Verstappen soars Sky high - 2022 Mexico GP Review

Max Verstappen soared Sky high in the 2022 Mexico Grand Prix. So much so that he & Red Bull Racing decided to 'boycott' one of the most-famous official broadcasters of the sport.

Join our race watchalong sessions with the award-winning journalist & team manager (Williams & Ferrari), Peter Windsor. 

On the live stream, you can discuss with Peter & our hosts various race-related topics - performances, insights & more. Join us to enhance your real-time race viewing experience!

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In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, Soumil and Kunal discuss tyre strategies - because that's what kept us all on the edge of our seats (well, mostly) through the 71-lap race. After all, strategy is what cost Mercedes a race win & gave Daniel Ricciardo the opportunity to showcase some of his missing performances.

But what about Ferrari? They didn't have the pace to showcase any strategy masterclass (or mistakes!). And finally, what can be said about Fernando Alonso's ill-luck. Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 66)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora, Sundaram Ramaswami and Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Red Bull Content Pool

# Inside Line F1 Podcast: Mexican GP Review

**Max Verstappen's Dominance Continues**

* Max Verstappen secured his 14th win of the season, breaking the record for most wins in a single Formula One season.
* Verstappen's victory also gave Red Bull Racing the Constructors' Championship.
* Ferrari had a disappointing weekend, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finishing 5th and 6th respectively.

**Mercedes' Strategy Mishap**

* Mercedes misjudged the tire strategy, costing them a potential race win.
* Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both started on medium tires and switched to hard tires, but the hard tires did not perform as expected.
* Daniel Ricciardo, on the other hand, made the most of the soft tires, moving from 12th to 7th position.

**Fernando Alonso's Unfortunate Retirement**

* Fernando Alonso retired from the race due to an engine issue, costing him valuable points in the Drivers' Championship.
* Alonso has now lost over 50 points due to DNFs and technical issues this season.

**Key Takeaways**

* Red Bull Racing is in a dominant position, with Verstappen leading the Drivers' Championship and the team securing the Constructors' Championship.
* Mercedes needs to improve its strategy and tire management if it wants to challenge Red Bull.
* Ferrari is struggling to keep up with Red Bull and Mercedes, and needs to find a solution to its performance issues.
* Alonso's retirement is a major setback in his bid to finish in the top three of the Drivers' Championship.

**Moment of the Race**

* Kunal Shah's moment of the race was the Mexican-themed Formula One theme song played at the start of the race.
* Shah also appreciated Checo Perez's gesture of asking the crowd to stop booing Lewis Hamilton.

**Join the Inside Line F1 Podcast for the Brazilian GP Watch Along**

* The Inside Line F1 Podcast will be hosting a watch along for the Brazilian Grand Prix with Peter Windsor.
* Listeners can join the watch along by clicking on the link in the description.

[00:00.000 -> 00:24.240] Now I'll admit, this race might not have left us as excited as Papa Perez in the end,
[00:24.240 -> 00:31.680] but the Mexican GP had tons of really interesting points to dissect and that is the mission and the purpose of this episode of
[00:31.680 -> 00:33.680] the Inside Line F1 podcast.
[00:33.940 -> 00:39.400] Welcome to the Mexican GP review. Welcome to the Inside Line F1 podcast. My name is Somal Arora
[00:39.400 -> 00:43.920] I'm the host of the Driving Force on Disney Plus Hotstar and over the course of this episode
[00:43.920 -> 00:45.520] I'll be joined by Kunal Shah,
[00:45.760 -> 00:48.040] the former marketing here at the force India F1 team,
[00:48.320 -> 00:52.120] who also works as an FIA accredited formula one journalist at the
[00:52.120 -> 00:53.960] VPN, we have played network in Norway.
[00:53.960 -> 00:58.160] And so this episode has a lot to talk about all the racing action.
[00:58.160 -> 01:01.840] And first off, I just want to start with Max Verstappen because he now
[01:01.840 -> 01:05.280] literally has beaten Schumacher and Vettel all year round
[01:05.280 -> 01:09.400] of course but now he's beaten the real legendary Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel as well by
[01:09.400 -> 01:12.800] taking his 14th win of the year.
[01:12.800 -> 01:18.460] Now my question to you Kunal is that do you think Formula 1 is much like a Disney princess
[01:18.460 -> 01:23.080] race a movie sort of because we see five or six different things happening every single
[01:23.080 -> 01:25.280] race but the outcome always remains the same.
[01:25.280 -> 01:28.880] Max Verstappen wins and we live happily ever after. It's just no difference.
[01:29.280 -> 01:31.120] Thank you for that introduction, Somil.
[01:31.120 -> 01:38.080] I don't know how many people live happily ever after each time Max wins a race or wins a championship,
[01:38.600 -> 01:43.920] given all the controversy that has followed him ever since
[01:46.000 -> 01:53.200] all the controversy that has followed him ever since 2021 Abu Dhabi. And if you guys are wondering why we've not had Max on our show just yet in an interview format,
[01:53.200 -> 01:59.000] that is because we just spoke of the 2021 controversy, which, hey, it seems like,
[01:59.000 -> 02:06.720] you know, with the whole Sky and Red Bull and the Max boycott that we saw. Firstly it's one race boycott
[02:06.720 -> 02:10.080] that's what at least Christian Horner is saying lots of people are believing it's
[02:10.080 -> 02:15.000] a lots of it's an indefinite boycott. To my mind just talking about the
[02:15.000 -> 02:19.680] controversy you can you know if if I was to just be neutral and I'm sure our
[02:19.680 -> 02:26.360] regular listeners know I'm neutral the FIA are saying it was a human error, right?
[02:26.360 -> 02:28.400] And the minute you say human error,
[02:28.400 -> 02:29.800] whether you like it or not,
[02:29.800 -> 02:31.880] you are putting a question mark on the championship.
[02:31.880 -> 02:33.460] Am I saying go back and change it?
[02:33.460 -> 02:36.000] Am I saying Max didn't deserve it or Lewis deserved more?
[02:36.000 -> 02:37.200] No, I'm not saying any of that.
[02:37.200 -> 02:40.680] I'm just literally repeating what the wording was.
[02:40.680 -> 02:42.920] And this is where a lot of our Dutch listeners
[02:42.920 -> 02:48.040] will fall in love with me again, right? because I'm just trying to say it's a very
[02:48.040 -> 02:51.680] tough situation to be in and it's just unfortunate you know we saw Japan his
[02:51.680 -> 02:59.120] win happened and then he didn't know he had won. In Singapore of course, no in
[02:59.120 -> 03:06.560] in Miami, sorry in Austin Red Bull got the Constructors Championship and then the whole
[03:06.560 -> 03:08.880] cost cap breach was official.
[03:08.880 -> 03:13.240] And now after the cost cap breach penalty happened, he scored 14 wins.
[03:13.240 -> 03:18.400] So controversy just follows which happened everywhere he goes, just the way success does.
[03:18.400 -> 03:23.160] And this reminds me of the famous quote from the Matrix, there's always a balance in the
[03:23.160 -> 03:24.160] equation.
[03:24.160 -> 03:28.200] Yeah, but it seems like controversy is the only thing that can follow him because Lewis
[03:28.200 -> 03:33.240] Hamilton and Mercedes and of course Ferrari as well, don't worry, we will talk about them,
[03:33.240 -> 03:36.960] they just couldn't keep up, really, this whole weekend, there were so many random things
[03:36.960 -> 03:41.120] that happened eventually and Mercedes tried and tried very hard and it just did not work
[03:41.120 -> 03:44.840] out and that is also one thing that we're going to discuss in depth over the course
[03:44.840 -> 03:48.160] of this particular episode. But seriously, Kunal, how would you
[03:48.160 -> 03:52.400] rate this race? Because in my mind, if you just change the name from the Mexican GP to the
[03:52.400 -> 03:57.840] Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and change the name from Ferrari to Mercedes, nobody would even bat an eye.
[03:57.840 -> 04:02.560] It's literally the same thing. Verstappen dominates and there's a couple of Mercedes,
[04:02.560 -> 04:05.040] or in the past case Ferrari cars closing behind,
[04:05.680 -> 04:11.200] the Ferraris and now, no, the Mercedes and now it is Ferrari, they're straying off in the
[04:11.200 -> 04:15.840] background, not even taking part in the race. No normal days, I think it's just the same,
[04:15.840 -> 04:19.200] there's just the characters that have been slightly interchanged and that too, not the
[04:19.200 -> 04:32.080] leading ones, only the supporting ones because the lead actor just keeps on winning and winning and winning. Will it ever stop? That's a good analogy Somal and 14 wins for Max Verstappen, the new record
[04:32.080 -> 04:37.680] in itself in Formula One. He's beaten the record of Schumacher and Vettel as you said. Interestingly,
[04:37.680 -> 04:48.800] one of our friends and a very dear listener of the Inside Line F1 podcast, Akshay, points out that when Sebastian and Michael
[04:49.760 -> 04:53.600] won their 13 races, that was the last year
[04:53.600 -> 04:57.240] of them winning a Drivers' Championship in Formula One.
[04:57.240 -> 04:59.920] So let's hope that's not the case in terms of Max.
[04:59.920 -> 05:02.760] We need Max to be in the fight,
[05:02.760 -> 05:05.200] irrespective of who wins, like I keep saying.
[05:05.200 -> 05:10.400] So that's something I hope that trend doesn't come true in the case of Max Verstappen.
[05:10.400 -> 05:13.960] But rating the race, I don't know.
[05:13.960 -> 05:18.360] It was one of those races, maybe five on 10, six on 10, if that's the word.
[05:18.360 -> 05:23.960] And my reason is this was actually a very typical 2022 Formula One Grand Prix, where
[05:23.960 -> 05:26.480] we were sort of waiting for something to happen.
[05:26.480 -> 05:33.120] And waiting for something to happen in this case, the wait was for Red Bull's medium tires to drop
[05:33.120 -> 05:38.320] off. Word is out on the street that both the Mercedes drivers actually woke up on Monday
[05:38.320 -> 05:43.280] morning with their race engineers texting them saying, the tires are still going to drop off,
[05:43.280 -> 05:46.300] just hang in there. And that's what sort of happened.
[05:46.300 -> 05:48.800] So in a typical 2022 Grand Prix
[05:48.800 -> 05:52.000] where we've not seen a safety car
[05:52.000 -> 05:54.920] bunch the field up midway through a race,
[05:54.920 -> 05:59.920] and we've not seen Red Bull actually genuinely be challenged,
[06:00.660 -> 06:02.200] this is how that race has turned out.
[06:02.200 -> 06:03.960] So it was a bit of a boring race,
[06:03.960 -> 06:06.240] if one would put it that way.
[06:06.240 -> 06:11.400] But just waiting in anticipation for Mercedes' simulation
[06:11.400 -> 06:17.200] to come to life is what we all spent a lot of time on, I would say.
[06:17.200 -> 06:19.080] So that's my rating.
[06:19.080 -> 06:23.120] In the end, it was an easy win for Max Verstappen.
[06:23.120 -> 06:26.400] And one of the key factors was, you know,
[06:26.400 -> 06:29.600] nobody knew what would be the fastest way to run this race.
[06:29.600 -> 06:32.440] Would it be a one stopper or would it be a two stopper?
[06:32.440 -> 06:34.080] Because degradation was different.
[06:34.080 -> 06:35.960] New tires this year, let's remember.
[06:35.960 -> 06:39.920] And also the track got cooler as the race progressed.
[06:39.920 -> 06:42.120] So the soft was performing better.
[06:42.120 -> 06:43.800] The medium was also performing better,
[06:43.800 -> 06:50.560] but the hard just did not perform. And that sort of changed the course of the race and took the race to Red
[06:50.560 -> 06:53.200] Bull and Max Verstappen's favour.
[06:53.200 -> 06:57.040] And it's these sort of things live that make the race so much fun.
[06:57.040 -> 07:01.480] Yes, in the grand scheme of things, we could have seen more in the Mexican GP, but I can't
[07:01.480 -> 07:05.040] wait for the Brazilian GP as well, when we actually have Peter Winsor
[07:05.040 -> 07:10.040] on the Inside Line F1 Podcast, live with us, joining us for our Brazilian GP race watch
[07:10.040 -> 07:11.040] along.
[07:11.040 -> 07:16.000] And we're going to be discussing likes of strategy, likes of driver styles, past stories
[07:16.000 -> 07:20.140] and the current Formula 1 season as well, as the race happens with us live.
[07:20.140 -> 07:24.960] So don't forget to register for that event by clicking the link in the description below.
[07:24.960 -> 07:27.800] It's the ultimate second screen experience as Kunal describes it.
[07:28.120 -> 07:31.520] And we can't wait to have you over there sending in your questions live and
[07:31.520 -> 07:33.880] interacting with Peter as the race goes on.
[07:34.240 -> 07:39.160] And the question of strategy also brings us onto Mercedes, because I think this
[07:39.160 -> 07:44.280] weekend, the only really good thing that Mercedes did was they did well to clear
[07:44.280 -> 07:45.000] it off the debris.
[07:45.000 -> 07:49.480] I mean, I meant debris, not de-vries out of the car in FP1, but after that, it just all
[07:49.480 -> 07:52.680] went downhill into a pile of debris, you could put it this way.
[07:52.680 -> 07:57.480] And the question I've really got in mind, Kunal, and I'm genuinely curious about this,
[07:57.480 -> 08:02.680] would we have slandered Mercedes if they were branded as Ferrari for doing the same mistake
[08:02.680 -> 08:03.680] as they did?
[08:03.680 -> 08:05.040] Because as you mentioned, they were really, in hindsight doing the same mistake as they did because as you mentioned they were really
[08:06.120 -> 08:11.720] in hindsight of course wrong on the way they simulated the race performance to end up go about but
[08:12.000 -> 08:14.580] Essentially at this stage, this is a typical Ferrari race
[08:14.580 -> 08:20.360] It's a typical Ferrari mistake where they end up choosing a completely wrong tire on the whole and nobody bats an eye
[08:20.360 -> 08:23.320] I mean, of course there has been a bit of an outrage, but had it been Ferrari
[08:23.320 -> 08:26.640] I just get a feeling that they wouldn't have been able to leave Mexico City alive.
[08:26.640 -> 08:28.640] What do you reckon?
[08:28.640 -> 08:32.880] Had it been Ferrari with Checo Perez in it making this mistake, then yes, leaving Mexico
[08:32.880 -> 08:35.480] City would have been tougher for Ferrari.
[08:35.480 -> 08:40.160] But I personally feel Mercedes could have taken a little bit of risk.
[08:40.160 -> 08:42.200] You know, they've got stuck in this whole template.
[08:42.200 -> 08:44.080] We need to treat our drivers equally.
[08:44.080 -> 08:47.080] Both of them get the same or same-ish strategy.
[08:47.080 -> 08:49.120] And think of it, they both started on mediums,
[08:49.120 -> 08:50.120] went to the hard.
[08:50.120 -> 08:52.680] So their choice of compound was one step harder
[08:52.680 -> 08:55.600] at every step of the race when Max did a soft
[08:55.600 -> 08:56.440] and then a medium.
[08:56.440 -> 08:58.840] So, you know, it was just reading the conditions wrong.
[08:58.840 -> 09:00.880] And eventually in all of this,
[09:00.880 -> 09:04.080] it just shows that yes, Mercedes was really quick,
[09:04.080 -> 09:08.600] but they weren't quick enough to genuinely challenge for the win.
[09:08.600 -> 09:18.240] And Toto Wolf explained it pretty well. Had they started on the soft, maybe Lewis would have sort of gotten track position or been closer.
[09:18.240 -> 09:25.760] You know, had they swapped a different tire with one of the drivers, maybe George could have taken the soft or something, you know, they could have tried something different.
[09:25.760 -> 09:28.320] He said, eventually, we would have still finished
[09:28.320 -> 09:29.840] where we did, right?
[09:29.840 -> 09:32.440] And that was just down to lack of pace.
[09:32.440 -> 09:36.240] And after Singapore, they said Mexico was short there
[09:36.240 -> 09:39.240] in their simulations that they could have sort of
[09:39.240 -> 09:42.140] been favorites to win here or was one of those circuits
[09:42.140 -> 09:44.680] where they could have, you know, won a little more
[09:44.680 -> 09:47.340] with ease and a bit of, or lots of luck.
[09:47.340 -> 09:51.300] Altitude came into play in their favor.
[09:51.300 -> 09:52.460] Let's remember Brazil,
[09:52.460 -> 09:55.540] which we've got Peter Wintzer joining us as well,
[09:55.540 -> 09:58.640] also is a high altitude race, not as high as Mexico,
[09:58.640 -> 10:01.340] but it is still a high altitude race in itself as well.
[10:01.340 -> 10:04.340] So at the end of the day, Mercedes,
[10:07.440 -> 10:11.600] I think more than getting the strategy wrong, what people were not happy, including the drivers, and Lewis said this, you know,
[10:11.600 -> 10:16.640] maybe we're missing a soft and two races ago, it was, hey, maybe we were missing a medium,
[10:16.640 -> 10:22.720] and so on, right? I think it was just down to the fact that they just didn't read the conditions as
[10:22.720 -> 10:25.520] well as they could. And they went a little conservative
[10:25.520 -> 10:29.200] on their strategy approach.
[10:29.200 -> 10:31.480] And that's just where it sort of goes.
[10:31.480 -> 10:34.560] And like Lewis says, we live to fight another day
[10:34.560 -> 10:37.280] and let's hope that they will end up fighting in Brazil.
[10:37.280 -> 10:40.640] Because I remember qualifying, apart from Charles Leclerc,
[10:40.640 -> 10:44.640] who had that issue, there were literally five cars
[10:44.640 -> 10:45.260] in the battle
[10:45.260 -> 10:47.700] for pole position, right?
[10:47.700 -> 10:49.900] And George Russell was convinced that
[10:49.900 -> 10:51.120] had he not made his mistake,
[10:51.120 -> 10:52.680] he would have been on pole, whatever,
[10:52.680 -> 10:55.360] irrespective of how that whole thing turned out.
[10:55.360 -> 10:57.880] And then the difference between George and Lewis,
[10:57.880 -> 10:58.960] you know, both of them,
[10:58.960 -> 11:01.760] especially Lewis being such a massive superstar
[11:01.760 -> 11:03.920] when it comes to Saturday qualifying,
[11:03.920 -> 11:06.960] was so little, I think it was 0.005 or
[11:06.960 -> 11:12.160] something if I remember correctly so all in all a very very strong Mercedes performance and their
[11:12.160 -> 11:17.920] performance I think was also amplified by the fact that it was definitely the worst performance for
[11:17.920 -> 11:23.600] Ferrari at a Grand Prix weekend in 2022 some. Oh don't worry we will get to Ferrari in a second
[11:23.600 -> 11:30.640] but I just want to talk about Mercedes a little bit more. I think they were slightly conflicted with the medium compound
[11:30.640 -> 11:34.960] at the start. I mean it's like they were always confused well is it going to be a one stopper or
[11:34.960 -> 11:39.440] a two stopper at the very end and the guy as you rightly mentioned Kunal, they rightly went
[11:39.440 -> 11:43.680] conservative at the very end but I'm not sure if it was in hindsight of course the best move possible
[11:43.680 -> 11:48.400] because where Stapin was able to keep a hold of those medium compound tyres for a very,
[11:48.400 -> 11:52.960] very long time. Sebastian Vettel was able to do 40 laps with the soft compound tyres at the end as
[11:52.960 -> 11:58.000] well. So perhaps there is enough evidence to suggest that yes, at the very end, those mediums
[11:58.000 -> 12:02.160] maybe could have held up and Mercedes, yeah, it would have been a long shot, but perhaps tried
[12:02.160 -> 12:08.320] off with the soft compound tyres. And so maybe a little bit more aggression would have paid off in their regard, but it's hard to tell
[12:08.320 -> 12:13.360] in the moment because it's so dynamic, so tricky to do. But I'm just very encouraged to see this
[12:13.360 -> 12:17.920] closeness from Mercedes in qualifying as well, because we saw so many drivers barely split by
[12:17.920 -> 12:22.720] anything in the second qualifying session as well. So that's kind of a good sign that Mercedes is
[12:22.720 -> 12:29.360] getting there, but again, not sure if this is going to be sustained in the long run or not. But now we come to Ferrari.
[12:29.360 -> 12:34.480] Well, were Ferrari a part of this race, Kunal? Did you see them? I actually didn't see them
[12:34.480 -> 12:38.760] at all. I didn't even know if they turned up in Mexico City at all. Did you see any
[12:38.760 -> 12:41.440] red car flashing by barring the Alfa Romeo?
[12:41.440 -> 12:49.360] The only time I saw a red car flashing by, actually that's a very good question, was when they were sliding around or you know I think Shaal had a
[12:49.360 -> 12:55.440] very you know snap of oversteer middle of the 789 sequences or something so it
[12:55.440 -> 12:58.840] was only when they were sliding around snapping or maybe couple of overtakes
[12:58.840 -> 13:04.560] here and there you know disastrous. Carlos Sainz was very very vocal he said
[13:04.560 -> 13:05.920] we know what's wrong with
[13:05.920 -> 13:10.820] the car. It's technical. I cannot reveal what it is, but we've had to make
[13:10.820 -> 13:15.340] certain compromises in our package this weekend when it came to, I believe,
[13:15.340 -> 13:18.800] cooling. And that's probably one of the reasons why they were where they were.
[13:18.800 -> 13:26.960] And the difference was either not finishing a race or finishing where they did.
[13:26.960 -> 13:30.320] And that's probably what happened to Ferrari, I would say.
[13:30.320 -> 13:32.720] And interestingly, you're talking of strategy.
[13:32.720 -> 13:38.160] You know, everybody was waiting to see what happens when you put on the hard.
[13:38.160 -> 13:41.360] The first driver to put on the hard was Nicholas Latifi,
[13:41.360 -> 13:44.080] and he went green on his outlap.
[13:44.080 -> 13:45.640] So that prompted Lewis
[13:45.640 -> 13:49.940] Hamilton to say I want to go on the hard and then Lewis Hamilton also went green
[13:49.940 -> 13:53.640] on his outlap that prompted Mercedes to believe that the hard tire is the right
[13:53.640 -> 13:58.960] tire to be right but what people were not seeing or maybe at least not
[13:58.960 -> 14:03.580] broadcast or not really spoken about post-race was that it was
[14:03.580 -> 14:09.840] actually the soft tire that was doing really well in the opening part of the race. I mean
[14:09.840 -> 14:16.760] Sebastian Vettel ran the soft for what is it some 40 odd laps right and nobody
[14:16.760 -> 14:21.000] almost thought that the soft would last that long and it was Vettel in an Aston
[14:21.000 -> 14:27.680] Martin bottom five so sort of people didn't read it. We saw Daniel Ricciardo make use of the soft tire
[14:27.680 -> 14:28.960] at the very end of the race.
[14:28.960 -> 14:31.520] He went from 12th to seventh with some help
[14:31.520 -> 14:34.260] from Lando Norris, despite a 10 second penalty
[14:34.260 -> 14:36.380] that he picked up for doing something
[14:36.380 -> 14:38.880] that Daniel Ricciardo almost never does.
[14:38.880 -> 14:40.400] But that was just the case.
[14:40.400 -> 14:43.120] It was a game of strategy.
[14:43.120 -> 14:47.280] And all those who made the soft tire work I believe actually
[14:47.280 -> 14:53.000] had a better result at the end of the day than those relying on the hard and that's
[14:53.000 -> 15:00.480] just the way it went somewhat in the end and again that's what I said a typical 2022 race
[15:00.480 -> 15:09.540] where if you don't have a safety car you're relying too much on tyre delta you know you're on 10 lap old soft and I'm on new soft and hence I have you
[15:09.540 -> 15:14.460] know a delta on you and hence the pace advantage to overtake you or you know
[15:14.460 -> 15:18.620] you rely too much on strategy and frankly none of that showed up in Mexico
[15:18.620 -> 15:22.560] and that's why it was a bit of a puzzle the race. But what do the numbers have to
[15:22.560 -> 15:28.640] say about this race? Here's F1 stats guru Sundaram back on the podcast with his usual stats review segment
[15:28.640 -> 15:33.320] to give you a better idea of the Mexican GP in context of all the stats and numbers.
[15:33.320 -> 15:34.320] Let's listen to him.
[15:34.320 -> 15:37.600] Hey folks, it's time to do the stats review of the Mexico City Grand Prix.
[15:37.600 -> 15:40.000] My name is Sundaram, also known as the F1 stats guru.
[15:40.000 -> 15:41.960] Let's get straight into the numbers.
[15:41.960 -> 15:46.800] The biggest stat of the weekend is that Max Ostappen has broken an 18 year old record.
[15:46.800 -> 15:51.760] Michael Schumacher set things up pretty well back in 2004 by taking 13 wins in one season.
[15:51.760 -> 15:56.840] We often wondered if anyone would turn up that dominant to break that record.
[15:56.840 -> 16:01.560] Nine years later, a young Sebastian Vettel did equal it, but a further nine years later,
[16:01.560 -> 16:05.640] a young Max Verstappen, he's still young, he's just 24, 25 actually,
[16:05.640 -> 16:10.200] he's broken the record, 14 wins in one season and let's see how many more can he get before
[16:10.200 -> 16:11.640] the end of the season.
[16:11.640 -> 16:16.000] He also broke the record for the most points scored over one season, he's currently at
[16:16.000 -> 16:22.120] 416 and there are 2 races left and he went past Lewis Hamilton's tally of 413 which he
[16:22.120 -> 16:24.000] set back in 2019.
[16:24.000 -> 16:29.740] Also, before 2021, a Red Bull driver had never led the championship in the hybrid era.
[16:29.740 -> 16:34.900] And cut to late 2022, Verstappen has led the driver's standings for 30 races, that's
[16:34.900 -> 16:40.260] the second most since 2014 in the hybrid era, after of course Lewis Hamilton.
[16:40.260 -> 16:42.580] Now Ferrari, they've seemed a little missing.
[16:42.580 -> 16:47.440] They finished 5th and 6th this time out and even they finished 5th and 6th in last year's
[16:47.440 -> 16:51.940] Mexico Grand Prix, but the fact is that they've failed to make it to the podium for the very
[16:51.940 -> 16:54.680] first time after the summer break.
[16:54.680 -> 16:59.200] Mercedes, on the other hand, they've been having a couple of good results off lately
[16:59.200 -> 17:04.700] and they've made more top two finishes, which is three, than Ferrari, which is two, since
[17:04.700 -> 17:08.560] the summer break. And lastly, Daniel Ricciciardo we had a pretty good race apart from
[17:08.560 -> 17:12.920] that collision with Yuki Tsunoda but eventually he finished seventh and that
[17:12.920 -> 17:17.520] was the first time he managed to outrace his teammate Lando Norris in 11 races
[17:17.520 -> 17:21.280] well that was a stats review I hope you guys enjoyed it for more such stats
[17:21.280 -> 17:25.360] follow me on Instagram and Twitter under the name F1StatsGuru.
[17:25.360 -> 17:48.160] I'll see you guys later. and truly ahead of Charles Leclerc in the championship battle. And that could perhaps swing in his favor with the last couple of races coming up. And we can't wait for you to join us
[17:48.160 -> 17:51.760] with us. Join us on the Inside Line F1 podcast as we go through this journey of the last couple
[17:51.760 -> 17:58.640] of races together. But also the other thing is that McLaren are barely, barely behind Alpine now,
[17:58.640 -> 18:03.120] seven points after that rather disappointing performance from Alpine. Yes, XM-1 Ocon was
[18:03.120 -> 18:05.760] incredible. I think the overtake that he made
[18:05.760 -> 18:10.480] around the outside of turn number one and two, I think that was jointly the best moment of the
[18:10.480 -> 18:15.040] race. But what happened with Fernando Alonso also was for Lewis Hamilton, at least the best moment
[18:15.040 -> 18:19.920] of the race as well, Kunal. Just another retirement for them. Alpine seemed to be
[18:19.920 -> 18:24.880] just getting on a high and then all of a sudden, it just crashes back down to earth so quickly.
[18:24.880 -> 18:29.360] The one thing I can only think of is that Aston Martin better have a bulletproof car ready because
[18:29.360 -> 18:35.200] Fernando Alonso is literally counting the number of points he's lost through DNFs or technical
[18:35.200 -> 18:40.960] snags or the FIA robbing him off or whatever. He's up to 50 points now. This guy is on a mission in
[18:40.960 -> 18:46.400] terms of the points he's lost at least. Yeah and that's like two race wins right and
[18:46.400 -> 18:49.760] it was so heartening to see Fernando Alonso. I mean he was driving a
[18:49.760 -> 18:52.400] very smart race. He came up to seventh place.
[18:52.400 -> 18:56.560] He was managing his tyres. He had a massive gap to the top six. He realized
[18:56.560 -> 18:59.120] that this is all about tyre degradation and he was
[18:59.120 -> 19:03.360] forming this old train behind him, Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon and
[19:03.360 -> 19:05.760] Juho Konyu and everybody was just,
[19:05.760 -> 19:08.040] it was the Alonzo train, which we saw, I think,
[19:08.040 -> 19:09.640] in Monaco or some place as well,
[19:09.640 -> 19:13.080] where he just slowed down so much that he was fast
[19:13.080 -> 19:15.640] when he had to be, and then he was sort of backing
[19:15.640 -> 19:17.560] the pack up when he had to.
[19:17.560 -> 19:20.920] And then, he was so relaxed, he said,
[19:20.920 -> 19:23.200] yeah, the car's very good, just give me whatever tire
[19:23.200 -> 19:25.060] you can, I don't care, and whatever tire you give him, he was willing to make it work. And then Alpine he said, yeah, the car's very good, just give me whatever tire you can, I don't care.
[19:25.060 -> 19:26.940] And whatever tire you give him,
[19:26.940 -> 19:28.220] he was willing to make it work.
[19:28.220 -> 19:29.400] And then Alpine probably said,
[19:29.400 -> 19:30.340] we'll give you the right tire,
[19:30.340 -> 19:32.780] but we'll also give you one cylinder less.
[19:32.780 -> 19:34.100] That's where the problem happened
[19:34.100 -> 19:36.540] because he had five cylinders for the last 18 laps
[19:36.540 -> 19:38.580] before he retired, right?
[19:38.580 -> 19:40.820] And that sort of just did him in.
[19:40.820 -> 19:44.140] And because I remember suddenly on the timing sheets,
[19:44.140 -> 19:48.320] both us and Ocon overtook Alonso and I said, that's impossible.
[19:48.320 -> 19:53.760] I mean, when last did we see Fernando Alonso suddenly lose two positions in a span of a few corners?
[19:53.760 -> 20:00.400] And then it seems that one of the cylinders when it went off, he went off at turn 13 and that's how those two sort of crept back in.
[20:00.400 -> 20:05.040] We missed this in the official broadcast. If I remember correctly, I don't remember
[20:05.040 -> 20:10.400] seeing a replay. But that's what happened to Fernando Alonso. But it's just Fernando
[20:10.400 -> 20:15.080] Alonso things. I don't think we should be sort of surprised because that's just how
[20:15.080 -> 20:21.800] it goes. And, you know, Alpine just being seven points ahead is a lot down to reliability.
[20:21.800 -> 20:25.720] Eventually, they have the fastest car. They just don't have the reliability
[20:25.720 -> 20:27.560] that they sort of need.
[20:27.560 -> 20:29.560] In the case of McLaren, they were buoyed
[20:29.560 -> 20:32.000] by Daniel Ricciardo's charge.
[20:32.000 -> 20:34.400] He made the mediums work for 46 laps.
[20:34.400 -> 20:36.880] And then he said, you know, guys, just give me the soft.
[20:36.880 -> 20:37.640] I'll make it work.
[20:37.640 -> 20:38.880] He made all the overtakes.
[20:38.880 -> 20:43.600] And then he pulled, what, a 12-second gap on Esteban Ocon.
[20:43.600 -> 20:47.020] So all in all, there are still lots of narratives
[20:47.020 -> 20:50.480] and lots of stories to track all the way to Abu Dhabi,
[20:50.480 -> 20:53.240] even though Max has won the drivers,
[20:53.240 -> 20:56.060] Red Bull has now been penalized for what they did last year
[20:56.060 -> 20:58.140] and have won the constructors this year.
[20:58.140 -> 21:01.820] And Max has sort of won 14 races as well.
[21:01.820 -> 21:04.480] Helmut Marko, Christian Horner, both of them saying,
[21:04.480 -> 21:09.760] yes, we're going for the 16 race wins. And then Horner actually turned around and said something very interesting.
[21:09.760 -> 21:16.240] He said, never before in history have Red Bull scored a one-two in the Drivers' Championship.
[21:16.240 -> 21:24.160] And we want to try and get Checo Perez to finish second in the Drivers' Championship. So, you know,
[21:24.160 -> 21:26.040] they are setting their sights high. They know they've got a' Championship. So, you know, they're setting their sights high.
[21:26.040 -> 21:28.080] They know they've got a competitive advantage.
[21:28.080 -> 21:31.880] So, hey, why not use it to maximize all the results
[21:31.880 -> 21:33.920] and records in the season?
[21:33.920 -> 21:36.960] Should have just let him open his DRS wing.
[21:36.960 -> 21:38.640] I know it's not their fault.
[21:38.640 -> 21:39.760] Lucky it is.
[21:39.760 -> 21:42.480] But just somehow, if that DRS wing had worked in qualifying,
[21:42.480 -> 21:44.160] if Max had given him the toe,
[21:44.160 -> 21:45.240] ah, I just wanted
[21:45.240 -> 21:49.880] to see the sight of Sergio Perez winning in Mexico and Papa Perez going completely wild
[21:49.880 -> 21:57.240] and bonkers but he still did actually. I just wonder how is that man genuinely so happy?
[21:57.240 -> 22:01.560] It's just contagious happiness whenever you see him celebrating or dancing near the podium
[22:01.560 -> 22:10.560] or just happy with Sergio Perez you feel that much happier as well. I think we should have him in every single race event as well. He just adds so much of
[22:10.560 -> 22:15.120] so much of what's that word I'm looking for wholesomeness if you could put it that way.
[22:15.120 -> 22:19.440] And for Daniel Ricciardo, I was also surprised to see him kind of crash out and recover so quickly.
[22:19.440 -> 22:24.640] I mean with Esteban, not Esteban Ocon, I'm sorry, Yuki Tsunoda. It's like I think Taco
[22:24.640 -> 22:25.600] Bell should make him their
[22:25.600 -> 22:30.800] brand ambassador, right? Like the one weekend Ricardo has Mexican food, he goes wild, hits a person but
[22:30.800 -> 22:35.200] still ends up putting a 10-second gap over his main rival, something of that sort. But to close
[22:35.200 -> 22:41.040] off this episode Kunal, what I really want to know is your moment of the race. Was it the mariachi
[22:41.040 -> 22:49.720] F1 theme at the start that really got it for you was it more more at the end that really clinched it for you? Oh you nailed it, it absolutely was
[22:49.720 -> 22:56.080] the Mexican themed and imagine all of this that we are seeing we are seeing it
[22:56.080 -> 23:01.420] because of one driver and that is Checo Perez and the national hero that he is I
[23:01.420 -> 23:05.760] mean we celebrate Max Verstappen for all the Dutch army and we
[23:05.760 -> 23:09.560] celebrate Lewis Hamilton for all the British fans that he sort of brings out.
[23:09.560 -> 23:15.240] Checo Perez is not far behind when it comes to being as big as a celebrity.
[23:15.240 -> 23:20.040] Just that he's in a non-English speaking market far away in Mexico and all of
[23:20.040 -> 23:27.360] that, but I think it was an incredible race, very fantastic of Formula One to customize
[23:27.360 -> 23:29.360] and localize their themes as well.
[23:29.360 -> 23:31.400] I would say the Day of the Dead celebration,
[23:31.400 -> 23:36.240] so many fans, you know, out with banners for Checo Perez.
[23:36.240 -> 23:41.240] And to top it off, we had one more race where Luis
[23:41.340 -> 23:45.000] and Fernando had a run-in on social media,
[23:45.200 -> 23:47.560] where Fernando made some statements and he backtracked,
[23:47.560 -> 23:50.440] saying, oh, the chasing of headlines and clicks,
[23:50.440 -> 23:53.480] and then Louis just put a thumbs up and let it go.
[23:53.480 -> 23:57.480] And I don't know if this banter will ever end.
[23:57.480 -> 24:00.400] I don't think this banter should ever end.
[24:00.400 -> 24:03.760] And it's just Louis and Fernando things, I would say.
[24:04.840 -> 24:11.000] And long may they continue. But wow wow what a weekend on the whole in terms of all the off-track stuff as well
[24:11.000 -> 24:16.000] and you might be wondering at this stage well what's our thoughts and our opinions of the budget cap
[24:16.000 -> 24:19.000] but I think it deserves a more detailed platform than a race review
[24:19.000 -> 24:22.000] because you're specifically trying to talk about the race over here
[24:22.000 -> 24:29.200] but yeah I think that is also a major topic that we should talk about at some point you know. We should and you know one thing about Checo Perez very
[24:29.200 -> 24:34.880] crucially one thing when Lewis Hamilton was being booed he actually stood up and he was pointing
[24:34.880 -> 24:41.280] and he was waving to the crowd to tell them not to boo and I think that in itself is fantastic. I have
[24:41.280 -> 24:48.620] no idea why sports people get booed. They're doing what they love to do. They're bringing us so much entertainment and so much excitement day
[24:48.620 -> 24:53.440] in and day out like 22-24 races. You don't like somebody just look the other
[24:53.440 -> 24:59.400] way. Find 19 other drivers to sort of you know like or dislike but I don't think
[24:59.400 -> 25:04.720] booing is the right attitude but that's just me being preachy at the very end of
[25:04.720 -> 25:25.040] this episode. and Be Like Red Bull Racing where they've just had a great time. But folks, don't boycott this podcast.
[25:25.200 -> 25:27.440] Don't be like Max Verstappen in that regard.
[25:27.440 -> 25:29.520] Leave us a good rating if you like this episode.
[25:29.760 -> 25:32.800] And don't forget to subscribe to the Inside Lineup 1 podcast as well.
[25:33.160 -> 25:36.280] As I told you previously as well, don't forget to join us
[25:36.280 -> 25:39.400] for the Brazilian GP watch along with Peter Winsor
[25:39.400 -> 25:41.280] by clicking on the link in the description.
[25:41.280 -> 25:45.520] And we shall see you back once more for the Brazilian GP preview rather soon
[25:45.520 -> 28:00.000] so enjoy the time till then folks have a good weekend and bye bye have a good time you you you you You Thanks for watching!
[27:55.120 -> 27:57.200] you