Hang tight Ou Grote, itâs not Hammer Time yetâŠ
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He wonât be joining Ferrari until 2021
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Itâs Tuesday dude. I donât even take my sombrero out until late Wednesday or even Thursday. The tequila though⊠thatâs been open since yesterday 
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Lol wow. Ouch. I wouldnât want him to join Ferrari anyways 
Iâll leave the following quotes for you 
âLewis Hamilton has spoken of his desire to end his career at Ferrariâ
âLewis Hamilton has refused to deny that championship rivals Ferrari attempted to poach him from Mercedes.â
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Hola amigos, caballeros, señors, señoras, y señoritas! Bienvenidos a MĂ©xico y al 2018 de la fĂłrmula 1 del gran premio mexicano! La Ciudad de MĂ©xico se enorgullece y se complace en darle la bienvenida al magnĂfico AutĂłdromo Hermanos RodrĂguez un año mĂĄs, y la posibilidad de ver a Lewis Hamilton reclamar su quinta corona en el Campeonato del Mundo de Pilotos.
Hello friends, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Mexico and the 2018 Mexican Formula 1 Grand Prix. Mexico City is proud and pleased to welcome you back to the magnificent AutĂłdromo Hermanos RodrĂguez for another year, and the likely opportunity to witness Lewis Hamilton claim his fifth World Driverâs Championship crown.
Itâs been a short (and somewhat confusing for some of us!) week since Kimi and his red pony triumphed in Austin last weekend, and here we are again. This weekendsâ race will be the 19th round of the 2018 F1 Championship and is the 20th running of the Mexican Grand Prix (19th if you exclude the inaugural race in 1962, which was a non-Championship event).
Mercedesâ Championship leader, Lewis Hamilton starts the weekend with a healthy 70-point lead over Ferrariâs Sebastian Vettel, and needs to finish in just 7th place or better to claim his 5th WDC. Barring a major breakdown and a DNF, itâs pretty much in the bag.
In the World Constructorsâ Championship, Mercedes hold a 66-point lead over Ferrari, with Red Bull Racing a further 160 points behind in P3. Outscore Ferrari by 20 points on Sunday and Mercedes will secure the 2018 constructorsâ crown. Unlikely perhaps, but if things go their way the Silver Arrows could come away from the Mexico with their 5th consecutive championship double. Depending on the finishing positions of the red cars though, that Championship may still go to Brazil to be finalised.
Mexico City is not only the capital of Mexico. With the population of Greater Mexico City at 21.3 million, itâs also the most populous city in North America, the largest metropolitan area of the Western Hemisphere, and the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world. Being in North America, it also uses some weird, alien time zone stuff meaning that the weekendsâ practice and race times need a little converting. Donât panic though, I got your back. Here you go:
The race this year will again be run on the 4.3km Hermann Tilke redesigned AutĂłdromo Hermanos RodrĂguez. Named after Mexicoâs most famous racing brothers, Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez, the circuit sits at a rarefied altitude of 2,285m above sea level. Despite being one of the shorter circuits on the calendar, AHR boasts one of the longest straights. At 1,2km, the main straight sees the modern V6 hybrid turbo F1 cars reach speeds in excess of 370km/h before the hard braking needed for the tricky Turn 1-2-3 complex. The shortish circuit also results in the need to have a 71-lap race and lapping backmarkers is a consideration for the leaders from early on in the race.
Hereâs that sweet kid from Guadalajara, the ever Mexi-proud Sergio PĂ©rez Mendoza, to show us around his home circuit:
Those weirdos at Pirelli, with their bizarre interest in all things rubberised, rate the circuit abrasion, grip and tyre stress levels as low. As a result, theyâve brought the softer side of their range out to Mexico for the weekend, with the teams all opting to spend the bulk of their 13 sets allocation on the pink Hypersofts for the weekend. Hereâs the Pirelli preview and the tyre set allocations for the weekend.
With an altitude and climate similar to that of Joziburg, the weather in Mexico City is also similar and brief but intense afternoon thunderstorms are common at this time of the year, much like those we get up on the Highveld here. The forecast for the weeknd looks decent enough though to suggest that while there may be a wet practice session on Friday, the bulk of the weekend and the race itself should be dry.
To round things off, a quick collection of stats and trivia notes before the race, courtesy of F1.com:
- Formula 1 cars first arrived in Mexico in 1962 for a non-championship race, returning the following year for a proper, bona fide Grand Prix. That 1963 race was won by Jim Clark, while for the next few years, Mexicoâs fiesta vibes meant it became the traditional season-ender for Formula 1.
- Since then, Mexican fans have had to endure two lengthy spells without Grand Prix action, but the country was welcomed back onto the F1 calendar in 2015.
- Mercedes have the form-book history upper hand in Mexico. Theyâve won two of the last three Grands Prix here, with Hamilton following up on Nico Rosbergâs 2015 win a year later.
- Ferrari are tied on two Mexican GP victories with Mercedes, but their wins came way back in 1970 and 1990.
- Red Bull proved their strength here last year with Max Verstappen earning the third win of his short F1 career.
- Lewis Hamilton has finished on the podium at the last nine consecutive races, the second-longest streak of his career behind his 16-race run in 2014-15 (the record is Michael Schumacherâs 19 in 2001-02).
- His team mate Valtteri Bottas has finished second on seven occasions this season, the most ever in a single season without winning a race (surpassing the six scored by Francois Cevert in 1973), although he can still lose that record if he wins before the end of the year.
- Sebastian Vettel has never finished on the podium in Mexico (he was promoted to third by Max Verstappenâs post-race penalty in 2016, only to then receive a penalty himself that relegated him to fifth).
- Red Bullâs Daniel Ricciardo has the most retirements of the 2018 season with seven, whereas nobody else has more than five (Alonso, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Leclerc and Hartley). Ricciardo also suffered six retirements last season, as well as being the first retirement in the 2017 Mexican GP.
- Max Verstappen was the 2017 Mexican GP race winner when he led all 71 laps (the Red Bull driver is the active leader in laps led on this track, nine more than Lewis Hamilton).
- Sergio Perez has scored points on all three previous appearances at his home race â but he is still yet to score a top-six finish in Mexico, something not achieved by any Mexican driver since Pedro Rodriguez was sixth in his last home appearance in 1970.
- Nico Hulkenberg, currently P7 in the driversâ standings, has a great chance to score his best-ever finish in the F1 world championship, having been ninth in both the 2014 and 2016 seasons for Force India.
- Haasâ Romain Grosjean has been the slowest qualifier in Q1 in Mexico for the last two years in succession, and only progressed from Q1 by one place in 2015. He has also only scored one point on this track (10th for Lotus in 2015).
- Fernando Alonso has exited Q1 at the last three races â and if heâs knocked out in Q1 again this weekend, it will be his worst run since this qualifying format was first adopted at the beginning of 2006.
- Lance Stroll finished sixth in the 2017 Mexican GP, the best result of his career other than the podium finish he scored in Baku last year.
¥Viva Mexico! ¥Olé! ¥Olé! ¥Olé!
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This inconsistency is starting to piss me off
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From the stewards?
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The whole system, where one week something is legal then illegal and legal again.
Its the same with the penalties being handed out to drivers. There is just no consistancy anymore
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jip. but i think in this instance the conversation was like.
FIA: Ferrari says the holes are the for aerodynamics.
Merc: No they not and we can prove it. The there for temp management.
Merc we will run race with out them and show that our tire overheat.
FIA: Ok
then after race. FIA looks at the temp report and see that holes are there for temp. and that is legal but if the airflow was/is used for aero then it is not.
I think the real problems is with all the cost cutting and the complexities involved its hard to prove or deprove some statements.
Best way for this would be a wind tunnel and merc showing that there is no or very little benefit for aero and that holes are there purely to help tire/temp management. but then all the other teams will say merc used the windtunnel to do more reading and get advantage that way.
the penalties on drivers. My understanding is the stewards for each race are different people. and the rules leave a lot of space for interpretation and there is where the problem comes in.
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Aaaand thatâs all she wrote, folks. Well done Hammy, Nr 5 is in the bag.
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As much as I dislike the man, he did so much better this year. So grats to him.
If I find the idiot who is giving Ric all this bad luck I think I will burn him at the stake. 7DNFs this year, after that pole lap yesterday. Kak start from him, but he still did well.
Where did that Ferrari pace come from? Well done to Vett and Kimi
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A well deserve WDC for Hamilton. This has been one spectacular year for him. Rarely made mistakes, did what he needed and drove that car like a champion.
Also happy for Verstappen for winning the race. But dammit, poor Daniel. He should just abandon the next few races and let Gasly try.
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I rather enjoyed last nights race.
Promised myself to just watch 10 laps then bed time but watched the whole race.
Seb found some rhythm too late in the season unfortunately.
Fookit man, poor Danny boy, must be a RBR installation issue as Renault doesnât seem to have the same issues.
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See Verstappen, after that epic pout on Sat because Daniel took P1, that was just sad, he still has a lot of growing to do. But he did well yesterday, no doubts about it.
Vettel, why couldnt he have driven the previous races the way he drove this one. He was on fire, and had brilliant form, the over takes was well done.
And then Seb does this, this is why I like the guy. After he congratulated Lewis on track after the race.
I honestly think Dan just needs to tell redbull f*k you and go home for the rest of the season. He had a kak start yesterday but drove and managed his tires extremely well compared to the rest. I agree it has to be a rebull mistake
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Jassie man, everytime this kak happens I feel more and more sad for Danni. Really hope next year is better. And wow that was a long ass speech Vettel gave to Hamilton. Wonder what he said haha. My blood remains red(uh, that doesnât work as well). And maaaaaybe we can take the Constructors?
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I have unconfirmed reports that he rage quit Red Bull
You being serious or joking bud?
Dead serious, saw an article from an unreliable source. So Iâm waiting for it to be confirmed by a reliable one.