Ferrari soar, Red Bull stutter, VCARB sink: Our five major takeaways from an exciting 2024 Mexico City GP weekend
An entertaining 2024 Mexico City GP saw Carlos Sainz emerge on top, after 71 laps of racing. Some drivers experienced an excellent 2024 Mexico City GP weekend. On the other hand, others found themselves under pressure, as the season heads into its final stretch. Here are some key pointers from an enthralling 2024 Mexico City GP weekend.
Sergio Perez’s struggles continue on home turf at Mexico
It wasn’t the finest of weekends for home favourite Sergio Perez. The Red Bull racer found himself out in Q1 for the fifth time in 2024, this one the most gutting as it came on home turf. This was largely due to the Mexican’s low-speed struggles, as Perez struggled into slow corners.
The Mexican lined up 18th on the grid, only ahead of KICK Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu. This marked his worst grid spot all season, alongside Monaco, where he also started the race 18th. This put even further pressure on him as his place on the senior team has already come under intense scrutiny.
His showing in the race didn’t further his case either, the Mexican finding himself towards the rear of the field for the most part. While he incurred a five-second penalty for a false start, incidents with Liam Lawson and Lance Stroll damaged his Red Bull, meaning he eventually rounded out the race 17th and last at the flag. It was his worst finish at his home event, driving for Red Bull.
With Helmut Marko not ruling out a chance for Yuki Tsunoda or Liam Lawson to race alongside Verstappen in 2025, or even sooner, Perez has it all to do in the final four rounds if he wants to keep his seat at the senior Red Bull outfit next year.
The 2024 Ferrari renaissance continues in Mexico
Austin marked a fresh turn of form for one team — Scuderia Ferrari. The Italian team’s flawless race pace and bulletproof consistency saw Charles Leclerc win out in Austin. Carlos Sainz backed up his teammate, who finished on the podium for the first time since Austria. The team’s haul of 55 points put them right back into the championship mix.
Ferrari were touted to be quick around Mexico‘s medium-speed corners, with Leclerc and Sainz setting the pace on Friday. Once the data was crunched, it looked as though the Scuderia were the class of the field. Both drivers were quick on low-fuel as well as high-fuel running.
They backed up this solid pace in qualifying, as Sainz put in two stand-out Q3 laps to take his first pole of 2024. Ferrari also became the first team to have both their drivers start from the head of the grid this year. It was evident that the Ferrari cars could ride the kerbs comfortably, compared to the rest of the field. This set the SF24 up for greater speed down the straights, and stability into corners.
While Sainz took his second victory of 2024, Leclerc finished on the podium, albeit losing out to a hard-charging Norris. His race was scuppered by a call from the team to hold position and drop back from Sainz. This cost him time and meant he fell into the clutches of the chasing Briton. An off for Leclerc late in the race allowed the McLaren racer to move up into second.
While Leclerc couldn’t salvage P2, he prevented the driver in orange from snatching the fastest lap. The Ferrari driver took home one crucial point for his team in their battle with McLaren. The gap between the two old masters narrowed to 29 points. Ferrari moved past Red Bull in the standings into second place.
Verstappen still remains a firm championship favourite
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has demonstrated, time and again, why he remains a firm favourite for a fourth championship. Despite the Red Bull’s dominant pace slipping, the Dutchman’s remarkable consistency has seen him keep close to his championship rival ahead.
While Norris had eaten into Verstappen’s gap since the summer break, the triple world champion delivered in Austin. A sprint win and third in the Grand Prix ensured he grew the gap to 57 points, up from 52 when the F1 caravan reached Austin.
With COTA proving stronger for the upgraded Red Bulls, Mexico was always expected to be a stronger weekend. The Austrian team have always gone well around this circuit, with their powertrains working well in Mexico’s high altitude. Verstappen only drove home this point when he secured a front-row spot at the end of qualifying.
His race unravelled after two incidents with Norris incurring two separate 10-second time penalties. However, the Dutchman managed to limit the damage, finishing sixth. Verstappen showed why he remains the firm favourite, 47 points in the ascendancy with four weekends to go. This wasn’t just marked by the points gap but by his never-say-die attitude during the race.
While he did incur a penalty, his quest to do anything to keep his rival behind cost Norris a chance at victory, with the final win margin being only four seconds. With Red Bull looking more potent after their upgrades, expect nothing different from Verstappen in the final four rounds of 2024.
The Haas juggernaut continues into Mexico
Haas have traditionally found it tough going around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The team have often struggled to make it past Q2, or even Q1 around this circuit. However, both drivers made it through to the top ten shootout this time, with Kevin Magnussen qualifying 7th, and Nico Hulkenberg tenth.
It was Magnussen’s first visit to Q3 with Haas, while Hulkenberg made it into the top ten shootout for the first time at Mexico. The team had introduced an upgrade package in Austin, with reprofiled sidepods and improved aero being two important features. The upgrades reaped dividends, as both drivers scored in the sprint, while Hulkenberg’s eighth place marked Haas’ fourth consecutive points score.
The team’s qualifying and race performances around Mexico highlighted their progress along the way. The VF24 emerged as the quickest car among the midfield pack.
Magnussen and Hulkenberg ensured their qualifying pace was no fluke, with the Dane finishing seventh and Hulkenberg ninth in the race. Both drivers kept out of the melee at turn one, with Hulkenberg moving up into eighth. While the duo faced no threat from behind, it was only Oscar Piastri who managed to dislodge the Haas duo from their positions. The Australian split the Haas drivers, finishing eighth, and only missing out on seventh by a slender margin.
The Danish driver’s seventh was his best result of 2024. Hulkenberg, on the other hand, continued his ascendancy into the top ten of the standings. Their haul of eight points put Haas even further clear of VCARB. While it seems a distant goal, a few more similar scores could bring Haas closer to Aston Martin in fifth. The team in green sit 36 points ahead of Haas. However, with four races and two sprints to go, don’t rule out a late charge from the American team.
VCARB’s struggles continue to mount
While Haas have turned around a corner, the VCARB team have slipped like a stone. It’s been a tough ride since the summer break for the team from Faenza. They have scored only two points since F1 returned for the second half in Zandvoort, courtesy of Lawson’s P9 at Austin.
It’s a stark turnaround in form, given how Tsunoda was an in-form driver early on. The Japanese driver consistently scored points and sat in and around the top ten of the standings. While the team came into Mexico with high hopes, after last year’s showing and the prowess of the RBPT powertrain at altitude, this didn’t materialise.
They did demonstrate pace during free practice, as Tsunoda finished in the top three in both sessions on Friday. Their qualifying pace put them in the hunt for a top ten, with Tsunoda qualifying P11 and Lawson P12.
However, their chances were snapped when the Japanese driver was involved in a high-speed incident at Turn 1. Lawson, on the other hand, was involved in a battle with Sergio Perez, as the duo fought tooth and nail in the early stages of the race. The Kiwi’s strategy to run long on hards and pit did not amount to points this time around. His race was also scuppered by an incident with Williams’ Franco Colapinto, with the Argentine driver running over Lawson’s front wing, necessitating a late stop for repairs. Lawson eventually wound up 16th at the flag.
The crew at VCARB will certainly be downbeat. However, they head to Brazil, a location where they enjoyed a strong weekend in the guise of their predecessors AlphaTauri. It bodes extremely well as a starting point to reel in Haas to take back the sixth position they held for so long in 2024.
