The first day at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was clearly marked by the low temperatures that led to multiple problems of graining on all the participants, especially with the compound superblando. Sebastian Vettel finished the day as the fastest rider, followed only four thousandths Lewis Hamilton. The Force India offered some very positive sensations, but Williams also left behind on a day in which Red Bull saw its performance was lower than expected.
things have not improved Saturday in the area of tires and the drivers had problems to operate correctly the compound superblando. Many even had to make more than one lap to get temperature in the tyres. Lewis Hamilton took the tenth pole position of the season, while Nico Rosberg minimized damage to the to get to beat the Red bulls in Q3. Carlos Sainz returned to marvel in the classification with his tenth place, one ahead of Fernando Alonso, who will be able to choose tyres for the race.
below, we review a pilot to pilot the highlight of your weekend.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton
Friday: The track is better than that in 2015 and it feels a lot more comfortable in the car.
Saturday: Unhappy with his lap of Q3 which, despite everything, earned him the pole. You think that would have been able to extract three or four tenths more from the car.
Nico Rosberg
Friday: The track was very green and cold temperatures complicated the understanding of the tyres.
Saturday: Got to find a rhythm at the last moment and was able to defeat the Red Bull because of this.
| Pilot | Free 1 | Free 2 | Rows L1+L2 | Free 3 | Vtas | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HAM | 1:20.914 (1) | 1:19.794 (2nd) | 34+37 | 1:1.231 (2nd) | 23 | 1:19.447 (1) | 1:19.137 (2nd) | 1:18.704 (1) |
| ROS | 1:21.673 (7th) | 1:20.225 (3rd) | 32+46 | 1:19.618 (4th) | 27 | 1:19.996 (6th) | 1:19.761 (5th) | 1:18.958 (2º) |
Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel
Friday: The car worked very well in all conditions. Had a lot of traffic and the superblando is especially difficult to make work.
Saturday: Very disappointed “because the car is fast”. With the soft compound all goes well, but the superblando does not work.
Kimi Räikkönen
Friday: Had problems with to build temperature in the tires.
Saturday: he Lost the good feelings of Q1 in the next round, but returned to retrieve them in Q3. In your first try you made a mistake and in the second it lost power.
| Pilot | Free 1 | Free 2 | Rows L1+L2 | Free 3 | Vtas | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VET | 1:20.993 (2nd) | 1:19.790 (1) | 23+47 | 1:19.937 (6th) | 16 | 1:19.865 (4th) | 1:19.385 (3rd) | 1:19.381 (7th) |
| RAI | 1:21.072 (3rd) | 1:20.259 (4th) | 19+37 | 1:19.994 (7th) | 16 | 1:19.554 (2nd) | 1:19.936 (7th) | 1:19.376 (6th) |
Williams
Valtteri Bottas
Friday: The car is going well in race conditions with the superblando and the environment, the situation has improved compared to previous races.
Saturday: Good classification in which he finished as expected. Worried about having to start with the superblando.
Felipe Massa
Friday: Very difficult to understand the tyres with such little grip.
Saturday: Tried to run the superblando in multiple ways, but it didn’t work.
| Pilot | Free 1 | Free 2 | Rows L1+L2 | Free 3 | Vtas | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOT | 1:21.447 (6th) | 1:20.629 (8th) | 34+41 | 1:19.811 (5th) | 19 | 1:20.338 (8th) | 1:19.958 (8th) | 1:19.551 (8th) |
| MORE | 1:21.836 (9th) | 1:21.326 (13th) | 31+45 | 1:19.997 (8th) | 22 | 1:20.423 (9th) | 1:20.151 (9th) | 1:20.032 (9th) |
Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo
Friday: it Was complicated to find the right setting with the low temperatures. The compound superblando does not perform well on long runs.
Saturday: Scored his lap of Q3 of “terrible”. In the first sector lost four tenths from its last lap, the track is still very slippery.
Max Verstappen
Friday: he Lost a great part of the first session by an overheating of the brakes, which resulted in a fire. Has found a good setup for race conditions, but there is still much fine-tuning.
Saturday: Very happy with the result and with the car. Suffered a little in the first sector and was somewhat slower in Q3 than in the previous session.
| Pilot | Free 1 | Free 2 | Rows L1+L2 | Free 3 | Vtas | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RIC | 1:21.727 (8th) | 1:20.448 (5th) | 27+43 | 1:19.370 (3rd) | 17 | 1:19.713 (3rd) | 1:19.553 (4th) | 1:19.133 (4th) |
| SEE | 1:22.877 (14th) | 1:20.619 (7th) | 10+42 | 1:19.137 (1) | 16 | 1:19.874 (5th) | 1:18.972 (1) | 1:19.054 (3rd) |
Force India
Sergio Perez
Friday: it Was very good in the first session, but damaged the floor in the curve 11 during the second.
Saturday: The first attempt of Q2 was with the soft compound, by changing the superblando in the second. Made a mistake at turn 1 and lost the option to pass round.
Nico Hülkenberg
Friday: note a lot of the altitude to the hour of to use the downforce, but the car has gone pretty well.
Saturday: Very pleased with the behavior of the car, especially satisfied with his lap of Q3 which, possibly, has been the best of the year.
| Pilot | Free 1 | Free 2 | Rows L1+L2 | Free 3 | Vtas | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PER | 1:21.200 (4th) | 1:21.579 (15th) | 23+41 | 1:20.472 (11th) | 20 | 1:20.308 (7th) | 1:20.287 (12th) | – |
| HUL | 1:21.409 (5th) | 1:20.574 (6th) | 23+43 | 1:20.255 (9th) | 21 | 1:20.599 (12th) | 1:19.769 (6th) | 1:19.330 (5º) |
Renault
Kevin Magnussen
Friday: Your first time in this circuit was well and have progressed with the car.
Saturday: With the rise of temperature with respect to the free practice of the morning, the car improved.
Jolyon Palmer
Friday: Still need to work to find a good balance with the set point.
Saturday: The car was going very well in the third practice session, but hit a piano and broke the chassis, having lost the rating.
| Pilot | Libris 1 | Free 2 | Rows L1+L2 | Free 3 | Vtas | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAG | 1:23.556 (19th) | 1:21.442 (14th) | 32+39 | 1:21.345 (18th) | 17 | 1:21.254 (14th) | 1:21.131 (14th) | – |
| PAL | 1:24.097 (21st) | 1:21.785 (16th) | 35+44 | 1:20.959 (14º) | 18 | – | – | – |
Toro Rosso
Daniil Kvyat
Friday: Happy with the result of the work done, although the cold complicated things.
Saturday: he Lost power due to an electrical failure on his first lap of Q1, being removed.
Carlos Sainz
Friday: it Was a challenge to make work the pneumatic superblando with the cold.
Saturday: Very happy to reach Q3 without expecting it, especially with the difficult conditions of the track.
| Pilot | Free 1 | Free 2 | Rows L1+L2 | Free 3 | Vtas | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KVY | 1:22.215 (10th) | 1:21.193 (11th) | 29+39 | 1:20.586 (12th) | 20 | 1:21.454 (18º) | – | – |
| SAI | 1:22.563 (12th) | 1:20.974 (9th) | 32+46 | 1:20.325 (10th) | 22 | 1:20.457 (10th) | 1:20.169 (10th) | 1:20.378 (10th) |
Sauber
Marcus Ericsson
Friday: Happy with the day, although it recognizes that you still need to find a way to work with the car in conditions as cold.
Saturday: The team is working in the right direction and the result is satisfactory.
Felipe Nasr
Friday: A broken front wing while passing by a piano made him lose time on track.
Saturday: he Copied the commissioning of Ericsson, but it didn’t work. Without grip in the curve.
| Pilot | Free 1 | Free 2 | Rows L1+L2 | Free 3 | Vtas | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ERI | 1:22.723 (13th) | 1:21.997 (18th) | 17+42 | 1:21.245 (16th) | 21 | 1:21.062 (13th) | 1:21.536 (15th) | – |
| NAS | 1:23.089 (17th) | 1:22.037 (19th) | 12+43 | 1:22.354 (22nd) | 18 | 1:21.692 (19º) | – | – |
McLaren
Fernando Alonso
Friday: The degradation is very significant, although expected to improve as the asphalt pick up rubber. Stood up at the end of the second session due to a problem on the brakes.
Saturday: The best position possible by proximity to the area of points and freedom of choice of tyres for the race. The degradation will be key in the race.
Jenson Button
Friday: a Lot of graining with the superblando, the mdio works better than the rest of compounds.
Saturday: Their time did so with superblandos used, since we could not run the new ones in the first sector.
| Pilot | Free 1 | Free 2 | Rows L1+L2 | Free 3 | Vtas | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALO | 1:23.089 (16th) | 1:21.003 (10th) | 25+25 | 1:20.600 (13th) | 18 | 1:20.552 (11th) | 1:20.282 (11th) | – |
| BUT | 1:23.342 (18th) | 1:21.198 (12th) | 24+39 | 1:21.152 (15th) | 19 | 1:21.333 (15th) | 1:20.673 (13º) | – |
Manor
Pascal Wehrlein
Friday: Very happy with the day, working with the soft compound and medium mainly.
Saturday: Very happy to move on to Q2 for the fourth time this year.
Esteban Ocon
Friday: Many difficulties with the maneuverability of the car and have not managed to improve.
Saturday: Still having problems to control the car despite having the second best tip speed of the grill.
| Pilot | Free 1 | Free 2 | Rows L1+L2 | Free 3 | Vtas | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEH | 1:24.350 (22nd) | 1:21.980 (17th) | 28+42 | 1:21.758 (20th) | 23 | 1:21.363 (16th) | 1:21.785 (16th) | – |
| OCO | 1:24.083 (20th) | 1:22.298 (21st) | 30+44 | 1:21.921 (21st) | 22 | 1:21.881 (20º) | – | – |
Haas
Romain Grosjean
Friday: The second session was disastrous, having to change the ecu.
Saturday: Very puzzled, the car became worse after the improvement of the third session of free and is inconducible.
Esteban Gutierrez
Friday: Very little grip, especially in the second session.
Saturday: he spun on his last lap of Q1, ruining in addition to the back of your partner.
| Pilot | Free 1 | Free 2 | Rows L1+L2 | Free 3 | Vtas | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GRO | 1:22.500 (11th) | 1:22.105 (20th) | 21+14 | 1:21.601 (19th) | 15 | 1:21.916 (21º) | – | – |
| GUT | 1:22.910 (15th) | 1:22.408 (22nd) | 23+33 | 1:21.338 (17th) | 16 | 1:21.401 (17th) | – | – |
The tyres available for the race
The decisions of the commissioners
Jolyon Palmer is authorized by the commissioners to take part in the race despite not having participated in the classification.
photos
The chronicles of the Grand Prize
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