Mexico GP Race Report

The question that plays on my mind as we enter this race is why are we all suddenly rooting for Verstappen to win the Driver's Championship?  Surely, we want anyone else but him to win...to prove that it is possible?

The circuit was showing itself to be tricky over the weekend, there were various directives about which way you should go if you happened to veer outside the white lines and it was also a little slippery, not to mention the high altitude (please no one mention the high altitude anymore).  There were lock-ups going to the grid and Verstappen's drinks bottle was leaking unless he clamped his teeth down on the straw.  I think this is just the kind of racing impediment that Ecclestone was looking to bring in to spice up the racing.

The start was both absolute chaos and not really chaotic at all.  Verstappen went wide and cut back in, then giving places gained back.  But not to Russell.  Stroll Strolled at the back.  Norris had a gap big enough to avoid DRS by the end of the first lap, out in the lead.  Bearman made up three places and Piastri dropped two.  

On lap two, Lawson pitted for a new front wing but it wasn't long before he had to retire the car.

Then something happened as we were watching the replays of the start.  It was hard to tell what because it was hard to tell if we were still watching the replays or live racing.  Verstappen went off, Bearman got to fourth, Russell dropped to seventh and Hamilton went off over the grass (BBC Five Live kept saying that drivers were "cutting the grass", this irked me because they are racing highly-sophisticated pieces of tech not ride-on mowers).  Then drivers seemed to go off again, or was this a replay, with Bearman getting past.  The coverage was very confused, at no point did they show a long enough shot of one continuous piece of action for you to get the full picture of what happened but cut to other angles or what was happening elsewhere.  They couldn't have known it was too soon to go back to replay the start but actually, they could see that the drivers were still going three or four wide into corners.  Ultimately, I still have no real idea what happened in these two early incidents, one of which resulted in Hamilton getting a ten second penalty and his promising race ruined.

Tsunoda did a good enough job of holding up Piastri for his team mate but by lap eleven, he was passed.  Meanwhile Norris was setting fastest lap after fastest lap but Antonelli and Russell seemed to be in freefall.

Williams gave Sainz a five second pit stop but the limiter was broken on his car so he received a five second penalty for speeding in the pit lane too, which happened again towards the end of the race.  As he was out of the points anyway, he came in and took it with no work happening on the car so that it wouldn't be carried over to the next event.

And now we get to half way through the race, phew!  Russell was getting angrier and angrier on the radio that he was not being assisted to get past his team mate ahead of him.  Contender for radio comment of the season is his engineer who, when told that Russell felt he was quicker than Antonelli, told him he was free to race.  This went on and on until Mercedes capitulated and they switched places, which was tricky going because Piastri was right behind the pair.  It was then clearly pointlessly risky as they pitted Antonelli and McLaren also bought in Piastri.  This seemed like madness as it had been labelled a one stop race with no need to change for fresh soft tyres.  Russell and Bearman also went for it, with Bearman giving up his third place to Verstappen.  The question is whether Bearman secured fourth place or lost third?

At this point Aston Martin retired Alonso, with Hulkenberg having stopped in his garage earlier in the race.

We were nearly at the end now when Sainz stopped in the baseball stadium section, there were two laps to go when it was decided that a Virtual Safety Car was needed, which halted a fierce battle between LeClerc (who had held second for the whole race) and Verstappen.  By now Norris had a thirty-five second lead.  Even though Verstappen might think he was denied a short time to try and get past LeClerc, I would contend that it also game him time not to make a stupid mistake.  He is starting to look hot-headed again as the championship is now in his sight.  Unfortunately, Bearman was fifteen seconds behind, so even if he did something stupid and was given a ten second penalty, it wouldn't promote the Haas driver.  He would be voted Driver of the Day though.  It makes me want to check whether Ocon's contract is secure for next season as he has been so thoroughly trounced by his rookie team mate.

Norris finished the Mexican event as championship leader again and he looked calm, despite the booing.

Mexico GP Qualifying Report

Back to racing straight away on the other side of the pond, Sainz was going to be using his five place grid penalty straight away after he caused a collision last weekend.  The much-discussed repercussions had also been dropped at McLaren, which now seems like a very good way to get everyone talking about you.

All-in-all it was a very standard Qualifying event.  Colapinto seemed to go rallying at the end of the first session and Hadjar shocked everyone by putting in the quickest lap.  He was ahead of Hamilton and Russell; in fact, there were six different teams in the top ten.  Out went Bortoleto, Albon, Gasly, Stroll and Colapinto.  The Williams was having an ongoing problem with it's brakes, which they really need to fix before the race.  This position would have been a big disappointment.

In the second session, there was very heavy traffic in the pit lane with four minutes to go but it didn't lead to any drama.  The drivers leaving Qualifying were: Tsunoda, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Lawson.  This time Hadjar only scraped through in tenth.

With less than three minutes until the end of the final session, the drivers were all queued up again but no one missed out on putting in their fastest effort.  No driver really put a foot wrong so it was all down to inherent pace, set up and skill.  Norris was fastest, which looked like a shoe-in, followed by LeClerc, Hamilton, Russell, Verstappen, Antonelli, Sainz, Piastri, Hadjar and Bearman.

LeClerc will have been pleased to pip his team mate to second at the last gasp as Hamilton had been second in both the other sessions.  I can't believe that Hamilton is still chasing his first podium for Ferrari and I expect he has his eye on the win.  He said he was going to be aggressive and I think he will be, not minding getting in trouble with Fred if anything happens with LeClerc and knowing Norris needs to be cautious.

Verstappen said he had no pace and needs other drivers ahead of him to retire if he is going to make up any places (could Hamilton's plan to be aggressive help him out?).  Piastri is still two places behind him on the grid and seems to have lost all confidence in his capabilities.  I wonder if this will be play out in the same way as when Button won his championship with Brawn, in that it was a strong start and then the gap closed and closed until there just wasn't any more races left to lose points at.

Mexico GP Race Report

Again, this was a very quiet night between Qualifying and Race.  There were no grid penalties and no surprises.  The biggest news was that this would be Alonso's 400th race start, and he still has two seasons ahead of him (potentially).   I'm sure the celebrations would have been greater were it not for Perez and Mexico's complete admiration for him.  He had done very little to deserve this in Qualifying and his position was coming back into question since he had been awarded a new contract in May.

The tyres were a slight unknown with cooler temperatures on race day than the day before.  Ocon was starting in the pit lane but it was likely that that would make little difference to the race.

Verstappen made an excellent start and overtook Sainz for the lead.  With an incident further back, drivers were caught out as the RB of Tsunoda was spun up the pack, Sainz took a wide cut across the corner and had to give the place back.  Tsunoda also took Albon out, who is having a shocking time in the Americas.  The Safety Car came out to clear the cars and the debris.  Tsunoda should not have been pushing to be four across the track.

Perez made up five places off the start but only because he jumped it, starting way ahead of his grid place and was awarded a five second penalty.  The Red Bull stop watch would be roundly tested in this race.

Verstappen slowed the pack up to an almost standstill before restarting the race.  As soon as DRS was enabled though, Sainz was passed him.  At this point, Norris was also behind and Verstappen had a problem with his ERC and an empty battery.  During his overtake, Norris had to go off track again, as Verstappen forced him off the track.  Then they both went off track and LeClerc went through for second place and Hamilton was hanging about right on the back of this row.  Finally, Verstappen received a ten second penalty for this behaviour.  His engineer reported that there was "a lot of whinging" about his move.

Russell, without any upgrades having trashed them, was able to overtake his team mate, who had the upgrades, pretty easily.  Further up, the Ferrari team mates were starting to battle.

Alonso was retired from this special race.

As if listening to the voice of F1 fans across the globe, but not the Dutch, Verstappen was awarded a further ten second penalty for his altercations with Norris.  Behind him Perez and fellow Red Bull driver Lawson were battling for the final points position with both going off the track.  They, however, did not receive a penalty.

There was plenty of overtaking and interest during the race; later on the Mercedes started to spar for fourth place.  Kimi Antonelli watched on at Toto's side; I remember when Mick Schumacher used to stand by him.  An incident between Lawson and Colapinto, battle of the late-coming rookies, was investigated after the race.

With ten laps to go, LeClerc lost the grip in his rear tyres altogether and was nearly into the wall but managed to get back on track.  This gave Norris a pass through into second place.

Then, with one lap to go, Ferrari pitted LeClerc to try and get the Fastest Lap point from Lawson and then Red Bull pitted Perez for the same reason.  LeClerc won it and Perez finished last.

Everyone praised Sainz for his excellent race and time will tell whether Ferrari made the correct decision with their line-up for next year.  Carlos himself was allowed to speak in Spanish, which was unusual but he chose not to, having just been handed a Spanish flag by his brother.

Mexico GP Qualifying Report

There were some incidents during the Free Practice sessions: Russell, Albon and Bearman all got into trouble.  Most talk though was still on the Norris/Verstappen overtake controversy.

It was hot and steamy in Mexico and the track was improving with every lap of Pirelli rubber laid down and tyres coming into the sweet spot with the heat.  Zhou was out in last place, Ocon ahead of him and then there were a couple of surprises with Perez (the home track hero) not being able to go quick enough, then Piastri having lap times deleted.   Out in 16th was, more predictably, Colapinto.  Bottas was through to the second session, for a very rare outing there.

The second session was very pedestrian until Tsunoda crashed with less than two minutes to go and brought out a Red Flag.  This gave several drivers a buy through to the next session as fast laps were nullified.  Surprisingly this didn't lead to any big scalps.  Out went Tsunoda, Lawson, Alonso, Stroll and Bottas; team mates travelling two by two.  An Aston Martin occasionally makes it through to the final session but with two drivers for top teams already out, Albon, Gasly and both Haas were through.  What could they make of the opportunity?

The start of the final session was a little delayed to get the barrier fixed.  The drivers went out for their first flying lap, with Verstappen putting in a very quick lap.  The stewards then established that it was quick because he went outside of track limits so the time was deleted.  Many drivers were trying to get a slip stream from their team mates or other drivers.  Sainz had put in the fastest lap in the first tranche.  Hamilton was out of step putting the laps in.

With four and a half minutes to go, all the drivers apart from the Mercedes came out.  This was a risky strategy for them.  The battle seemed to be between the two Ferrari drivers.  Sainz took the pole from his team mate, Verstappen then split them.  Norris went fastest in the middle sector but the other two sections of the track weren't quite quick enough and he was third.  Poor LeClerc finished fourth.  The Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton were behind them, then Magnussen, Gasley, Albon and Hullkenberg.

It could be a tricky Mexican race with four drivers all in with a good chance of winning it and, everyone apart from Verstappen, probably willing to take a risk to get it.

Mexican GP Race Report

Alonso sped in the pit lane on the way to the grid and we went into the race awaiting the outcome of the steward's investigation.  He got a €100,000 fine.

They were quick off the start, especially Perez and Verstappen.  As Verstappen pushed for the lead, Perez pulled up on the other side of LeClerc but he squeezed it too tight going around the corner with the Red Bull ultimately going up and over the Ferrari.  This put the Mexican immediately out of his home race and broke the Ferrari's front wing.

Ferrari should have told LeClerc to move over to let Sainz through to chase Verstappen immediately but no.  A selfish decision too.  The bit of wing fell off on the next lap, which was good for LeClerc but a Virtual Safety Car had to be called to get a marshal out to remove it from the track.

Ricciardo held Hamilton off for a few laps before a DRS pass.  Verstappen was the first of the leaders to pit, possibly using data from Tsunoda's stop in the sister team.

When LeClerc did pit, he came out 16 seconds behind Verstappen.  Then, halfway through the race, Magnussen had a big off in his Haas.  This brought out the Safety Car.  The suspension failed on the car and whilst he was quick to jump out, he then looked very shaky.  It took the medics quite a while to get to him.  Then the race was red flagged and stopped.

There was a standing start with Norris massively losing out and Ricciardo losing to Russell.  As they went on, Verstappen was able to pull out a lead and Hamilton honed in on LeClerc and took second place.

Alpha Tauri were having a great race until Piastri and Tsunoda started to tangle.  The first time, nothing came of it.  The next time, Tsunoda had a big off and went on a long path across the grass and into penultimate place.

Norris started pretty much in last place and ended up a triumphant 5th.  Both Aston Martins retired.  For some reason Hamilton took Fastest Lap at the end of the race, why he couldn't have done some of these to challenge Verstappen, I don't know.  Albon finished 9th and for some reason, Sargeant went into the pits on the last lap which meant he dropped a few places to finish last of the runners.

Not long until the end of this triple header in Brazil.

Mexican GP Qualifying Report

Coming in to the event from Disqualificationgate, the big questions were...Should more cars have been inspected for floor wear?  Would Verstappen move over to give Perez a home victory?  Was there any chance that Perez could actually get close enough for his team mate to make this even possible?  After the free practice sessions, there was one more question.  Having been second to Verstappen in FP1 and FP3, could Albon qualify his Williams in the top 3?

In Q1, all the drivers apart from Norris came out and put in an early lap.  Stroll, the Williams and the McLarens were loitering at the bottom.  Sargeant went very wide and asked for his floor to be checked.  There was a large queue to get out of the pit lane with two and half minutes to go.  Some drivers were being investigated for impeding others.  With 30 seconds to go, Alonso brought out a yellow flag, with a spin across a kerb, which would also hinder some drivers.  Albon was lucky as he probably would have gone out having struggled with tyres but with the traffic problems he was through.  Out went Norris in last place until Sargeant had his lap time deleted.  The race stewards had a lot to investigate.

Q2 had a bit more silliness at the pit lane exit but otherwise was much more straightforward.  This session saw team mates dividing.  Zhou went out in 11th with Bottas out, Gasly out in 12th following Ocon, Hulkenberg out in 13th following Magnussen, Alonso out in 14th following Stroll and Tsunoda didn't set a time in the end with Ricciardo through in 4th.

Seconds later, Albon had his time deleted and Zhou was through to Q3.  All those saved soft tyres were redundant.  In Q3 it was tight at the top after the first set of runs.  LeClerc led from Sainz, then pole favourite Verstappen.  Ricciardo was 4th and home hero Perez was 7th after the Mercedes.

In the end, Ferrari pulled an amazing one-two front row lock out from nowhere.  LeClerc will lead another race off the grid, as last week.  Verstappen took third, Ricciardo, fourth then Perez.  Using the Mercedes engine, Hamilton was 6th, then Piastri, then Russell with the two Alfa Romeos completing the top ten.

After all these investigations, only Albon was penalised.  From hero to zero.

Mexico GP Race Report

It was a party atmosphere in Mexico, although not for Hamilton, who was booed the whole weekend.  There was great hope that the new design regulations would enable more overtaking here.

It was a good start for everyone, no incidents, Verstappen maintaining his lead but not completely unchallenged.  Russell went for it but after a few corners his team mate passed him and left him to battle Perez.  Selflessly, he let the home hero past for a podium position.

Gasly forced Stroll off the track and was awarded a 5 second penalty.  The team had a new chance this race to see if they can serve a penalty correctly.

There was no way Perez was going to have a good race.  When that many people are cheering you on, there's only one thing that will happen in Formula 1.  It started with a poor first pit stop.  Then slight trouble with his DRS wing, but it came back and he was easily able to overtake the Ferrari of LeClerc.   Sainz also had a troubled pit stop.

Hamilton came out from his pit stop behind Verstappen, who had pitted before.  Russell decided to stay out.  Unfortunately he didn't stay out that long and came out of his pit in 4th.

One of the most interesting tussles of the race was between Tsunoda and Ricciardo.  The Australian was just out for a battle and ended up sending the Alpha Tauri over his front wheel putting him out of the race.  The McLaren served a 10 second penalty for the incident.

Alonso retired at the side of the track and brought out a Virtual Safety Car but his car was cleared very tricky and no one  was able to take a cheap pit stop.

The final lap crept up on me, with Verstappen claiming victory and winning the most races in a season ever.  Hamilton was second and the Mexican third.  Unlucky and frustrated Russell finished 4th.  Miraculously Ricciardo stormed along and finished 7th, keeping 10 seconds ahead of Ocon to keep his place when the 10 second penalty was deducted and being crowned Driver of the Day in the most unexpected twist of the season.  He was also ahead of his team mate, which have been the first time since his win at Monza last year.

In other surprising finishes, Albon was 12th in his Williams.

It wasn't the most exciting of races and more overtaking had been predicted.  It was a shame that when Gasly and Ricciardo did overtake and it went slightly awry, they were penalised, which would also discourage overtaking attempts in the future.  The Ferrari drivers were very downhearted about being one minute behind the Red Bulls

Mexico GP Qualifying Report

The focus for the weekend was firstly, a Mexican, Perez, racing in Mexico which seems to be a more exciting location to have a native driver than anywhere else on the planet and, secondly, Christian Horner being quite irate at being punished for breaking the rules.

We were told this would be a good circuit for Williams but both cars were out in Q1 in 19th and 20th.  I don't need to say what order the drivers were in.  Vettel, who was supposed be on a "winning" streak, was out.  Hamilton was in first place, ruining the fiesta, with Perez in 7th.  Ricciardo, however, was through to Q2, to end the season on a high!

Again, no real surprises in Q2.  Ricciardo headed the drivers leaving Qualifying.

Ferrari had an awful show, qualifying 5th and 7th.  The Alpines might as well have not run as they were 9th and 10th.  Verstappen predictably took pole ahead of the two Mercedes, Russell then Hamilton.  George was kicking himself as he felt he could have taken pole.  It looked like there could be several different potential winners, but only one probable winner, Verstappen.

Mexico GP Race Report

Yet another first lap full of action, bringing out the safety car.   Ricciardo made contact with pole-sitter Bottas, Tsunoda went out, as did Mick Schumacher.  Ricciardo and Bottas had to go to the pits.  Vestappen was the winner, going into this pause in the lead.  Bottas, losing out going from the front to the back, had a scary moment as he sat facing the oncoming traffic.  Ocon also had a hairy time with an Alpha Tauri and Haas simultaneously going over top of him.

During the first stint, there was lots of overtaking through the field.  Particularly past the Williams who did not have a good package this weekend.

Having not pitted, Perez led his home track race briefly.  The crowd was quite excited.  There was further bad luck for Bottas with a 12 second pitstop.  Mercedes will be hoping that Russell generally has a better time of things.

With a confident lead, Verstappen did what he always does and started to hunt for potential problems, radioing in to inquire about tires and vibrations and other little niggles.

At the tail end of the race, certain drivers were frantically chasing others.  Perez was hot on the heels of Hamilton, who was beginning to sound very nervous on the radio.  LeClerc was told to move over and give Sainz a go at getting past Gasly, who had a very quiet yet successful race in 4th.  At the bottom of the points was a trio of champions, Vettel, Raikkonen and Alonso.  In a move that some might consider petty, Mercedes pulled Bottas into the pits for fresh tires to attempt a fastest lap.  In P14, he wouldn't get to keep the point but Verstappen wouldn't either and in the end, he didn't even manage it.  So the team  brought him in again for new tires, kept him in longer to position him better relative to others.  Sainz also didn't manage to get past Gasly so gave the place back to LeClerc.   Everyone was still confident that Perez would still be able to get past Hamilton on the final lap.  He couldn't manage it.  Bottas did scrape Fastest Lap in the end.

As the flag was waved by an "internaional DJ", the Williams pair were plum last.  Verstappen parked his car on the tongue of some Mexican Heineken dragon.  Perez' dad was allowed out to the stadium section were the podium was held and went bananas running around with the Mexican flag.

Mexico GP Qualifying Report

There were only two talking points going into the weekend: would Perez be asked to move over to let Verstappen through at his home race and which engine will the altitude effect the most?  It seemed that the Honda would be slightly superior.  And would Perez be ahead of Verstappen at any point anyway?

Stroll, who was destined for tor the back of the grid anyway, brought out the red flag half way through the first Qualifying session.  Times have changed for the broadcasters, who didn't show a replay of the accident until Stroll was out of the car and clearly well.

For some reason Kimi Raikkonen nearly went into the pit lane and then came back out again when the flag came out was investigated.  As the drivers went out again, Sainz lost power to his engine.  This looked good for the Williams drivers getting a clean sheet through to Q2 but the engine came back to life.

The stewards were going to be busy after the session as they decided to investigated both Williams drivers on the pit lane entry as well.

So out went Latifi, double world champion Alonso, Schumacher and Mazepin with Stroll.

At the end of the second qualifying session, Giovinnazi spun himself out of contention, Ocon joined his team mate for an early bath, Raikkonen qualified well, Russell too and Vettel participated.

In the final session, the first set of runs saw Bottas put in a stellar lap to finish quickest followed by his team mate.  Norris took a dusty detour and gave the advantage to Ricciardo and Gasly was best of the rest behind the Red Bulls and Mercedes.  In the end, Tsunoda left the track, distracted Perez and brought out a Yellow Flag to compromise Verstappen's lap.  So, despite all the misgivings about the engine, the Mercedes locked out the front row.  With Bottas stamping his mark on the race by qualifying on pole, we all know he will have to give up that place (Hamilton was "very proud" of him).  Both Red Bulls on the second row.  Then Ricciardo outqualified Norris and seems to have finally found his mojo at McLaren.  Gasly's performance continues to dominate over Tsunoda.  Sainz also seems to have found his place at Ferrari and outqualified LeClerc.

Tsunoda, Stroll, Ocon and Norris are all headed to the back of the grid for taking an engine change penalty and Russell is moving 5 places back for a gear box change.  Really we could do away with qualifying and just ask the teams what they want to change on the cars.

Mexico GP - "Tough race but stuck in there"

Most F1 news and results these days comes outwith the actual racing.  Renault were disqualified from the Japan race and the results below reflect the changes.

The highlight of qualifying was a big crash for Bottas. Was this team orders from Mercedes, intending that Bottas stay 15 points away from Hamilton so he could clinch the driver's championship.  Verstappen then gave a cocky press conference confessing that he didn't slow down when he saw Bottas' shunt.  This cost him and he was given a penalty.

This must have left Verstappen angry as he immediately tangled with Hamilton in the race.   Which gave him a puncture.  There were lots of tyre problems during the race.  Mercedes failed to put a tyre onto Norris' car.  Giovanizzi then LeClerc also suffered botched pit stops.  Otherwise it was a fairly boring race.  Ricciardo's do or die move towards the end was good fun.  Kvyat put Hulkenberg in to the wall on the final lap.  He was given a penalty for this.

Other people's favourite part of the race was Hamilton and his car rising up on to the podium.  Mine was Vettel radioing in: "At the moment, everything is peachy." Peachy? 

Mexico GP - Results (including revised Japan GP)

1. Evel Marque - 974*
2. Je suis Charlie - 967*
3. PickedInAHurry - 922*
4. BottHaas - 888*
5. The Hope Fulls - 859*
6. Jack the Lad - 774*
7. The Pitstop Princess - 706*
8. Hippy F1 - 639*
9. Ferrari Rocher - 573
10. Francesco Bernoulli - 487*

*Home track played

Mexico GP - Results

1. Give it some Gasly - 1,063*
2.

Two World Champions, Two Future World Champions, and um, Two Other Guys

 - 1,025
3. Maximum Attack - 1,000*
4. Evel Marque - 999*
5. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 789*
6. Hasstag#FaceBull - 783*
7. The Hopefulls - 743*
8. No Vices Now - 737*
9. The Pitstop Princess - 633*
10. Halo, baby! - 626*
11. Spa Day with a Shooey - 601*
12. Hippy F1 - 554*
13. Jack Johnson - 548*
14. Wheels on Fire - 526

*Home track played

I have no idea who has paid and not - so if you haven't please get your dough in as soon as possible.

Mexico GP - "Not the race you wanted but who cares"

Another awful start to a race...penalties.  It made a day of the living dead at the back of the grid.  I did enjoy the theme though.

And so to the first lap, Vettel and Hamilton went at each other then Vettel and Verstappen.  So by lap 22, Hamilton was in 19th place with blue flags being waved at him: "it would be quicker for him to let me past and follow".  This is racing, Hamilton and we're all hoping you can't overtake and Vettel can.

Hulkenberg bought sparks to the race, nearly, being instructed that: "the car is not safe...get out by climbing out at the front of the car and jump off".  Hartley and Ericsson later brought real fire to the game.  Interesting retirements this race.

The pressure was getting to Hamilton and he demanded of his team: "when I ask a question, please give me a reply".  He did give us the best battle of the race when he encountered Alonso.  Finishing 9th, he won the world championship and I sincerely hope there'll be Neymar celebs on the radio this season.  Hamilton revealed that at this race, the Mexican fans are the best in the world.  We were also treated to a rare appearance by the Dutch national anthem and as a one off special, there was a special revolving podium introducing a DJ.  Whatever next?

Mexico GP - Results

1. No Vices Now - 1,105*
2. Moneyball - 1,085*
3. Two World Champions, two future World Champions and, um, two other guys - 1,074*
4. Hoping for an Indian Summer - 986*
5. The Pitstop Princess - 985*
6. Evel Marque - 984*
7= Bernie is a hobbit - 955*
7= Jenson's Whinging Legacy - 955*
9. Even More Hopeful - 938*
10. Burn After Racing - 826*
11. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 819*
12. BOT-RAI-PER - 661*
13. Slightly Slower Racing - 635
14. Hippy F1 - 600

* Home track played

Mexico GP - "Really solid weekend"

Vettel dominated the weekend one way or another.  Starting with "Am I safe?  I need to pee." during qualifying.  Then a puncture in Lap 1.  It was quite an interesting first lap - I've written "boom boom boom" about the Virtual Safety Car period.  I can't remember why.
During the race we heard a lot from Vettel and Alonso over the radio, mainly whinging.  Until Vettel's now infamous sweary rant.  He wasn't punished for this, having apologised but I remember watching the sport from a very young age and I want Angus to be able to watch it without the bleeping.  Off with his head!
There were a couple of flashbacks to past seasons.  We saw an awful lot of Fisichella.  Some very synchronised team order passes from Red Bull and Williams too.
The TV viewing in Mexico must shoot up for this race.  The camera barely seemed to leave Perez (other than to show us Fisichella).
Coulthard decribed the race as "slow burn". Admittedly I don't have many notes [there was a 20% off on ASOS yesterday.  Ed.]  I enjoyed Hulkenberg giving Williams a spin to help them out in Lap 68.  Then there was all the Vettel/Verstappen carry on.  Vettel was raised and subsequently lowered in the results table.  His wagging finger ultimately not helping him.  Verstappen had to leave the podium room but it was still not the most awkward atmosphere of the season.
Finally, Vettel was crowned Driver of the Day.  Which rules out all thoughts I had to including that in a new scoring system for next season.

Mexico GP - Results

1. The Pitstop Princess - 1,108*
2. Weak end of Bernie - 1.075*
3. Merc-redible Hulk - 990*
4. Halo, it's me - 974*
5. Hippy F1 - 932*
6. Claire has to type this sentence each time as my team name - 926*
7. The Hopefuls - 792*
8. No Vices Now - 757*
9. The Maranello Marvels - 701*
10. Marian's Marvels - 659*
11. British Racing Green - 570*
12. Indiana Walker and the Tyres of Doom - 493
13. Put out to Pastor - 362*

* Home track played.  Keep biting your nails, Indiana Walker and the Tyres of Doom is still to play their home track in Brazil...this could be a game-changer!

Mexico GP - "Excellent job"

Tequila

Stadium section  - the atmosphere came through the TV screen
Instructional radio - to Ericcson: "Try and use the new tyre grip in all areas".  To Hamilton: "...Instruction."
226.8mph - Massa on the straight, I can't comprehend driving that first (stop sniggering Baby Pitstop's Change Crew)
Revenge - best served like gazpacho, Bottas gets back at Raikkonen
Slo mo shots - in particular of Rosberg's pit stop.  So much detail to see.
More radio - to Hamilton: "Do you need a flap adjust?"

Worms

Missing qualification - a new low for Button, although he did score 15 points for making the most places up on the grid
Sergiomania - "And Checo takes a sip of water...."
From bad to bratwurst - for Vettel
Sombreros on the podium - a hat too far
Viva Mexico - Mansell runs out of things to say

Mexico GP - Results

1. Teutonic Titans, Titanic Twits - 1,362
2. Sharks have no bones :) - 1,347
3. Double Mercedes is boring! - 1,083
4. The F1 Flumps - 1,028
5. Muppet Racing - 1,020
6. Go Fast and Prosper - 990
7. Lots of Trouble Usually Serious - 986
8. The Hopefuls - 802
9. The Pitstop Princess - 800
10. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 735
11. I Monza Brink of Insanity - 709
12. No Vices Now - 678
13. The Very Good Value - 664
14. Baby Pitstop's Change Crew - 635
15. Juan Angus Fangio C.I. - 551
16. 10CC - 485