Mercedes sings and doesn’t cry: Doubles in Free Practice 3 in Mexico

Mercedes wants to fight for the pole and victory in Mexico. And he made it more than clear Free 3. In Ferrari and Red Bull They are waiting for them in the match, and right now, before qualifying, the heroes did not waste the opportunity to show their strength and confirm the expectations of their rivals. They should be in battle for everything in ‘quality‘ of now at Mexican GP (10:00 pm /DAZN F1/Mundodeportivo.com). In Free 3, George Russell led the Mercedes double, beating Hamilton by 0″144, but above all, he drew attention to the way both lost a Verstappen with many problems (3rd at 0″477), as well as Pérez (5th) and the two ferrari (Leclerc was 4th and Sainz 6th, both with a lot of understeer on the most rattling part of the track).

those of Brackleyto stay away from the course, which reduces their problems, sing and don’t cry on a track like Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which is easy to use because of its height. This route is located at an altitude of 2,238 meters, and it allows them to take the decisive step that they have been missing. Throughout the year, they have improved their tire warm-up problems in a ‘worthy’ lap and have become increasingly competitive in their strong point: the wear of the tires and the speed of their race. But there was one thing that prevented them from winning: their top speed due to their greater resistance to development.

This point is the most likely key that Mercedes could dream of in Mexico. At such an altitude, air density is lower and hence drag is also reduced. The proof of this is that Russell and Hamilton set the fastest speed in sector 3, of 253 km/h, in this Free 3. Opportunity? In F1 there is no such thing. Instead, cause. However, it will be the qualifying session that will clear our doubts. There, with the increased power of all their engines, it will be necessary to see if the silver arrows have a sharp point again as in their best days, at least once.

A very tight battle

The qualifying session will be exciting and looks tight. Red Bull and Ferrari They don’t seem to face it with their best weapons, without pressing the settings key, or so it seems in Free Practice 3. And more, on a short track, there can be a lot of traffic . As if that was not enough, we must add to this the many problems that everyone experiences on an asphalt with little grip, very slippery, and especially on curves that are difficult to reach with such hard cars. Filling the piano is synonymous with jumping, bouncing, losing grip and spinning. It could be a ‘qualy’ with many mistakes like those seen throughout FP3.

The pole, a two-edged sword in Mexico

But beware: whoever achieves the pole position should know that it is not synonymous with total joy. At the start there will be a lot of distance between the grid and turn 1 and the pole starter often loses position due to the massive slipstream that can have cars starting behind him. Hamilton knew this from last year. We will see who will dare to achieve a pole with a double-edged sword at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Alonzo, 13th

After a good start in FP1 on Friday, Fernando Alonso left a worse feeling in this Free 3 compared to the previous day. The track changed a lot from one day to the next due to the rain that fell after Free Practice 2, and that could affect the set-up of the cars. Many teams were seen changing the height and setting on their cars. Among them, the Alpine mechanics with the Asturian car.

The man from Oviedo chose to focus on learning the performance of medium rubber and was one of the last to wear soft rubber. He was in the garage for a long time due to set-up changes and returned to the track with 4 minutes to spare, having managed to make several attempts with the soft rubber that were not good: He was 13th, 1″638 off the best time and more than a tenth from Q3.

The battle to be among the 10 best in Mexico’s ‘qualy’ seems very even.