On October 31, Beijing time, the 20th F1 Mexican Grand Prix of the 2022 season ended the race at the Rodriguez Brothers Circuit. Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, Pole to win, reached the top podium for the 14th time this season, breaking the record for the number of championships in a single season (13) jointly held by Michael Schumacher and Vettel; Hamilton finished second for a record 190th podium finish; Perez finished third with an extra point for the fastest lap. Bottas finished 10th with a point, and Zhou Guanyu finished 13th.
Temperatures in Mexico vary considerably during the day, which affects thermal degradation of the tires, an important parameter that teams need to monitor. Unlike the previous two races, the Japanese Grand Prix (which focused on lateral force) and the United States Grand Prix (which focused on aerodynamic balance), the focus in Mexico was on traction and braking.
Because, at Rodriguez Brothers, there is not a lot of grip, and the tire capacity requirements are quite low, because the car does not generate much downforce in the thin air at high altitudes, especially at high altitudes. Slow corners; and it is especially important to note that the new generation of cars may experience understeer problems through slow corners.
The first two rows were occupied by Red Bull and Mercedes, Verstappen started from pole position for the sixth time this season, with Russell occupying the front row. Magnussen needed a 5-place penalty for replacing the internal combustion engine, and Stroll was penalized 3 places for an accident in the previous race (with Alonso), so he started today’s race in the last row. Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu started the race in Mexico from 12th.
Today’s temperature is 24 degrees Celsius, the track temperature is 43 degrees, the humidity is 37%, and the official weather forecast shows that there is a 40% chance of rain during the race. In terms of tire selection, Red Bull, Ferrari, Yutaka Kakuda, Mick Schumacher, Vettel and Latifi started with soft tires, while the rest of the drivers chose medium tires. After the start of the race, Verstappen started smoothly, Russell was overtaken by Hamilton and Perez and fell to fourth, Bottas also dropped to two positions at the start, falling behind Alonso and ranked eighth.
From lap 4 onwards, Hamilton’s lap speed on the medium tires gradually increased. Verstappen radioed to inform the team that the soft tires lacked grip, and Stroll also told the Aston Martin team that he had suffered no problems. Grip issue. Zhou Guanyu, who has always been in 12th place, was overtaken by Ricardo on the ninth lap and dropped to 13th place after several excellent defenses.
On the 14th lap, although Gasly overtook Stroll, he later received a 5-second penalty notice for forcing his opponent off the track. On lap 18, Stroll became the first driver to pit and put on soft tires. Leclerc TR communicated with the team, if there is nothing to lose, consider Plan C? On the 24th lap, Perez became the first driver of the leading group to make a pit stop and changed to medium tires, but the Red Bull team made another mistake. This stop took 5 seconds. On lap 25, Verstappen pitted for medium tires in 2.5 seconds. Perez quickly took advantage of the tires to pass Leclerc to fifth on the track. Leclerc stopped on lap 29 to change to medium tires.
On the 30th lap, Sainz and Hamilton pitted, of which Hamilton took 3.3 seconds to get on the hard tires. After 2 laps, Russell also changed to hard tires. Afterwards, both Mercedes drivers expressed the opinion that the hard tyres were not as ideal as the medium tyres. On the 40th lap, Vettel, who was on soft tires, finally stopped. On the 42nd lap, Ocon surpassed Bottas. During the fight between the two, Bottas’ front wing almost touched Ocon’s car.
On the 47th lap, Zhou Guanyu pitted and put on soft tires, ranking 16th after leaving the station. On the 51st lap, during the fight between Kakuda Yuyi and Ricciardo, he was pushed out by his opponent. A hole was hit in the right side box of Kakuda Yuyi. Although the car could be brought back to the pit room, the damage to the car was serious and could not continue. , Ricardo then received a penalty of 10 seconds. Verstappen’s lead is getting bigger and bigger, and Mercedes, who uses different strategies, is obviously “mistaken”.
On the 65th lap, Alonso brought the car to the buffer zone to retire, and the virtual safety car appeared briefly in the event. Russell immediately notified TR that he was suspected of crushing to pieces, hoping to return to the station to change the tires, and put on the soft tires at the last moment. In the end, Verstappen took the lead in crossing the line with a huge advantage of 15 seconds and won his 34th championship.
It also means that the championships of the nearly 9 races since the French Grand Prix were all won by Red Bull drivers (Verstappen 8, Perez 1). Red Bull tied the team’s longest 9-game winning streak, and also tied the team’s longest streak of 19 games. Hamilton finished runner-up and Perez finished third. The fourth to tenth places are: Russell, Sainz, Leclerc, Ricardo, Ocon, Norrie and Bottas. Alonso and Yutaka Kakuda retired. From November 11th to November 14th, the F1 Grand Prix will start the competition for the 21st Sao Paulo Grand Prix of the season at the Interlagos Circuit. (Tauranga)Return to Sohu, see more
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