Hello fellow Formula 1 fanatics, we’re here for the Mexican Grand Prix edition of F1 Newsbites. Let’s checkout the latest news from the paddock.

 

 

Verstappen quickest in FP2 then breaks down

 

Red Bull Racing duo Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo dominated Free Practice 2 at the Mexican Grand Prix, before the former’s RB14 racer stopped on track.

 

Verstappen hit the top of the time-sheets early on with the purple-branded ultrasofts, setting a 1:17.437 to lead team-mate Ricciardo.

 

That put the pairing ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez who was running the hypersofts, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton slotting in fourth and 1.3 seconds off of Verstappen’s benchmark and running the supersofts.

 

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was the first of the big three teams to undertake a qualifying simulation run with the hypersoft rubber, but could only take second behind Verstappen.

 

This saw both Ferrari and Mercedes drivers struggling during their qualifying runs with Kimi Raikkonen, Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas all failing to threaten Verstappen’s pace.

 

When Verstappen started his quick run, Renault’s Carlos Sainz was the Dutchman’s closest challenger setting a 1:17.953 and moving ahead of both the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers.

 

Verstappen then smashed a 1:16.720 and went 1.233 seconds quicker while team-mate Ricciardo slipped into second and 0.153 seconds adrift of his team-mate.

 

Despite his impressive pace, the Dutchman reported on the radio “the engine is not doing what it should do”.

 

With ten minutes remaining, disaster struck for Verstappen as his RB14 racer suffered a power loss at the entry of turn one and cut across the grass before pulling off at the turn three exit.

 

Behind Sainz, Vettel ended the day the best of the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers to wound up in fourth place and just one-thousandth shy of the Spaniard.

 

That put the German 0.092 seconds faster than the other Renault of Nico Hulkenberg,and had Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley (momentarily quickest during the initial runs) for company and tucked right behind the RS18.

 

This meant championship leader Hamilton ended FP2 in seventh place and 1.380 seconds off Verstappen’s benchmark pace, and 33-thousandths quicker than eighth placed Raikkonen, having an earlier off-track moment on his initial run when he suffered a massive lockup into the first corner.

 

Bottas was ninth quickest in the second Silver Arrow and seven thousandths off his Finnish compatriot.

 

Perez was relegated to tenth by the sessions end, although the Mexican did improved on his second timed run on the hypersofts.

 

That put him in-front of 11th placed Force India team-mate Esteban Ocon, who had his first running of the weekend after giving his VJM11 racer to reserve Nicholas Latifi in the opening practice session, who was 0.248 seconds quicker than Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean who was 12th.

 

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team’s Charles Leclerc (who missed FP1 with Antonio Giovinazzi in his place) finished the day 13th quickest and pipping Toro Rosso’s 14th placed Pierre Gasly, with McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne taking 15th.

 

Williams Martini Racing’s Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin ended FP2 in 16th and 18th respectively with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson in 18th and splitting the pairing.

 

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso finished a low 19th and ahead of Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen who brought up the rear.

 

The Dane’s VF-18 racer struggled with tyre temperatures and reported to his team over the radio that they were “absolutely nowhere” during their qualifying and race simulation runs.

 

The story of the day was many drivers across the field complaining of heavy degradation on their tyres, especially the hypersoft compounds during the long runs.

 

The opening practice session was the same as it was at the end of the day, a dominate Red Bull one-two with Verstappen leading team-mate Ricciardo, and the two Renault’s of Sainz and Hulkenberg in third and fourth respectively and Mercedes’ Hamilton rounding out the top five.

 

Red Bull not worried with pacesetter Verstappen’s FP2 issue

 

Max Verstappen was having a brilliant start to the Mexican Grand Prix, topping both practice sessions but disaster struck when a suspected hydraulic problem ended his day parking his RB14 racer upon the exit of turn three, though the Dutchman and the Milton-Keynes squad remained confident for the rest of the weekend.

 

Red Bull enjoyed a promising day with both RB14’s over a second faster than their rivals in Free Practice 1 and 2 with Verstappen edging team-mate Daniel Ricciardo each time.

 

With ten minutes remaining, Verstappen’s car shut down into turn one, leaving him to travel across the grass before pulling off at turn three.

 

The Milton-Keynes based outfit identified the issue as a hydraulic failure, but remained confident that it would be fixed before Free Practice 3 and without receiving any penalties.

 

“We need to get the car back to understand what’s caused it,” explained Team Principal Christian Horner. “If it is an engine change, he’s still got one in his pool, so he should be alright.”

 

When asked about why both Red Bull drivers were so dominate, Horner responded “I think what’s happened here, as I said before the event, this high altitude, it tends to even things out a bit. The engines, the brakes, the cooling, everything is struggling for air mass through here,”

 

“[Max] is very comfortable around here, Daniel had a great session as well, long-run pace looked good. [It’s the] first time we’ve been first and second in both sessions on a Friday for some time.” Horner concluded.

 

Horner’s statements were backed up about Mexico being a great equaliser, with works team Renault also having a great day at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez with Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg finishing in the top five in both sessions and Sainz taking third in both outings.

 

Should Verstappen continue his dominance over the weekend and claim pole, he will become the youngest pole-sitter in the sport’s history, one weight that’s been sitting on his shoulders ever since he came into Formula One.

 

The Dutchman summed up his day “Today has been really good, better than expected. Not just for me but for Daniel also, it’s nice to have us both at the top.”

 

“We have a very good car at this circuit, good downforce and good mechanical grip. This was already clear from Monaco earlier in the year and you can see again it is working really well here. If you have good grip you can make quite a big gap quickly because the surface is quite slippery out there,”

 

“As always there are areas to improve but for now it’s looking good. I said in Japan that it was one of my worst Friday’s in F1, this has been one of the best. The car was quick here last year but after today I think we are more competitive than 2017. We think I had a small issue with hydraulics at the end but we haven’t been able to check the car yet. We are not too concerned ahead of tomorrow, the guys will investigate this evening but hopefully it is a quick fix.” Verstappen concluded.

 

Ricciardo expecting six-way fight for pole

 

 

Qualifying should be a cracker, said Daniel Ricciardo after the first day’s running at the Mexican Grand Prix, with the high altitude levels at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez reducing Red Bull’s engine deficit and suiting the characteristics of the RB14 racers of Ricciardo and Max Verstappen who dominated both practice sessions on Friday but the Australian predicts a six way fight for pole on Saturday.

 

The Milton-Keynes based squad enjoyed a massive 1.233 second advantage over the field in practice with the RB14 machines extracting the maximum out of the faster hypersoft compounds whilst rivals Ferrari and Mercedes struggled to do the same.

 

But while Ricciardo, who ended the day 0.153 seconds behind team-mate Verstappen in FP2, the latter ended his day prematurely and suffered a hydraulics issue – was satisfied with the team’s low fuel runs, although he expects Ferrari and Mercedes to hit back on Saturday in Free Practice 3 and Qualifying.

 

“Our car worked really well on low fuel runs in both sessions today which should put us in a good position for qualifying, but I don’t want to be naïve as I’m sure Mercedes and Ferrari will turn it up and give us a push tomorrow,” explained Ricciardo who said there is still plenty of work to do. “If it stays like this it could be a close six-way fight for pole which would be pretty exciting for everyone.”

 

“Tomorrow I want to work more on our race pace and the high fuel runs as we weren’t quite as competitive on those. It seems with the altitude here everyone’s power levels are closer, we will see tomorrow once everyone goes into qualifying mode but today on paper we look good.”

 

“The key in qualifying will be to get a clean lap as it’s still quite slippery around here and it’s easy to make small mistakes. The Hypersoft is graining a lot, which is actually quite nice, as most of the races this season have been easy on a one-stop so maybe we will actually get a two-stop this weekend.” Ricciardo concluded.

 

Mercedes looking for answers after lack of pace

 

 

They’ve been the dominant team in the second half of the championship, but having finished a massive 1.380 seconds behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the afternoon practice session, Mercedes were dumbfounded as to why they were off the pace. And while the Anglo-German outfit is yet to find answers, Valtteri Bottas admitted the car felt horrible.

 

Though it wasn’t a surprise seeing Red Bull come to the top at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez due to it’s high altitude levels and the circuit characteristics suiting the RB14, not many would have expected to see the Silver Arrows missing from the top four.

 

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton lead Mercedes charge, finishing fifth and 1.419 seconds adrift in FP1 and seventh in FP2 and 1.380 seconds off Verstappen’s benchmark.

 

Bottas on the other hand, finished both 90 minute sessions in sixth and ninth in what was a difficult day for the Finn and while he was confident that the Silver Arrows will hit back on Saturday, he highlighted the major issue that many drivers were struggling with on Friday, rapid tyre graining.

 

“Both sessions we struggled with pace, we struggled with tyre life,” explained Bottas. “I think with tyre life everyone struggled.”

 

“But it felt pretty horrible in the car in terms of how quickly we started to grain both of the compounds (ultrasofts and hypersofts). It feels like we’re lacking overall grip – the car is sliding around a lot which is then wearing the tyres. So plenty of work to do for tomorrow.”

 

“I wish I knew why. I don’t think we have a clear answer yet why the pace isn’t there yet, fundamentally it’s grip, but the track is the same for everyone. The car hasn’t taken any steps back from the last few races, so that leaves something maybe with the tyres.” Bottas concluded.

 

On the other side of the garage, Hamilton echoed his team-mate’s comments on the team’s performance, admitting they have work to do to catch up to their rivals.

 

“There isn’t one – just a bunch of areas we can improve on,” said Hamilton. “The car was good in some places and not so good in places.”

 

“It’s very, very difficult here with the temperatures being as high as they are on track – melting the tyres and graining, which I think a lot of people were experiencing. We’re going to sit down in the debrief and go through all the things we can improve.”

 

“We have the biggest wings on, we’re quite quick in the straights, but through the corners there’s not a lot of grip – even with the hypersofts for us today, which obviously wasn’t the case for the Red Bulls, so we have some ground to make up.” Hamilton concluded.

 

Ferrari also off to slow start in Mexico

 

 

Mercedes championship rivals Ferrari also couldn’t within one second of Max Verstappen’s benchmark pace in both sessions, with Sebastian Vettel getting closest to the Dutchman in FP2, where the German ended the day 1.233 seconds adrift.

 

And while Vettel expected his former team Red Bull to start off the Grand Prix weekend strong in Mexico, he admitted there is more to come from the Scuderia at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

 

“I think it’s the track with the least sensitivity on power,” explained Vettel. “But it’s sort of expected that Red Bull are very strong. I don’t think we had a tidy lap, so we should have been in front of the Renault’s.”

 

“Everybody’s on the limit with tyres, trying to get them to work in order to slide less, with the exception maybe of the Red Bull.” Vettel concluded.

 

Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen also said a lack of grip played a role in a tough Friday for him, with the United States Grand Prix winner suffering a spin during Free Practice One.

 

“It was a normal Mexico – not much grip at all,” explained Raikkonen. “It was getting better and better but we never really got a good lap on the hypersoft.”

 

“I had a lock-up on the first lap and then a lot of vibrations. We improved but there is a lot of work to be done. I’m sure we’ll get the car better but how good it is compared to the others we’ll see tomorrow.” Raikkonen concluded.

 

Sainz: Renault pace “a bit misleading”

 

 

After finishing both Friday practice sessions in third place and closest to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz did not believe his team miraculously moved ahead of the order despite it’s impressive start in Mexico.

 

As Red Bull set the dominant pace at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with Verstappen finishing over a second up on his nearest rival from another team in both Free Practice 1 and 2, Sainz was surprised to be closer to the Dutchman than both drivers from Ferrari and Mercedes.

 

“To be P3, to be honest, seems quite a bit of a surprise to all of us,” explained Sainz following FP2, “but I think it’s more due to Mercedes and Ferrari struggling a lot out there than us being quicker than normal. We are only one-tenth ahead of Toro Rosso, one-tenth ahead of Force India, but we are still 1.2 seconds behind Red Bull. So I think it is something due to the others more than our proper pace.”

 

“It’s very nice to see the two Renault cars and Renault power units also up there. The team is working hard, the team is working very well in this part of the season to secure that fourth in the standings. But again, I think it’s a bit misleading, those time sheets.”

 

Whether it was misleading or not, Renault performed better on Friday compared to their rivals in the battle for fourth place in the Constructors Championship, Haas, with both Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean struggling with tyre issues, the best result came from Grosjean who ended the day 12th in FP2. Sainz downplayed that the Anglo-French outfit will be able to keep third on Saturday.

 

“I think I would be a bit naïve to think tomorrow we’re going to be third on the grid,” Sainz continued. “I’m always optimistic and I’m always going to try my best, but I think [Mercedes and Ferrari] had issues today. They were struggling also in the long runs.”

 

“I was following them and they didn’t look comfortable. That’s the only reason for me to think that tomorrow things are going to turn. Maybe not as much – maybe we can still be half a second away from them instead of one second and a half, but it would surprise me to be ahead of them for sure.”

 

After Renault’s best result last weekend in Austin, scoring 22 more points than Haas in the Constructors Championship, the Anglo-French squad are aware like Red Bull, that Mexico represents their chance of a greater result before seasons end to try and secure fourth place. But Sainz knows the difficult challenge that faces him at the Mexican Grand Prix, tyre management. Many teams were struggling to extend the life of the pink side-walled hypersofts in their race simulation runs.

 

It imposes a challenge on the engineers who will have to weigh up whether to run a one or two-stop strategy. The Spaniard was left contemplating on what strategy to take.

 

“[Tyre management] is going to be very important.” Sainz continued, “Although I don’t think tyre management will extend the life of the hypersoft more than two laps. I think the hypersoft has a life of five to 10 laps and it’s how much more to push it or how much you want to go slow. It is true that the hypersoft is working for us very well over one lap and is probably what is giving us the stability that we normally don’t have in this car. It’s giving up the grip, the mechanical grip that normally we don’t have in this car, and it’s making us go faster over one lap.”

 

“But I still struggle to think that one-stop is going to be easy. The supersoft tyre is lasting, but it needs to do nearly 60, 65 laps, which at the moment I believe is really tough for that tyre to do so many laps. So we are thinking, we are considering that the one-stop is not as easy as any other Grand Prix.” Sainz concluded.

 

Can Renault continue on from their promising start to the weekend and produce another solid result?

 

Rich Energy signs multi-year agreement with Haas F1 Team

 

 

British premium energy drink company Rich Energy, was announced as title-partner of the Haas F1 Team in a multi-year deal beginning with the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship season. The partnership will see a major livery change, which will incorporate the Rich Energy colours with the team name becoming Rich Energy Haas F1 Team.

 

Rich Energy is in rapid growth mode, with it’s energy drink currently available in 30 countries worldwide and will use it’s partnership with Haas F1 Team as the centre-piece of it’s marketing campaign, taking advantage of Formula One’s global platform to increase it’s market share as it competes with it’s rivals in the energy drink sector.

 

You can read the full statements from Rich Energy Chief Executive Office William Storey and Haas F1 Team Principal Guenther Steiner at the link: https://www.haasf1team.com/news/news-rich-energy-announced-haas-f1-team-title-partner#overlay-context=news/news-rich-energy-announced-haas-f1-team-title-partner.