Race 2018 F1 Mexican Grand Prix Full Race Replay
Race 2018 F1 Mexican Grand Prix Full Race Replay
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Race Info
Date 28 October 2018
Official name Formula 1 Gran Premio de México 2018
Location Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City, Mexico
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.304 km (2.674 miles)
Distance 71 laps, 305.354 km (189.738 miles)
Formula One Mexican Grand Prix 2018 What to Watch
As the Mexican Grand Prix takes place this weekend, Lewis Hamilton will have another opportunity to win the 2018 drivers' championship.
Last time out, the Finn ended a run of 113 races without a victory after Kimi Raikkonen stopped the Mercedes driver's attempts to capture his sixth championship.
Sebastian Vettel's ambitions of winning the title are dashed if Hamilton finishes in the top seven this weekend.
Similar to this year, Vettel knew he needed to win and hope Hamilton finished lower in the order to keep the title chase going, so he drove to Mexico with his Ferrari in pole position. Vettel hurt his front wing trying to get past the Dutchman at turn three, which dropped him down the order, while Max Verstappen surged to the front of the field off the line to capture the lead.
Hamilton also came in for an early pit stop for new tires after Vettel got in touch with him. Hamilton won his fourth world title after each of them battled their way back through the field to finish fourth and ninth, respectively.
Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen joined Verstappen on the podium, although he remained mostly uncontested at the front.
At the circuit, several of the Renault-powered vehicles had trouble. Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg, and Brendon Hartley all had to retire because of power unit issues; the latter's failure resulted in a Virtual Safety Car.
Both McLaren and Toro Rosso drivers took grid penalties to guarantee their cars had new engines for the race since the circuit's elevation, which is the highest on the calendar, might cause issues for engines.
Very little, in fact. Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez's circuit layout is the same as it was in 2017, and although other races have included extended DRS zones, this year's setup has not changed.
The tire compounds are the only significant variation, which we'll examine in more detail in the section on tires and pit stops. Pirelli decided to introduce the soft, supersoft, and ultrasoft tires to Mexico last year. This year, the hypersoft has taken the role of the soft.
Given that the soft tire, which isn't available for this year's race, was one of the recommended tires last year, this could be an intriguing race strategy. It's probable that more drivers will two-stop in Mexico since the majority of the front-runners are primarily using hypersofts over the two harsher compounds. It takes longer to stop at the Autodromo than at most other tracks because to the lengthy pitlane, which may deter some teams from making a second pit stop.
Both Mercedes and Ferrari have chosen their two drivers in a similar manner. While Bottas will have an additional set of ultras in comparison to the other three, all four vehicles will be able to use eight sets of hypers.
The only driver with more than two sets of supersoft tires, which were popular during the race the previous year, is Fernando Alonso.
In the United States Grand Prix last week, tire management was essential. If there is an early safety car or virtual safety car, it may be even more important at this race. You can anticipate a variety of tactics being employed.
It appears that the weather may have an impact for the second consecutive racing weekend. Although drivers experienced some dry running during practice in Texas, qualifying and the actual race in Mexico may be impacted.
Tomorrow is predicted to bring showers, but only after FP1 and FP2 have occurred. On the other hand, a thunderstorm is predicted for Saturday around the time of qualifying, while the circuit is set to have sporadic showers on Sunday.
The prognosis is subject to change as there are still a few days left, but it appears like the wet tires will be required at some time this weekend.
There have been three different winners and six different drivers on the podium since the Mexican Grand Prix was added back to the schedule in 2015. In the past three years, only Hamilton, Bottas, and the now-retired Nico Rosberg have finished in the top three here. Could this be Vettel's year? Ferrari has only finished on the podium once at this track, and that was Raikkonen's third place finish last year.
Mercedes does well here, even though no driver has recently dominated at this circuit. Both vehicles finished on the podium in 2015 and 2016, and if Hamilton hadn't had his initial encounter with Vettel, he would have undoubtedly joined Bottas last year.
We can anticipate the title being won this weekend, regardless of the winner and the person who finishes on the podium. Assuming he wins the final three races of the year, Hamilton leads Vettel by 70 points going into this race, leaving the German with a maximum of 75 points remaining. Even if Vettel wins, Hamilton just needs to finish in the top seven. Hamilton is almost expected to finish high enough up the order, barring a crash or a rare Mercedes mechanical issue. Because of this, it's not surprising if he takes it slow in the beginning of the race to prevent getting hurt in the first few turns.
Hamilton will probably be content to just keep the car intact this weekend.
In order to avoid being saddled with the dubious honor of being the driver with the most second-place finishes in a season without taking the top spot on the podium, Bottas will be desperate for a victory before the season ends. Francois Cevert's 1973 six-second record is surpassed by his current seven seconds, although a victory this weekend could spare him from that record.
Romain Grosjean appears to have a challenging weekend ahead of him. Due to his accident with Charles Leclerc at COTA, the Frenchman has a three-place grid penalty, and he usually doesn't qualify well at this circuit otherwise.