen numerous times.
Can Verstappen break another record?
It’s astonishing how Verstappen and Red Bull managed to turn the championship around and deliver win after win after the season got off to such a competitive start. There are still three rounds left for the pair to further cement their supremacy over their competitors, with both championships now assured.
Verstappen tied Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher for the most victories in a single season with his 13th triumph last weekend in the United States. However, Verstappen breaking the record appears to be a matter of “when” rather than “if” with three races left.
Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez
The Rodriguez brothers inspired the naming of the circuit. Before Perez joined Red Bull Racing, Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez were regarded as the two most successful Mexican F1 drivers in history.
Located at 2200 meters above sea level, the somewhat thinner air at this elevation considerably affects the performance of cars.
Practically speaking, less drag results from the thinner air. The top of the speed range is where this is most obvious. Mexico produces the greatest speeds observed all season, despite Baku’s front straight being longer and downforce levels higher than Monza’s.
Can Mercedes win?
There are now only three opportunities left for Lewis Hamilton to maintain one of his Formula 1 career’s most astonishing records.
The seven-time champion is known for being the only driver in history to have won at least one grand prix throughout each season of their career, but that record is now in jeopardy.
Hamilton has chances in Mexico, Brazil, and Abu Dhabi to cross the finish line first and keep the record into a 16th consecutive season. He is currently winless after 19 rounds in 2022.
The W13 has struggled all season with various conditions – from porpoising to bouncing to a fundamental lack of straight-line speed with a draggy design.
However, the unusual nature of the circuit makes victory prospects for Lewis Hamilton or George Russell plausible.
