Red Bull Racing has come to an agreement with the FIA
They will take a 7M hit and a 10% wind tunnel development time reduction.
That will come on top of the already limited 70% time for next season.
A bit crampy forced regulation IMO to allow backmarkers to catch up.
But this will seriously limit RBR in their development capacity next year.
Lets see how the rest of the paddock will react on this verdict.
The good part is that no Championship points have been taken. Something Mercedes Boss Toto was after.
The FIA has also stated that the real difference is not 1.8M but just over 400K . I mean, really?
And there was no deliberate intent to mislead. But the things that have been revealed focus on gardening leave pay of a previous employer, old spare parts for demonstration runs and free catering for employees.
Like Tess Wintory would say; what drama.
But the message is clear; do not exceed the cost cap, or else.
Another epic qualifying session with only fractions of a second seperating the top 4.
But in the end it was Max who was the only driver in the 1.17 range.
Mercedes expelined their bump forward due to the reduced drag thanks to thinner air.
This weekend will be a three team battle.
And Bottas splitting the two Ferraris. Great job there in the Alfa Romeo Sauber.
1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing RBPT 1:19.222 1:18.566 1:17.775 16
2 63 George Russell Mercedes 1:19.583 1:18.565 1:18.079 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:19.169 1:18.552 1:18.084 19
4 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing RBPT 1:19.706 1:18.615 1:18.128 18
5 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:19.566 1:18.560 1:18.351 17
6 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:19.523 1:18.762 1:18.401 18
7 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:19.505 1:19.109 1:18.555 18
8 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 1:19.857 1:19.119 1:18.721 19
9 14 Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault 1:20.006 1:19.272 1:18.939 15
10 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1:19.945 1:19.081 1:19.010 18
11 3 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren Mercedes 1:20.279 1:19.325 14
12 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:20.283 1:19.476 12
13 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri RBPT 1:19.907 1:19.589 13
14 10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri RBPT 1:20.256 1:19.672 15
15 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:20.293 1:19.833 17
16 47 Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari 1:20.419 11
17 5 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:20.419 10
18 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:20.520 10
19 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 1:20.859 10
20 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes 1:21.167 10
Q1 107% time - 1:24.710
Note - Stroll penalised 3 grid places for causing a collision at the previous round. Magnussen penalised 5 grid places for use of additional power unit elements.
The enthusaism and vibe of the Mexican GP are unmatched around the World. What a fiesta again
Records were broken and there is still more to come.
We ended up with the same podium as last year. Max had a good start and drove away, never really challenged.
The real battles were in the midfield. Some crazy overtaking actions, or attempts to (Ricci ).
In the end the Australian adventurer took driver of the day.
Checo defended the Mexican pride with a nice podium finish, but was never really able to take Hamilton on.
Ferrari disappointed a bit and Mercedes were quicker thanks to the less drag factor due to the thinner air at 2200m altitude.
Next race in 2 weeks in Brazil.
1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing RBPT 71 1:38:36.729 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 +15.186s 18
3 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing RBPT 71 +18.097s 15
4 63 George Russell Mercedes 71 +49.431s 13
5 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 71 +58.123s 10
6 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 +68.774s 8
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren Mercedes 70 +1 lap 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 70 +1 lap 4
9 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 70 +1 lap 2
10 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 70 +1 lap 1
11 10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri RBPT 70 +1 lap 0
12 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 70 +1 lap 0
13 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 70 +1 lap 0
14 5 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 70 +1 lap 0
15 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 70 +1 lap 0
16 47 Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari 70 +1 lap 0
17 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 70 +1 lap 0
18 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes 69 +2 laps 0
19 14 Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault 63 DNF 0
NC 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri RBPT 50 DNF 0
Note - Russell scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Ricciardo received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.
dpuff wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:23 am
idk, boring race, not a lot of action. Verstappen was off to the moon, where is the close tight races that were promised?
This was indeed not the most exciting race from the front, but there were plenty of cool battles in the midfield.
You can not really blame RBR for doing a good job, just like you can't blame Mercedes for being better than the rest for 7 years.
But i agree that dominance is never good for the sport. And thanks to the new rules and regulation, more close racing does occur more often. And next year the top teams will grow more closely together for sure. All teams will understand the cars and new rules better and find new ways to exploit them.
Add to that that we have been spoiled this season with some awesome battles. But i think Max likes it this way.
They call it Maxico now
Maybe the next Netflix flick will be called "Keeping up with Max"
It would make sense for Andretti to buy Toro Rosso, as the remaining F1 slots will most likely go to manufacturers. And it will save them from paying the ridiculous 200M compensation fee to other teams
Red Bull can focus on just one team, as all junior programmes from about every team on the paddock have been shaken up recently. Partly because there is not always a good spot ready, but also due to other teams shamelessly grabbing talents from other programs.
I really hope the Andretti's will be able to bring an American Manufacturer back to the grid. That would be awesome.
There was a litte warming up party in Las Vegas. Always good to prepare for next years F1 Grand Prix.
BTW there are some rumors about 100.000$ arrangements for the Vegas GP. Even the cheapest tickets will sell at 500$ for a standing place. Now i understand where that 500M revenue number came from
I do not think it were the finance directors who leaked. Both Ferrari and Mercedes seem to have some inside FIA sources, they will never reveil. McLaren were viscious in their comments as well. An investigation from the FIA will be conducted.
When the dust settles, Red Bull might consider some legal actions for reputation damage.
