Mexico CityMexico City
2022 season
Sebastian and Lance both gained places from their grid positions at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but were unable to take points home from the Mexico City Grand Prix after a challenging event for the team.
Luckily, we did not lose too much ground in the fight for sixth in the Constructors'.
Sebastian Vettel
"Overall, we were just a little bit too slow today. At the start of the race, I could hold on to the cars in front of me, but then I was a bit unlucky to get tangled up with Yuki [Tsunoda].
"His car was damaged, and he came back onto the track right in front of me – I lost too much time and was an easy target for the others.
"The car did not feel too great and the afternoon was a bit of a struggle – but, luckily, we did not lose too much ground in the fight for sixth in the Constructors' Championship."
On the move with Pierre, he braked late and passed me but did not give me any room.
Lance Stroll
"The start was great; it was definitely the highlight of the race.
"On the move with Pierre [Gasly], he braked late, passed me but did not give me any room. However, it would not have really changed our day if that had not happened.
"There were fun moments out there passing other cars, but we struggled a lot with our pace and the tyres.
"We will try to understand this dip in performance and see how we can make progress to maximise the final two races of the season."
This was an afternoon of damage limitation – we will pick up the fight again in Brazil.
Mike Krack
"This is a race where you need to skilfully manage the brakes and tyres. And, despite the best efforts of our drivers and engineers to do just that, we were never really in a position to capitalise.
"Lance drove another typically charging opening lap to jump five places, and Sebastian was precise and clinical all afternoon – but he just did not have the pace to fend off a gaggle of faster cars.
"In the battle for sixth in the Constructors' Championship, this was an afternoon of damage limitation – we will pick up the fight again in Brazil next month."
Your guide to Mexico City
Insight and Speed
Unlocking the Lap
Turn One may appear no different to many similar corners on the calendar, but it is a challenge. The approach-speed is one of the highest on the calendar, which makes finding a braking point tricky, and the lack of downforce due to the altitude only adds to that. Additionally, the exit needs to be compromised heavily for the chicane that immediately follows.
The Esses – Turns Seven through to 11 – is where the cars will usually rely the most on the downforce. With aero grip drastically reduced – despite teams running very high levels of wing – it makes this sequence of fast bends all the trickier. Turn 10 in particular is tough and it is easy to lose stability through this corner.
Concluding the lap are Turns 16 and 17. The sharper of the two right-handers – named after Nigel Mansell – is crucial to the lap, while also setting up the next one for the very long pitstraight that follows. The last corner, while still called Peraltada, is a shadow of its former self but requires a tricky balancing act on the throttle to maximise acceleration on to the main straight.
Data Download
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