Mexican Grand Prix: Max seeks title, Perez dreams of victory
F1 NewsWednesday, 03 November 2021 at 17:54
Formula 1 Championship leader Sergio Perez has his best chance ever of winning the Mexican Grand Prix as he races in Red Bull colours for the first time this weekend on home soil
But teammate Max Verstappen is favourite at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and a one-two with Perez on Sunday would create a bigger gap between him and Mercedes' seven-times F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
The Dutch driver is 12 points clear of the Briton after 17 of 22 races, with Mercedes 23 ahead of Red Bull in the constructors' standings going into a run of three races on successive weekends.
"It's incredibly important for myself and the team to try and nail the next three races now that we are fighting for the championship," Verstappen said.
Mexico City could see him take a decisive step towards a first title and realise a dream for Perez, who has never finished higher than seventh at home but now has a winning car.
Perez has won twice in the last 12 months, the first with Racing Point (now Aston Martin) in Bahrain last December, and will be racing at home for the first time as a winning F1 driver.
"It's just great to finally have a team and a car that we can dream of a victory in my home country," said the Mexican.
"We have a chance to make a big result happen this weekend, so I will prepare as well as I can and we will see what we are able to achieve."
Team player Perez knows, however, that something will have had to go awry for Verstappen for him to be in with a shout of winning, given the tight championship battle and importance of every point.
Verstappen won the last round in Texas, something of a Mercedes stronghold over the years, with his team mate finishing third.
Both Hamilton and Verstappen have both won the Mexican Grand Prix twice, the Briton most recently in 2019 with the 2020 race cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pair are the only drivers on the current grid to have tasted victory in Mexico, whose race returned to the calendar in 2015.
"Red Bull have gone well there in the past and it hasn't been our strongest circuit," said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff of the high-altitude challenge.
"But this year has shown that anything is possible and circuits where you were previously weak, you are suddenly strong, and vice versa."
Behind the title battle, another tough fight is being played out between McLaren and Ferrari for third in the championship.
Mercedes-powered McLaren are just 3.5 points ahead of their old Italian rivals.
"It is a track where power sensitivity is less important," said Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto. "I think the Mexico track will be in our favour compared to what we saw in Austin."
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth in the U.S. Grand Prix, with McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo fifth.
Brazil follows on from Mexico before teams fly to Qatar for the first of three season-ending rounds in the Middle East. The final two races are in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi in December. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin)
Reuters Facts & Stats
- Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City
- Round 18 of the 22-race championship
- Lap distance: 4.304km. Total distance: 305.354km (71 laps)
- 2019 pole position: Charles Leclerc (Monaco) Ferrari, one minute 15.024 seconds*
- 2019 winner: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes
- Race lap record: 1:18.741, Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Mercedes, 2018
- Start time: 1900GMT/1300 local
- NOTE: No race in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- * Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fastest in 2019 qualifying but dropped to fourth due to a subsequent grid penalty.
Mexican Grand Prix
- Sergio Perez, the only Mexican driver on the starting grid, will compete at home for the first time since becoming a race winner. The Red Bull driver won in Bahrain last year and in Azerbaijan in June.
- No Mexican has ever won a home race in the Formula One world championship.
- Hamilton clinched the 2017 and 2018 world titles in Mexico but nothing can be decided this time.
- Hamilton (2016, 2019) and Verstappen (2017 and 2018) are the only active drivers to have won in Mexico. The race returned in 2015, when now-retired Nico Rosberg won for Mercedes, for the first time since 1992.
- The race was won from pole position in 2015 and 2016. Hamilton, when he started third on the grid in 2019, is the only driver to have won from off the front row since 2015.
- Sunday will be the 21st time Mexico has held a championship grand prix.
- The circuit is the highest of any on the calendar at 2,285 metres above sea level. Austria's Red Bull Ring is the second highest at 700m.
- Red Bull hold the track record, having set the two fastest laps ever in Mexico City. Verstappen qualified in a time of 1:14.758 in 2019, beating former team mate Daniel Ricciardo's 2018 pole time of 1:14.759.
Race Victories
- Hamilton has a record 100 career victories, of which 79 have been with Mercedes, from 283 starts. He has been on the podium 177 times.
- Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen has won eight times this year to Hamilton's five. Red Bull's Sergio Perez, Alpine's Esteban Ocon, McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo and Mercedes' Bottas have each won once.
- Ferrari have won 238 races since 1950, McLaren 183, Mercedes 121, Williams 114 and Red Bull 73.
Pole Position
- Hamilton has a record 101 career poles and has won 59 times from pole. He has had three poles in 2021.
- Verstappen has been on pole nine times in 2021, while Leclerc was fastest in Azerbaijan and Monaco qualifying. Bottas was on pole in Portugal and Turkey, McLaren's Lando Norris in Russia.
- Verstappen has now won the 2021 pole trophy as no other driver can match his tally.
World Championships
- Verstappen is 12 points ahead of Hamilton
- Mercedes lead Red Bull by 23 points.
Milestone
- Red Bull's engine partners Honda took their first win as a constructor at the Mexico City circuit in 1965, with American Richie Ginther.
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