Beyond the fight for the World Championship that Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are waging, Spanish drivers need to score points at the Mexican GP to help their teams reach the goal. Ferrari’s is to be third in the Constructors’ World Championship and for this he will have to cut 3.5 points from McLaren . Alpine , for its part, wants to maintain fifth place by making good the 10 points that it has of advantage over an AlphaTauri that seems faster on paper. After the Free Practice held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso already know where their rivals are.
In the case of Ferrari, you can be optimistic for the Mexican GP. Neither McLaren have been in the top 10 or in FP1, where Daniel Ricciardo was fourteenth and Lando Norris fifteenth; nor in Free Practice 2, where Norris finished twelfth and Daniel Ricciardo fifteenth. Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, progressed from sixth position in the first practice session to fifth in the second. Also progressing was his teammate Leclerc , who was eighth in FP1 and seventh in FP2.
As for Alpine, Pierre Gasly was faster than Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon in both sessions. The AlphaTauri driver was fifth in FP1 and sixth in FP2. Alonso , meanwhile, finished seventh in the first session and tenth in the second. Worse was Esteban Ocon . Although he was ninth in FP1, in FP2 he finished fourteenth, out of the Top-10. In favor of Alpine in its battle with AlphaTauri plays the irregularity of Yuki Tsunoda , who was also not among the top ten in the first session and who could only be eighth in the second.
Verstappen put Mercedes in her place
Regarding the fight for the World Cup, Max Verstappen , who faces the Mexican GP with a 12-point advantage over Lewis Hamilton , put the Mercedes in their place in Free Practice 2. The Dutchman set the best time ahead of Bottas and Hamilton, who were second and third respectively. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were the first two in Free Practice 1 ahead of Verstappen. Sergio Pérez , who will be a local driver in this race, was fourth in both sessions. The result of the Mexican gives more value to the fifth place of Carlos Sainz in the Free 2. The Madrid was the first of the mortals. The Top-10 was completed by Sebastian Vettel, who was eighth behind Tsunoda and ahead of Fernando Alonso. The German was also in the top ten in Free Practice 1, a session that ended in tenth position.
It should be noted that although Carlos Sainz finished sixth, he did lead FP1 when he mounted a new set of soft tires. It did not so well for his teammate Charles Leclerc, who braked from stop hitting the rear of his vehicle and breaking the wing. Luckily for the Monegasque, Ferrari repaired his cars without problems. Red Bull could also do the same with Sergio Pérez, who suffered the same fate as Leclerc minutes later.
Free Results 1
FP1 CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP1)
Here’s how things end after our first hour of action#MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/wzV30Uyy5i
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 5, 2021
Free Results 2
And that’s a wrap 🏁
Full results from FP2#MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/yzwjUmwK0b
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 5, 2021
