The first two sessions of Free practice of the Mexican GP of F1 2019. This week is leaving some interesting news, such as Max Verstappen's future decision that he will make in the summer of next year, the future beyond 2021 that is being considered at Renault and that they have to think about if they want to continue, and the changes in the governance that has been introduced by the FIA and Liberty, these being perhaps the most important. Until now, to make decisions, the unanimity of the teams was needed, now and year.
Since 2021 the F1 Strategy and Commission Group disappears, and teams lose weight in future decision making of F1. Now there will be two types of majorities to make decisions. Something that they should have done a long time ago and perhaps today they would not be like that, since they have always been doing what the big teams like Ferrari, Red Bull or Mercedes wanted now, against the small teams, generating greater differences between them and, therefore, against the spectacle.
REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
As for free practice sessions 1 and 2, to say that Hamilton has been the fastest in the first session, although Leclerc has been only one tenth. In it the Mercedes have rolled with the soft tire, while the Ferrari have not mounted it and have been testing with the medium. On the other hand, Sainz was seventh, as the leader of the middle zone. And Lance Stroll has been the protagonist, but not because of his good performance, as usual, but because of the red flag that he has starred in and that has lasted 10 min. The Racing Point driver lost the car at turn 16 and hit the wall very hard from the side.
In the free seconds, Ferrari has taken the mandate, with Sebastian Vettel at the helm followed by Max Verstappen with his Red Bull. The Mercedes have not shown their full potential in this session, as they have been a little further behind than they should have been. So don't pay too much attention to their times. As for the Spanish driver and the British driver from McLaren, they have not been so good in this second session, so I hope that this is not representative of what will happen tomorrow in qualifying, since this circuit demands engine power… I hope that Toro Rosso , Racing Point, Sauber and Renault don't make it too difficult for them at this circuit.
In this free session the protagonist has been Albon, negatively speaking, that has gone in T7 and has hit the wall...
By the way, it is very important to remember that Renault declassified due to Racing Point complaint in the past GP. So the points have been subtracted and McLaren is already savoring 4th place in the world championship.
Free practice results 1
| #8211; | #8211; | - | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Piloto | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1'17 "327 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1'17 "446 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1'17 "461 |
| 4 | Alexander albon | Red Bull | 1'17 "949 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1'18 "005 |
| 6 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1'18 "218 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | 1'18 "401 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1'18 "593 |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1'18 "835 |
| 10 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Clean | 1'18 "959 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1'19 "011 |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1'19 "013 |
| 13 | Kimi Räikkönen | Clean | 1'19 "205 |
| 14 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1'19 "299 |
| 15 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1'19 "499 |
| 16 | Lance stroll | Racing Point | 1'19 "679 |
| 17 | Sergio Pérez | Racing Point | 1'19 "717 |
| 18 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1'19 "850 |
| 19 | George Russell | Williams | 1'20 "548 |
| 20 | Nicholas latifi | Williams | 1'21 "566 |
Free practice results 2
| #8211; | #8211; | - | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Piloto | Team | Time |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1'16 "607 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1'16 "722 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1'17 "072 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1'17 "221 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1'17 "570 |
| 6 | Daniil Kvyat | Bull Roses | 1'17 "747 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1'18 "003 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | 1'18 "079 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1'18 "261 |
| 10 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1'18 "343 |
| 11 | Lance stroll | Racing Point | 1'18 "362 |
| 12 | Sergio Pérez | Racing Point | 1'18 "366 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1'18 "380 |
| 14 | Kimi Räikkönen | Clean | 1'18 "681 |
| 15 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1'18 "766 |
| 16 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Clean | 1'18 "889 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1'19 "306 |
| 18 | George Russell | Williams | 1'19 "968 |
| 19 | Robert Kubica | Williams | 1'20 "180 |
| 20 | Alexander albon | Red Bull | 1'21 "665 |
Tomorrow more with the practice session 3 and the classification. You already know that if there is something new to tell, we will tell you in AM, although with the grid already defined for 2020 and at this point there is little more to tell. By the way, what I did comment on in previous articles and which has already received the go-ahead is the change of name of the Toro Rosso team for next season, which will be called Alpha Tauri...