Mexico Friday in the analysis: We explain the penalty against Red Bull!

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Most of you are already in bed, so we’re closing our ticker for now. To conclude, once again the obligatory reference to our big live analysis with the following topics:

– Is the verdict against Red Bull too lenient?
– Why was Aston Martin punished at all?
– Bizarre: How crazy the Alpine-Haas verdict is
– F1 Technology: The latest team updates
– Questions from channel members from the live chat

In a few hours, we’ll continue as usual with a new ticker edition. A quick look at the most important times on Saturday in Mexico (CEST):

16:30: Team Principals’ Press Conference
19:00: FT3
22:00: Qualifying

Have a good night, enjoy our analysis, and see you then!

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We remember: Christian Horner complained in his press conference today that the FIA had not given Red Bull the chance to correct the incorrect submission. Toto Wolff emphasizes that this was the right decision.

“I think the rules are good in the first year,” he says on ‘Sky’ and explains: “Nine [teams] passed, one didn’t. So, it’s probably not too complex, it just requires a lot of effort. And you can’t stretch it like that.”

“If you put a toe over the line, it’s like with taxes. You can’t submit your tax return and then six months [later] say: Can I submit it again?”, says Wolff.

The FIA therefore acted correctly.

“We still have some work ahead of us,” judges the Haas driver after Friday and explains: “We are not entirely satisfied with our overall performance yet.” This is one of the reasons why he hopes for rain on Saturday.

“I think that would suit our car very well,” says Schumacher, who receives praise from the team principal. “Mick had a very good day today. He completed his entire test program,” says Günther Steiner.

“He should therefore be ready for tomorrow,” emphasizes the team principal. Let’s keep our fingers crossed – whether with or without rain.

… we have, of course, summarized again today in our own photo gallery. The fastest way to get up to date at the end of the day!

Photo Gallery: Formula 1 2022 in Mexico: The most important things about Friday

Small change of plan: Kevin Scheuren and Christian Nimmervoll will be live on the Formel1.de YouTube channel at 2:00 AM – half an hour earlier than originally planned! The following topics are on the agenda:

– Is the verdict against Red Bull too lenient?
– Why was Aston Martin punished at all?
– Bizarre: How crazy the Alpine-Haas verdict is
– F1 Technology: The latest team updates
– Questions from channel members from the live chat

The Chinese driver rolled out at the end of FT2. And even before that, he was once stuck at the end of the pit lane and couldn’t move. “First of all, my gear got stuck when I wanted to do a practice start in the pit lane,” he reports.

“In FT2, I then had many problems with the engine temperature, which was too hot,” says Zhou. And at the very end, a hydraulic problem then led to him having to stop the car. Not his day today.

At least: “The pace on one lap wasn’t too bad today,” he reveals. At least that gives some hope for Saturday – if the car holds up then …

Three races left, then his time at AlphaTauri ends. And the Frenchman would like to end it positively. “I felt good. We have the potential to fight in the top 10. The midfield is very tight as always,” he says after Friday.

However, he doesn’t expect much more than a few “points” in his farewell races. “It won’t be that we suddenly fight for the top 5 tomorrow,” he knows. Points are therefore already enough for him.

“We still have three races. If we can score points at least twice, that would be great,” says Gasly.

That’s really bitter for the Williams driver: he had to miss FT1, and then there was a problem with his car in FT2. “Alex was only able to start FT2 late after there was a problem with the power unit’s cooling system,” explains Dave Robson.

The result: “He could only drive one timed lap before switching to the Pirelli tire test.” This was, of course, “not ideal preparation for his weekend,” says Robson. Because he couldn’t learn much during the tire test.

Albon himself also emphasizes that it was “not a very productive day.” But: Even with his one lap, Albon was almost half a second faster than teammate Latifi today …

Can the team build on the good performance from Austin? “Hard to say. It seems we were back where we normally are on Friday. But of course, we hope we can find something,” Vettel ponders on ‘Sky’.

“For tomorrow we have a few ideas and then we’ll see,” says the German. Aston team principal Mike Krack adds: “We try to improve from race to race. [I] hope it continues like this.”

“But one must not forget,” says Krack, that in Singapore and Suzuka, the “circumstances” also led to the good performances. “It rained, partly there were also strategic influences,” he recalls.

“And the only place where we really made a good step forward was Austin and perhaps qualifying in Suzuka,” says Krack. Sounds a bit like Mexico could be quite a mixed bag …

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… is here again in the video. But as a reminder: Verstappen also had his problems today. Unlike the Monegasque, however, he did not crash.

“I had a slide once,” he recalls from FT1 and explains: “As soon as you got off the line, it was like on ice. I drifted first left, then right.”

“At some point, I decided to just let the car run. I still braked to avoid crashing into the barriers,” says Verstappen. Leclerc, however, no longer managed that …

FT2 was not particularly meaningful today – and thus neither was Russell’s best time. Helmut Marko therefore doesn’t seem to consider Mercedes in the fight for victory. At least that’s what he says on ‘ServusTV’.

“The analysis has shown: Together with Ferrari, we are clearly at the top,” he reveals and explains: “Brakes [and] temperatures are critical here. But if the weather forecast is correct, it should be significantly cooler on Saturday, possibly wet.”

“Then it will also be easier in terms of brake load,” says Marko. But of course, all teams have these problems.

No, this is not about fun measures in the Red Bull canteen 😉 It actually has a serious background, because in response to the Alonso incident in Austin, the FIA wants to show the so-called “fried egg flag” less often in the future.

The flag was rarely used in the past anyway, but this year it was used more frequently again – especially with Kevin Magnussen … This was discussed at a meeting of team managers in Mexico.

Let’s see what the new approach looks like in practice.

Although the Bulls will have significantly less aero test time in 2023, Toto Wolff clarifies on ‘Sky’: “They have a top-notch car and a good driver. You have to catch up with that first, and that’s not easy.”

Nevertheless, the penalty will of course “already be a disadvantage.” Apart from the sanction, Wolff also believes that the handicap system will help bring the field closer together in the coming years.

“That was also the reason for the rule that in three or four years, five, six teams will be fighting for a victory,” says Wolff. We are currently still quite far from that …

And it’s an early end again! After the premature end in FT1, Zhou has now rolled out with a defect. FT2 also ends earlier than planned. But hardly anyone notices anyway, there wasn’t much going on …

Here in the ticker, we’ll continue shortly with the reactions to Friday. First, a quick overview:

FT2 Report

FT2 Results

Overall Friday Results

Interesting: In this context, Mario Isola just revealed on ‘Sky’ that a different approach was chosen here in Mexico than recently in Austin. There, the tires were only heated to 50 degrees.

Here in Mexico, it’s back to the normal 70 degrees – but only for two hours instead of the current three. This would give the tires a better temperature, but still save energy due to the reduced time.

They will then evaluate which variant is better.

On track, we continue to see many slides and drivers off track. This is also no surprise. Max Verstappen, for example, only spoke about the reasons for this yesterday.

Meanwhile, the last 20 minutes of FT2 are already running. As expected, nothing more is happening with the times.

Get all current information in the session live ticker!

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