Mexico GP Review: Ricciardo’s drive, Ferrari’s pace and Perez’s finger wag
31st October 2022Red Bull’s Max Verstappen secured yet another victory in his championship-winning season to bring his season tally to 14, the most any driver has secured in a season.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo put in a fantastic recovery drive after he was issued with a 10-second time penalty for crashing with Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda at turn 5, on lap 50.
After losing both championships to Red Bull, Ferrari are at risk of being demoted to third in the constructors standings by a resurgent Mercedes.
For the keen eyed viewer, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was seen wagging his finger towards his home crowd as boo’s began to echo around the stadium section during the post-race interviews.
Verstappen’s Record
Verstappen is now the most successful driver across a single season after the reigning world champion secured his 14th race win of the year.
The record was put in place by the F1 legend, Michael Schumacher, in 2004 who secured 13 wins in a season. Sebastian Vettel was the only driver, prior to Verstappen, to match the record in 2013 during the German’s tenure at Red Bull.
Two races still remain in the season and plenty of time to improve on that statistic. In turn, it will also improve Adrian Newey’s portfolio as he created a beautiful piece of machinery which looks to go unbeaten in the remaining two races.
However, they will still have to contend with the likes of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton who are in the hunt for their first race win of the season.
‘I never left’
‘I never left,’ words which were echoed by his superb drive in Monza, last season, when McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo secured the Italian Grand Prix race win. The same words could easily describe his fantastic recovery drive in the late stages of the Mexico GP. But, unfortunately, he will leave after Abu Dhabi this year…
Anyway. The Australian driver put in a fantastic drive to secure a seventh place finish after the Perth-born driver was issued with a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
With a soft tyre stint, Ricciardo charged through the field to secure points for the Woking outfit, in their fight against Alpine in the Constructors table.
For some fans, the drive reminded them of his drive in the 2020 Russian Grand Prix when he ushered the words ‘I’ll drive faster’ after he received news of a five-second penalty.
Ferrari off the pace
At the beginning of the season, you would have thought we were in for another special season but it revolving around Ferrari and Red Bull instead of Red Bull/Mercedes. However, Ferrari have seemed to fall off Red Bull’s pace and it showed in the Mexico City.
As Verstappen secured his record-breaking 14th win, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was the first to pass the chequered flag first – out of the Italian teams pairing – 58 seconds behind Verstappen, in fifth. While Sainz’s Monegasque teammate, Charles Leclerc, finished over a minute behind in sixth.
As a result, it has cut the points buffer down between themselves and Mercedes in the constructors standings. Only 40 points stand between the two teams in the standings, with two races left to go.
In the rising form of Mercedes, they are within reach of securing the runner-up spot by the end of the 2022 season which would deliver a gut-punch to the Scuderia.
Sergio Perez wags home crowd
Going into the weekend, the Mexican crowd were hoping to see their man on the top step of the podium, ahead of his two-time world champion teammate. What they got was Verstappen on top step, ahead of both Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez in P2 and P3 respectively.
As Hamilton stepped up to conduct his post-race interview, the fans could be heard booing and seeming directing it to the seven-time world champion. It was noticed that Perez wagged his finger in response to the increasing volume of boo’s.
Booing, itself, isn’t something new in sports regardless of its medium. However, it is becoming more of a frequent occurrence with either Hamilton or Verstappen being on the receiving end – depending on the nation of which the sport races in at the time.
While not much can likely be done to reduce the boo’s, it is commendable to notice that Perez tried to stop his home fans from booing.
That’s it for the article; Mexico GP Review: Ricciardo’s drive, Ferrari’s pace and Perez’s finger wag! What do you think of Ferrari’s lack of pace, is it worrying or was it just a one-off? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Mexico GP: Verstappen secures record-breaking victory
- Mexico GP: Mercedes top FP3 ahead of qualifying
- Mexico GP: Russell tops FP2 as Leclerc crashes
- Mexico GP: Sainz tops first practice session amongst red flag stops
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
