Topic: Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM..... - page 11. (Read 142948 times)

For the first time in a long time I see Ferrari getting stronger after the updates, usually when the car was good Ferrari would go back to third and fourth with the update. So far stability has been the biggest problem for Ferrari and we'll see how they do in the next race. Sainz did a really good job.

I hope Williams can get a little bit closer to the front and we can watch more Sainz. Sainz is a sportsman, he does this sport well and he's a very good driver for the team. Red Bull's cars are way behind. McLaren and Ferrari are very much ahead this term. Even Williams is going to make a lot of noise next year. Red Bull is far from its glory days and that's why Verstappen is unhappy.

Ferrari have developed very well after the break and are now competitive on many tracks, so I am also curious to see how they will do in Brazil, why do you think they will have a hard time in Brazil, because of the track layout or because they were also rather weak there last year?

I think Ferrari can still score some points this season, and I hope they take the performance into the next season and make small progress and no more steps backwards.

Congratulations for the double podium for Ferrari, both Sainz and Charles really showed a very good performance in this race. Although Charles almost had an accident, but fortunately he was very good at controlling his car and managed to stay on track. For RB, this was a pretty unpleasant race, with Max finishing in P8 due to a penalty and Perez finishing in P17 even though this was at his home circuit, this was a race with a bad result for RB, especially with only four grands prix left, of course RB expected a better result than this to secure the driver championship, but unfortunately they couldn't do much. And for HAAS, this is the first time I saw Kmag and Hulkenberg able to finish in the top 10, Ayao Komatsu with his magic hands seems to be able to bring HAAS to be better. Overall this Mexican GP was quite exciting, and I don't regret sleeping late just to wait for the race.

What a race for Carlos Sainz.
Ferrari did the max he could, he had also a big risk to hit the wall iin the overtake he got with Norris so he should be happy with his 3rd spot and the fastest lap.
Disaster for MAx Verstappena and 20 seconds penalty.

Was a long time I didn't see a 10 second penalty and he got both.

Ferrai now has a good chance for fighting for the constructor championship but the coming tracks should not very Ferrari favorite, especially next one in Brazil where they also have the sprint race.

For the end of the season, that is not a consideration for Marquez because he himself will also try to win as long as he has the ability like he did in today's race even though it ended with a crash and coming back into the race with the position he had. With a gap of 17 points, of course Martin doesn't need to win another race because he only needs to be in second place to secure the world championship this season. But Martin will also do more if he still has the chance because Martin is not the type of rider who likes to play it safe in every race, while Bagnaia must always win in the remaining races that are still there and he also has to hope that Martin cannot finish in second place in the four remaining races and that is very bitter for him.

Pole position for Carlos Sainz with Ferrari.
He dominate for the entire weekend so far.
Lecler was able to get the second time but he got a minor slippery on the final turn and lost 2/10 and for that reason he is only on 4th position.

With the disaster from Perez and Piastri out on q3 Ferrai now has a big chance to ear point for the constructor championship.

Bagnaia did what he had to do today, the same for Martin, don't drop out and finish second. Four second places are enough for Martin in the last four races. Bagnaia has the full pressure now and I don't think he can withstand the pressure and take four more wins. I think Marc Marquez is the favourite, especially in Valencia, but will he take points away from Bagnaia as a future team-mate?

Today's race which took place in rainy conditions was also quite fierce even though after Marc Marquez crashed the race only went like a touring. Because Martin also couldn't do anything when he had to be behind Marquez before Marquez crashed while fighting Bagnaia who was in front. Now the point gap between Bagnaia and Martin is 17 because Martin was able to stay in second position and Bagnaia was able to win fantastically in rainy conditions today. And with two races left in the season, it will certainly be even more exciting because Bagnaia must be more aggressive in the Sprint session and also in the full race session so that he can become world champion this season.

Correct.
Engine will suffer.

2024 F1 Mexico City Grand Prix - Free Practice Results (3)
Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Time
1   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m16.492s
2   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m16.551s
3   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m16.832s
4   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m17.003s
5   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m17.060s
6   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m17.232s
7   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m17.302s
8   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m17.341s
9   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m17.474s
10   Liam Lawson   NZL   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m17.494s
11   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m17.511s
12   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m17.639s
14   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m17.712s
14   Franco Colapinto   ARG   Williams Racing   1m17.787s
15   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m17.798s
16   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m17.819s
17   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m17.900s
18   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m18.324s
19   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m18.428s
20   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m18.454s

FP3 source time

https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1058960/1/2024-f1-mexico-city-grand-prix-final-practice-results

we are alredy 7/10 faster than the past year. pole under 1.16 ?

Actual practice time was even shorter because there was multiple red flags during session. While on FP1 many teams went with their reserve drivers. So, these results don't give very clear image. Conditions in this track is special, it's not easy to race 2300m above sea level.

With the sprint win, Bagnaia is now under pressure to win all remaining 5 races (three Grands Prix and two sprint races) and a second place would be enough for Martin in this 5 races, it looks like there will be a new world champion this year. Of course, both Martin and Bagnaia are forbidden to retire, but Bagnaia has to win the next 5 races.

Getting harder and harder for Bagnaia.
During the sprint Race he ended 3rd with a second position for Marting.
This mean earning points for the Spanish drive, even if not so many.

They have now 22 points in difference, with Marques over from the competion at -82.

Tomorrow can be a key moment infact if Martin will go over 25 points from the actual 22 he will have 1 race of advantage thing that now he has not.

Superb performance by Enea as he was untouched since he lead the race and great job by Martin who could pushed his position after overtaking Marq and Pecco.
Tomorrow will be much interesting to watch (hopefully), Marq was not able to compete today (not sure why) because after Martin overtook him, the gap getting bigger till finish.
Pecco and Martin will try their best tomorrow because it is getting closer to the end of the season while the competition between them to be the world champion is still so tough.
These 2 riders should work harder but they should also try to avoid any mistake on the race especially getting crashed should be avoided.

2024 F1 Mexico City Grand Prix - Free Practice Results (2)
Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Time
1   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m17.699s
2   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m17.877s
3   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m17.878s
4   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m17.887s
5   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m17.948s
6   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m18.239s
7   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m18.279s
8   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m18.351s
9   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m18.392s
10   Liam Lawson   NZL   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m18.560s
11   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m18.579s
12   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m18.621s
13   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m18.656s
14   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m18.890s
15   Franco Colapinto   ARG   Williams Racing   1m18.908s
16   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m18.942s
17   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m18.980s
18   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m19.041s
19   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   No Time Set
20   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   No Time Set

source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1058784/1/2024-f1-mexico-city-grand-prix-friday-practice-results

Ferrari leading again, they also tested 2025 pirelli's so the duration o the practice was 30 minutes longer.
Big problems for Max

Today Marquez could do nothing but defend himself behind the other three Ducati riders (Bastianini, Martin and Bagnaia) after starting the Sprint on the fifth grid. However, Bagnaia continued to be hit by the points gap because he could not maintain his second position when overtaken by Martin so that now the gap is 22 points because Martin was able to finish in front of Bagnaia. It seems that tomorrow Bagnaia must work harder to win and hope that Martin is not in the runner-up position so that his points can be cut even more.

From main driver to reserve driver. Well, that was highly expected, seeing how his performance so far has not scored a single point, it leaves him with little choice but to take any chance to stay in F1. Even though his chance to be an Audi driver is still there, he also can't expect much since the management will probably look for a better driver to fill that position. But I'm sure he will consider carefully to be a reserve driver for Mercedes.

rumor of the day.
Vatteri Bottas can return in Mercedes as reserve driver.

He has several option even if has not a set for the next year.
He is also in the list to became a Audi driver.

He said on tv that goin in a Mercedes is an option and he is considering it.

What do you say? We are still in October for now and the race at the Thailand Circuit will also take place this weekend which is still in October, not November. And today the session is only about FP1 and Practice to see who will make it to Q2 which is not a qualification because the qualification will continue tomorrow at the same place to see who will be in first place. If the weather is still good tomorrow, of course there will be many riders who will set pretty good times because the character of the Chang circuit in Thailand seems to be very much liked by many riders for now.

I do adore Marc Marquez, and yes, he did an impressive job recording his best time for the Q2 qualifiers. But I also look forward to other top racers who qualified with their best times, because I don't think anyone, including Marc, will want to fall below their qualifying time in the race. So, I would love to witness who will be the top in the Q2 races at the Chang circuit in Thailand in November. I'm giving every racer a fair chance to be the king of the road and hit the gas hard.

A little correction from me, Not in Malaysia, but it is located in Thailand with the name of the circuit is Chang, while the race in Malaysia will start at the beginning of next month or more precisely on November 1 this year. Yes it is true that Marquez was extraordinary in today's Practice at the Chang circuit in Thailand because he was able to record his best time so that he was in first position and qualified for Q2. For tomorrow I will also see how fast each rider who qualified for Q2 is because there are several riders who are quite strong in terms of their time records at the Chang circuit in Thailand today.