Losers

Fernando Alonso

It was another frustrating day for🌱 Fernando Alonso in Mexico after his latest retirement cost him seventh-place.

Alonso wa𓆏s running comfortably in th൩e points on Sunday until he encountered another engine-related issue.

It was clear that he was struggling when teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Esteban Ocon powered past him a few lap♍s before his eventual retirement.

"Unbelievabജle. What a season, what a season," Alonso said over team radio when retiring from the race on Lap 65.

Remarkably, it was Alonso’s fifth retirement of the year, six if y♊ou include an issue which meant he couldn’t start the sprint in Austriᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚa.

Let’s not forget the mechanical issuᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚe that cost him a top five position on the grid in Australia.

A cruel run of bad luck whiꦇch according to Alonso has cost him around “60 points” thi🌳s season.

Ferrari

Ferrari endured their worst weekend of the season in terms of outright performance as 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Carlos Sainz finished over 40 seconds off the lead in fifth.

Ferrari have often performed best at high downꦇfꦿorce circuits so it was surprising to see them struggle so much for pace.

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Charles Leclerc hinted after the race that they🧔 went in the wrong direction setup wise, while there were murmurings that Ferrari were forced to turn their engine down due it strugglinꦇg with the high altitude.

A poor weekend overall and one which would have left the whole teღam confused.

Alfa Romeo

After starring in qualifying, it was a missed opportunity for 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Valtteri Bottas and Alfa Romeo at the Autodromo Hermanos R𒉰odriguez.

A sluggis🦹h start dropped him behind Alonso, who he was unable to pass in the first stint despite being clearly quicker. 

Bottas was one of a handful of midfield drivers to switch𝓡 to the hard tyre, and he struggled more than most 🍒to get them up to temperature.

He was overtaken by 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Daniel Ricciardo, Ocon and Lando Nor🥀ris, nearly los🔴ing out to Pierre Gasly on the final lap.

𝐆Bottas ended his own points drought, but it should have been a lot more for hi🌞m and Alfa Romeo.

Given that they had the fourth faꦛstest car in Mexico, t൲o come away one point is incredibly disappointing.

Pierre Gasly 

Pierre Gasly must be count🐬ing down the days before his Alpine switch.

It was another difficult afternoon for the🃏 Frenchman, who narrowly missed out on a points finish by just ౠ0.6s.

Had it not been for his five-second time penalty, he probably would have bea🎐ten Bottas to finish inside the top 10.

While the result wasn’tꦇ too bad on paper, the repercussions of his latest penalty are more severe.

Gasly is now just two penalty points away from a race ban, with none of his existing super licence points ex꧅piring until May 2023.

Winners 

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen continues to break records in F1 as he claimed his 14th v🐲ictory of the year.

He was kept honest by Lewis Hamilton in the opening stint of the race🦹 but once Mercedes opted to switch to the hard tyre during the pit stop phase, the race was done and dusted.

Verstappen also broke the record for the most points🐷 scored in a single season - 4👍16 to Hamilton’s 413 in 2019.

Another incredible weeke꧋nd for Verstappen - unstoppable. 

Mercedes 

It was a strong day for Mercedes as Hamilton finished second, while George Russel𓆉l picked up fourth-place with the fastest lap.

The main positive for Mercedes is that they were clearly the second-fastest car in✱ Mexico and had the pace to challenge Red Bull had they been on the correct strategy.

Mercedes simply got it wrong with strategy.

Toto Wolff told Sky Sports F1 ahead of the race that Mercedes plan to b𝄹e “aggressive” with strategy.

Us🦩ing the two most durable compounds wasn’t particularly aggressive from Mercedes.

In performance terms (and points scored), Mercedes are clear winners, however, they didn’t put up much of a fightဣ when they should have based on the first stint of the race.

Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren

Welcome back Daniel Ricciardo!

It wasn’t🔯 a perfect race by any means for the Austraꦆlian, colliding with Yuki Tsunoda and picking up a 10-second time penalty in the process.

However, Ricciardo put in his best drive of the season as he🍌 made the most of the soft tyres in the second half of the race.

Granted, the Alpines, Bottas and teammate Norris struggled on the hard tyre, but Ricciardo m💃ade it work.

Let’s not forget that just over one week ago, Ricciardo was battling Nicho꧋laꦕs Latifi at COTA.

Strategy🧸 did play its part, but that’s the🔴 nature of F1.