Following the Austin GP, Lando Norris found himself in a fortunate position as Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification saw him finish P2. However, the Briton was well aware of where he stands as opposed to Max Verstappen. Following the race in Austin, Norris came forward to admit he was perhaps too quick to issue a challenge to Red Bull, as McLaren is still far from taking the fight to the constructor’s champions.
Ahead of the Mexico City GP, Red Bull Chief Advisor Helmut Marko echoed the words of Norris. AutoRacing1 reports that Marko believes there isn’t much of a competition between the two teams in the longer run.
“I don’t think he can quite maintain that speed over a race distance. He is still better than Oscar Piastri, but their tyre wear is worse than ours.”
Since the Singapore GP, McLaren has become the second-fastest team on the grid. While it is a huge achievement for the Woking-based team, there’s still a huge gap to Red Bull. With there being no strong signs of a challenge from the second-fastest team, Max Verstappen would look forward to an easy race win in Mexico. Should this be the case, not only will the Dutchman record his 16th win of the season, but will also break the record for most wins in an F1 season, currently held by him (15).
A clean sweep on Friday means Verstappen is once again a heavy favorite to record a race win with ease. However, a case can be made for the Mercedes cars, given the lack of challenge from McLaren and Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri.
Mercedes would hope to continue their form after Lando Norris no longer in the running
Last week, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton had their best race of the season. The former world champion was 2.2 seconds away from beating Verstappen but could not achieve the feat. However, it all ended in naught for Hamilton, as a disqualification meant he would walk away with no points. Despite the result, great running on the weekend gave much-needed confidence to Mercedes, and they would be hoping to continue the same once racing begins in Mexico.
However, Friday’s practice sessions were a sorry sight for Mercedes, as their best finish came as a P7, courtesy of Hamilton. The 38-year-old was far from satisfied with the W14 and complained of not enjoying the same pace as he did in Austin.
🗣️ lewis hamilton simply exposing the psychological torture that rbr does to sergio perez and everyone knows it happens but no one has enough courage to speak . pic.twitter.com/8IRcDom7oZ
— ★ (@dearlews) October 27, 2023
Despite the complaints, Hamilton is hopeful of the car finding its pace as the weekend progresses. Contrary to the start of the season, Hamilton feels much more confident in the car and wants to end the season on a high, hoping to overtake Sergio Perez in the driver’s championship. However, the complaints also signal that Red Bull and Max Verstappen might once again run unopposed and win the race in Mexico without much trouble.
