Formula 1 Round 18 Mexico Grand Prix

Cool Picture.

But I often think this level of invisible technology and driver work is a problem for F1. They can change such important things like brake differential between corners and loads of things that change how the car behaves during the race and the audience can't even see it or appreciate it. From the driver's perspective it's great that they can change the car between corners and make sure it's planted from one corner to the next. But I think I would prefer if the cars were set up and left to fend for themselves. It would mean cars would be faster in some corners than others and might create the mismatches that promote overtaking or mistakes.

The merc engine has proven to be the least reliable this year which is a big change from the last few years.

I've seen some coverage of the merc turbo situation and I don't fully understand it bit I think it's basically a case of the turbos being limited to x RPM. Mercedes is able to run their's at the max all the time where others don't and that is part of the powerful package Mercedes has. But in Mexico the track is at altitude and the air is thinner. The others can increase the RPM of their turbo and allow a bit more cooling to cope, but Mercedes doesn't have that freedom because they already run at full pelt. So Mercedes will just have to make do with less air than normal in the turbo system but the others can compensate for the thinner air and give up a small bit of aero through the additional cooling.

Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong in that, but that's my understanding.

That is pretty much it, their turbo works well at most tracks, with Mexico and Brazil being the exception due to the altitude. You can see as well all the teams running huge wings but they only generate Monza levels of DF.

Merc could run into issues with heat from their turbo as well, it has to work extra hard and that can cause it to overheat. They either have to risk that or compensate by running it at a lower level.

Had completely forgotten about Mexico this weekend, I like the evening/night start times for us here as I actually get to see every session

I wonder how many cars haven't had an additional engine so far this season.

This year they're set in a single engine mode from quali and through the race. In previous years they were able to adjust engine modes mid race, and they also won races easily. So they would probably turn down the engine when they were miles ahead or stuck in a position without anyone near them. Maybe that's part of it.

Both Max and Lewis have taken one additional ICE each. Did Max started form the back? If so he must have taken more than just the ICE where Lewis only took a 10 place penalty.

Red Flag with Stroll smashing into some barriers.

Racing out of the pit there

Mental how the lads on the radio have the knack.

A difficult lap and Lewis goes P-1.

Max smashes it.

It didn't look comfortable for Lewis, couple of lock ups and plenty of kerbs.

"you having a laugh" - Nikita's way of saying do you know how much money I bring to the table.

Oh tension at haas. No they aren’t having a laugh.

Getting all excited about Alonso getting a tow when he was going about as fast as Sainz was when he had no power.

The only bit I can remember was "No we are not having a laugh, stay behind and make a gap" - words to that effect.

Sky reckoned there was something more as they mentioned the chain of command and the next lad on the radio would be Gunter Steiner - but they may have been making that up for effect.

Bottas in the 15's.

Max needs to pull something out of the bag on his last run - complaining that the back of the car is sliding.

Wow, that was unexpected. Did Perez go rougue and not give Max a tow or what? He was just slightly too far along.

How many cock uos have we had from Crofty today, he got all muddled a few kind ago between FP2 and Q2 and then Max not lifting off after Bottas crash in 2019. Not an easy job, but you get the impression he turns up in the comms box 5 mins before start time asking where they are racing

Pressure gets to Perez and the Merc's are going quicker still.