Verstappen, in ‘hostile land’ and with bodyguards, for his 51st victory

The biggest dream of ‘Checo’ Pérez will become F1 world champion. But having Max Verstappen as a partner, it became increasingly clear that this was not possible. And after that desire, the one from Guadalajara has another wish to come true: win the F1 Mexican GP. On any team they will help him achieve that goal, to win against his people. Not with Red Bull. His teammate Max Verstappen made it clear last year that he would not give him a place in Brazil, denying him his help in the fight for the runner-up position when nothing was at stake. And it was not expected that this weekend he would provide help. And more than external help, ‘Checo’ needs a miracle, a weekend of divine inspiration to fight for victory.

The favorite remains the current two-time world champion, Max Verstappen, who according to the advisor of Red Bull, Helmut Markowill have bodyguards this weekend to avoid any possible trouble. “Max really doesn’t want that and he just relaxes. But we have responsibility on him. That’s why we want to play it safe.”commented the Austrian on the ‘F1-Insider’ portal.

No warm welcome is expected for the Dutchman in a country where he has been in talks for months red bull of Max is enough to help the pilot Guadalajara.

In fact, some groups of Pérez’s followers on the networks even planned to block several streets to prevent Verstappen from reaching the Autodromo at some point during the weekend, as revealed by the Mexican newspaper ‘La Crónica de Hoy’. And Pérez, tAfter his fans booed Max at the United States GP, he asked the fans to behave “with courtesy and respect.”

Going for 51 wins

The Dutchman added last week to Austin his 50th F1 win and with 4 races remaining (including one in Mexico), he could become the third driver with the most wins in history with 54. So far, if he wins at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Max is equal to 51 of Alain Prost.

Attention to Hamilton

Behind him, after the big step forward Mercedes made with its Austin updates, it was expected hamilton rear its head stronger than before. The Englishman and his master, Toto Wolff, They believe they can fight for the win in Austin. Beyond Hamilton’s subsequent disqualification, Mercedes’ pace was a big warning and Mexico seemed like a litmus test. What if Hamilton can fight Max for the victory? It is difficult, but not disposable.

Sainz, feeling bad

Sainz was absent from the Autodromo due to indisposition. Ferrari may be quick within a lap but it is unknown if it can fight for the podium with McLaren, who should be just behind Mercedes. Aston Martin and Alonso are the other doubts.

The performance of the car with the improvements was good on Sunday in Austin, but the Asturian recalled that the rest of the teams did not skip the parc ferme and did not have the appropriate settings, something that Aston Martin did.

“We decided to change the configuration to optimize the package and start from the pit lane, and we got good information. Our speed on Sunday was a combination of us having it (the package) optimized and our rivals had a configuration. free session (because they didn’t miss the parc ferme). But we took that opportunity to have a better Sunday,” commented Alonso. He keeps waiting.