Lewis Hamilton commits to Mercedes until 2025
F1 stars have already banked two valuable practice sessions in Mexico – with the exception of those who made way for rookies – as the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris gear up for what many expect to be a hotly-contested qualifying on Saturday evening (BST).
It was no particular surprise to see Verstappen top the charts in both practice sessions, leading Alex Albon by a tenth in FP1 and Lando Norris by the same margin later in the day.
Daniel Ricciardo could also be a driver to keep an eye on as the weekend heats up. The AlphaTauri star registered top-eight lap times in both Friday sessions as he hopes to justify the team’s decision to stick with him, instead of plumping for up-and-coming star Liam Lawson in 2024.
With the Mexican Grand Prix closing in, see below for Express Sport‘s live F1 updates…
Don’t miss… Lewis Hamilton tears into Red Bull staff over Sergio Perez treatment
KEY EVENTS
Leclerc on pole!
That’s a turn for the books!
Ferrari 1-2 after Max Verstappen looked favourite all weekend for pole.
Also a big shout-out to Daniel Ricciardo for outqualifying the likes of Oscar Piastri, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.
That’s all from us for today’s coverage but we’re back tomorrow for what should be a fascinating race!
Investigation crazy
A wild start to Q1 that saw Lando Norris miss out for the first time this season!
Max Verstappen and George Russell are under investigation for holding up traffic at the end of the pit lane.
Lewis Hamilton is also facing a potential penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags.
The Mexican Grand Prix grid may be shaken up…
Qualifying starting
It’s a late one for UK viewers watching qualifying with Q1 now getting underway!
Can anybody stop Red Bull taking pole here? We’ll find out soon enough!
Norris tipped to challenge Verstappen again
Lando Norris looked to be Max Verstappen’s closest challenger last weekend, only for his McLaren to fail to deliver on race day.
But Karun Chandhok believes the young Brit will be up there once again in Mexico fighting with Verstappen for the win.
He said: “I think it will be Lando. Yesterday he looked good, hooked up.
“I think McLaren keep playing this card that they think they’re going to struggle at slow speed.”
Russell wants penalty change
George Russell believes F1 should look at changing the rule to penalise drivers for overtaking off the track from a time penalty to a grid position penalty.
Russell received a time penalty for overtaking Oscar Piastri last weekend during the Sprint at the United States Grand Prix, but he still ended up ahead of the Aussie at the end of the race.
“I think time penalties are so race dependent,” he said.
“We’ve spoken about potentially a position penalty, which is more penalising.”
Horner backs Perez to win again
Christian Horner expects Sergio Perez to be challenging Max Verstappen for the win in Mexico after a promising showing in FP1.
“He certainly has a chance to win. Last week in Austin, in my opinion, he drove a good race and that would be a good boost for him.
“And the amount of support, the amount of backing he has here: if there is such a thing as the power of the crowd, he will be overloaded this weekend. So he seems quite relaxed.
“I spoke to him on Friday and I thought he had a good first session, so he’s off to a good start and it’s always good to get a positive start.”
Hamilton ‘saved face’
Sky Sports F1 pundit Danica Patrick has rubbished claims from Lewis Hamilton that his disqualification from the United States Grand Prix “taints” the sport, insisting the Brit should take his medicine and move on.
“I think Charles probably handled it appropriately because there’s nothing you can really do about making a change at this point in time,” she told Sky F1. “You were illegal and you’re out of the race.
“It felt like Lewis was trying to sort of build a case and save a little bit of face in it. But at the end of the day, he said it doesn’t make a difference, but it does.
“That’s why the rule is in place because lowering the car generally always makes it faster. It’s one of the most powerful tools to giving the car more grip so I think it does make a difference.”
‘Parc fermé is a bit of a joke’
Red Bull boss Christian Horner feels the parc ferme rules need changing on Sprint weekends after both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were caught out by the short time teams had to set up their cars.
“For me, parc fermé is a bit of a joke,” Horner said.
“You get one session to set up your car and then the engineers might as well go home. So that needs to be looked at because that has undoubtedly contributed to the ride height problems of the teams that are not adhering to the rules kept.”
“If the drivers enjoy it and find it worthwhile, and the teams find it worthwhile, then I think ultimately the fans will too. But I think we really have to go to the fans and also should get their feedback on what they want.”
Verstappen wants more protection
Max Verstappen has called for more protection from online trolls and the vitriolic abuse he often receives ahead of what’s expected to be a hostile reception for the Dutchman at the Mexican Grand Prix.
“It’s a general problem in many sports that needs to be looked at and improved,” he said.
“It’s okay to support your favorite driver. But you also have to respect your competitors.
“People who don’t have to show their faces can say whatever they want. And that’s not just the case in our sport. There needs to be better regulation of what can be said, done and written about people.”
Schumacher impresses
Mick Schumacher has left a lasting impression at Alpine after a test drive in their endurance racing car recently.
“We were very happy with his performance. And I think he was happy too,” said Bruno Famin, vice president of Alpine Motorsport and interim team boss of the Formula 1 racing team.
“That means we can still discuss whether we want to do something together next year. That’s the status.”
Alpine will compete in the World Endurance Championship next year, including the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Horner hits back at Hamilton
Christian Horner has not taken kindly to Lewis Hamilton claiming that Sergio Perez doesn’t have the support he needs at Red Bull.
Hamilton sympathised with Perez over public criticism from members of his team, including Helmut Marko, at various points this season.
“It’s very nice that Lewis has so much care and attention [for Checo] when he was questioning the validity of Max [Verstappen’s] team-mates only a few weeks ago,” said Horner.
“There’s always rumours that are circulating in this paddock, especially when there’s very little to write about. But he [Checo] has a great relationship with the team.”
Super Formula race abandoned after massive crash
A Super Formula race at Suzuka had to be abandoned after only three completed laps, with Hiroki Otsu and Ukyo Sasahara caught up in a huge crash.
The pair came together at 130R, crashing heavily into the barriers, causing extensive damage and sending debris flying onto other parts of the track.
Organisers confirmed that both drivers were successfully rescued from their cars.
But with the clean-up job expected to take hours, it was decided that the eighth round of the Super Formula championship would be abandoned and drivers awarded half points.
Verstappen and Perez braced for qualifying scrap
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez both believe that qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix is going to be extremely competitive.
Friday practice showed that some surprise contenders could also be in the mix for a spot high up on the grid, with the likes of Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas all impressing.
“I think tomorrow is going to be incredibly competitive over one lap,” said Verstappen. “And the race pace again, that’s a different story.”
Meanwhile, Perez added: “Things are looking good but, as we know, [qualifying] is going to be really tight.”
Haas ‘very impressed’ with Bearman
British racing wonderkid Oliver Bearman made a good impression on senior figures at Haas during his rookie run-out in FP1.
The 18-year-old, born in Chelmsford, finished only three-tenths behind team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, posting the 15th-fastest lap time overall.
“I don’t think we can fault him,” said Haas director of engineering Ayao Komatsu. “He’s done really well, all the way from the very initial preparation he’s been very professional, very, very easy to deal with.
“And then every single process I’ve nothing to complain. And today with a calmness he understood the objectives of every single run. He didn’t put a foot wrong, really.”
Leclerc: US GP repeat ‘unlikely’
Charles Leclerc is not holding out hope of Ferrari repeating their superb qualifying performance at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
The Monegasque took pole position in Austin, but after two practice sessions in Mexico, feels that his chances of doing the same again are slim.
“It will be a huge surprise if we achieve pole position, but never say never,” he told F1 TV. “It’s a tricky track, it’s very difficult to put the lap together, but I feel like this weekend we are a bit too far away.
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do. The McLarens seem to be extremely strong, obviously the Red Bull and Max [Verstappen] seem to be very strong, then the Mercedes which is a bit more difficult to read into for now.”
Brundle tips Red Bull regret
F1 pundit Martin Brundle is convinced that Red Bull regret letting Alex Albon leave their driver pool.
The 27-year-old’s short stint with the team ended in disaster as he was replaced by Sergio Perez in 2021.
But Perez has struggled to keep pace with Max Verstappen since, and rumours suggest that he could be replaced.
“[Albon is] settled there [at Williams] and he feels comfortable,” said Brundle. “It’s the stick and the carrot – some drivers do need an arm round their shoulder and reassurance and to be listened to carefully and to feel they’re valued within a team.
“I bet Red Bull wish they still had access to him.”
Marko makes Horner admission
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has admitted that he and team principal Christian Horner have had ‘small misunderstandings’.
There had been rumours suggesting that Horner wanted Marko sacked from his influential role within the team.
But the Austrian has dismissed them as fabrication.
“I think we win too much and there is no real news and then something gets made up,” Marko told Sky Germany.
“In general, the structure and atmosphere in the team is good. It is clear that there are small misunderstandings or different opinions here and there. But everything is fine.”
Norris regrets revealing McLaren’s hand
Lando Norris claims to have done a lap that was ‘too quick for a Friday’ as he finished FP2 only a tenth behind Max Verstappen.
McLaren have been nipping at Red Bull’s heels over the past few weeks, and Norris is still searching for the first Grand Prix win of his career.
“Things could swing very quickly either way,” said the youngster. “I did a very good lap, maybe it was too good for this early in the weekend, but we’ll continue to try and improve.
“We generally always start weekends off quite well, and we always have a good idea of where to put the car to begin with, and it’s not far normally where we end up.”
Russell agrees with Perez on Mexico GP change
George Russell and Sergio Perez have both praised organisers of the Mexican Grand Prix after the decision was taken to reduce the number of admissions to the F1 paddock for the 2023 event.
The Mexican GP is always one of the most anticipated events on the F1 calendar thanks to the passion of the home crowd, but that love for the sport has often led to one of the most hectic paddocks of the season with drivers struggling to make their way past swathes of adoring fans to get to team meetings and media duties.
Perez praised the enthusiasm of his home fans, but admitted that drivers needed to ‘comfortably’ make their way around the paddock.
Russell has since added: “At the end of the day, we’re all here to do a job, and last year, we were struggling just to get from our engineers’ office to the garage without people jumping on us and sticking cameras right in our faces.
“It was a bit of a strange environment. So yeah, I’m happy for the paddock to be packed as long as we’ve all got a sensible way through to get to where we’ve got to be.”
Wolff makes bold disqualification claim
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff suggests that he has no regrets about Lewis Hamilton’s risky set-up at last week’s United States Grand Prix.
Low ride height ultimately saw the Brit disqualified for excessive plank wear, having finished only two seconds behind Max Verstappen.
“I would take the disqualification running for a race win and seeing the performance, rather than ending P3 and 25 seconds adrift,” Wolff told Sky Sports. “Every day of the week I would take the disqualification.”
Lewis Hamilton left speechless
Lewis Hamilton admitted that he ‘did not know what to say’ after being left disappointed by Mercedes’ performance in Friday practice.
The seven-time world champion suggested that his car felt drastically worse than it did in Austin last weekend, casting doubt on whether he will have the pace to challenge Max Verstappen.
“I don’t really know what to say,” he told Sky Sports. “The car is night and day different compared to last week.
“You just never know what you’re going to get with this one. Some days she’s great and some days she’s not.
“It definitely wasn’t a fun day compared to P1 in Austin. We were a bit off but hopefully overnight we can find something and tomorrow maybe the car will be nicer to drive.”
Welcome!
Good morning and welcome to Express Sport‘s F1 LIVE!
The Mexican Grand Prix weekend is now well underway, and we’ve got you covered as time ticks down towards FP3 and qualifying on Saturday evening.
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