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Save for a brief virtual safety car intrusion, the Mexican Grand Prix ran uninterrupted – and it played out largely as a game of strategy, with several Formula 1 drivers either markedly benefitting or getting the short end of the stick based on how their Sundays were executed from the pitwall.
But, looking through the noise of strategic variance, who was actually most impressive at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez?
After each grand prix, The Race will rate each driver’s weekend with a mark out of 10.
An average mark is 5 out of 10, so that score is indicative of a decent drive given the high standard of drivers in F1.
For a more in-depth explanation, read our outline of the system.
Started: 1st Finished: 1st
Qualifying
Verstappen was under pressure heading into Q3, but put together two strong laps both good enough for pole position. That he was one of only four drivers to string together their theoretical ideal lap based on best sector times shows the quality of his pole lap.
Race
This was another example of Verstappen making the exceptional look run-of-the-mill. Although he had the better strategy than Mercedes, he executed his soft/medium one-stopper superbly.
Verdict:
Continues to make it look far easier than it really, although lack of Mercedes challenge meant he didn’t have to stretch himself.
Started: 4th Finished: 3rd
Qualifying
Considering he suffered an electrical problem that made qualifying “a big mess”, Perez did a good job to qualify fourth only 0.353s off Verstappen. Brake balance problems, the lack of delta times and a Q1 DRS problem were all factors.
Race
Passed Russell through the first complex to run third and there he stayed, stopping for mediums on lap 23 and running to the end.
Despite Russell’s 11-lap tyre offset (albeit running hards), he kept the Mercedes driver at arm’s length to take a popular podium after finishing 18 seconds behind Verstappen.
Verdict:
Not at Verstappen’s level, but still a good weekend’s work.
Started: 3rd Finished: 2nd
Qualifying
Cut the inside of Turn 2 on his first Q3 run and had the lap deleted as a result. The minor error forced him to be “reserved” on his final attempt, which combined with an engine oscillation that compromised him on corner exits added up to third place, six thousandths behind Russell.
Race
Held third into the first corner, but was able to get past Russell at Turn 3 to run second. Starting on mediums compared to Verstappen’s softs, he stayed with him in the first stint but the switch to hards on lap 29 didn’t work out and left him a distant second.
Verdict:
Closely matched with his team-mate, with the start key to winning the intra-team duel.
Started: 2nd Finished: 4th
Qualifying
Described himself as “in such a good groove” despite sitting out FP1 for Nyck de Vries and was in the hunt for pole position. His banker lap was good enough for second on the grid and the second started well, as despite a moment at Turn 5 he was only 0.024s off Verstappen after two sectors. But a lock-up coming into the stadium while “trying too hard” led to him going off and losing the lap when he felt pole position was there for the taking.
Race
Russell reckoned his conservatism in not chopping Hamilton at Turn 1 led to him being shuffled back to fourth after clobbering the Turn 2 kerb and then being passed by Perez after running wide out of Turn 3 while side by side with Hamilton.
He wanted to extend on mediums then switch to softs, but was brought in for hards and the expected tyre drop-off from Perez never came, meaning he was firmly fourth.
Verdict:
Superbly quick, but the disappointment of his final Q3 lap meant he wasn’t able to make the most of it.
Started: 7th Finished: 6th
Qualifying
A needless crash in FP2 was a bad start to the weekend and things got worse on Saturday with an engine problem that resulted in his worst qualifying position of the season. The time loss to Sainz on the straights was clear, as was the deficit to Bottas that left Leclerc seventh.
Race
Jumped ahead of Bottas at the start and drove around in sixth place behind his team-mate in what he called a “lonely” race. He didn’t feel that he could have extracted any more pace than Sainz ahead, finishing nine seconds behind.
Verdict:
Qualifying engine troubles and Ferrari’s car pace meant there wasn’t a great deal more he could have done.
Started: 5th Finished: 5th
Qualifying
Ferrari was struggling at altitude and wasn’t riding the kerbs well, but Sainz was unhappy with his fastest Q3 lap – giving away just over three tenths to his personal best in the first sector thanks to a poor run through Turns 1-3.
Race
Held fifth at the start, and never looked like doing any better or worse throughout the whole race. Given the Ferrari pace deficit to the front, there wasn’t anything more he could have done.
Verdict:
Although he maximised his qualifying and race position, qualifying could have been better – but there was ultimately little to fight for.
Started: 11th Finished: 7th
Qualifying
Missed out on a Q3 place by half a tenth, having lapped two tenths off Norris. Felt a top-10 place was “definitely achievable”. The start of the lap was similar to Norris’s, but time started to slip away from Turn 4 onwards.
Race
Lost a couple of places at the start to run 13th, but soon picked off Zhou. Ran to lap 44 on mediums then took softs, which gave him prodigious pace in the last 26 laps of the race.
He climbed from 13th after his stop to seventh, the first of those places gained with his ambitious pass on Tsunoda that put the AlphaTauri driver out and earned Ricciardo a 10-second penalty. He also jumped Zhou and passed Norris (thanks to team orders) then Bottas, the ailing Alonso and Ocon – then pulled a gap big enough to nullify the penalty.
Verdict:
Underlying pace disadvantage to Norris and Tsunoda collision dent his rating despite late charge.
Started: 8th Finished: 9th
Qualifying
Both Norris and McLaren were happy with the pace of he final Q3 lap, with the gap of three tenths off Bottas suggesting that doing better than eighth wasn’t on the cards. Norris was also, along with Verstappen, one of only two Q3 drivers to string together their hypothetical best lap.
Race
Lost a couple of places at the start to an average launch, running 10th in the first stint. The switch to hards after 31 laps meant for a long and not especially fast final stint. But while he let the far quicker soft-shod Ricciardo past, he overtook Bottas and picked up another place when Alonso retired to take ninth.
Verdict:
A stronger weekend than the final result suggests, due to using hards.
Started: 10th Finished: 8th
Qualifying
Gave away a little time in the first sector thanks to struggling at the entry to Turn 1, although ultimately the key difference between him and Alonso was through the stadium section, where Ocon was also struggling slightly on corner entry, having found the car less to his liking in the final part of qualifying.
Race
Gained a place to run ninth ahead of Norris in the first stint but did a good job in his hard stint, passing Bottas and then moving ahead of the ailing Alonso. He was powerless to keep soft-shod Ricciardo at bay, ending up eighth after having managed the cooling troubles well.
Verdict:
Qualifying wasn’t perfect, but he produced a well-executed race drive.
Started: 9th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Opted not to do a used-tyre run in Q3, so ran out of phase and started his sole qualifying lap with just under four minutes of qualifying remaining and therefore a clear track. He put that to good use, ending up a couple of tenths off Norris largely thanks to time lost in the slower corners.
Race
Passed Bottas at the start and was on course to finish seventh as best of the rest when he first started to lose time and drop back after his engine dropped a cylinder then ultimately failed.
Verdict:
Did everything right before the engine let him down.
Started: 14th Finished: 11th
Qualifying
Confidence was high after Friday, but things took a turn for the worse on Saturday. Gasly complained of a lack of grip and felt that the lap that put him 14th was a good one despite being around a tenth off Tsunoda, having made big gains with his final attempt.
Race
Just missed out on the points after a Ricciardo-esque charge on softs in the final stint (his pace was only around a tenth and a half off the McLaren driver). But he had cost himself with a five-second penalty issued for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while overtaking Stroll in the first stint.
Verdict:
Five-second penalty undermined a decently-executed race, although his peak pace over the weekend wasn’t as good as Tsunoda’s.
Started: 13th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Felt that he at least had the pace to be 11th and potentially even in Q3. But traffic on his prep lap for the final attempt resulted in a poor first sector. The rest of the lap was strong, but he and the car definitely had another few tenths in the locker.
Race
Was running 11th when Ricciardo lunged him at Turn 6 and tipped the AlphaTauri briefly into the air. The resulting damage put Tsunoda out. Running a soft/medium strategy, he likely would have just missed out on points had he made the finish.
Verdict:
Quicker than his team-mate in qualifying and was unfortunate in the race.
Started: 16th Finished: 14th
Qualifying
Set an identical time to Schumacher, but was classified behind thanks to completing his lap second. “I can’t believe it, we’re so slow” was his summary, although he did at least turn around a deficit of a few hundredths to Stroll entering the stadium section into a one-tenth advantage.
Race
Ran 15th early on and ran a marathon first stint on soft tyres all the way to lap 39. While 14th was a disappointing result on paper, regardless of strategy the Aston Martin lacked the pace to do any better.
Verdict:
Had the edge on his team-mate on a poor weekend for Aston Martin.
Started: 20h Finished: 15th
Qualifying
Stroll had an advantage of a few hundredths over Vettel entering the stadium section, but a more ragged run through the final part of the lap meant he ended up behind. Already had a three-place grid penalty for the Alonso clash at Austin looming over him, guaranteeing him a place on the back row.
Race
Gained five places on the first lap despite a so-so launch thanks to good choices in the first three corners with the highlight swooping round the outside of Gasly’s AlphaTauri in Turn 2. He was rightly unhappy to be forced off track at Turn 4 by Gasly on lap 13, although it cost him little time. Running 16th, he switched to softs early on lap 17, effectively locking into a two-stopper with a second soft stint that made no difference to his finishing position.
Verdict:
A solid weekend given the machinery, with the start the highlight.
Started: 18th Finished: 18th
Qualifying
The weekend started well for Latifi, but FP1 proved the high point as it got progressively more difficult in subsequent sessions. Struggling for grip, he was four tenths off Albon in Q1, although did also complain of a slight power loss.
Race
One of only two drivers to run a two-stop strategy, he felt that his pace was dramatically slower than it would have been after picking up damage early in the race that he suspected was from a kerb impact. That meant a lonely last place.
Verdict:
A difficult weekend compounded by problems.
Started: 17th Finished: 12th
Qualifying
Albon was on for a big improvement on his final Q1 run, only for the rear to step out entering the sweepers. He gathered up the moment and completed the lap, but there was no longer any chance of improving even if the track limits violation hadn’t meant it would be deleted.
Race
Ran a medium/soft strategy that allowed him to recover well after his disappointing qualifying. He came close to points, although losing a place to the quicker Gasly when on the brink of catching Bottas meant the top 10 proved tantalisingly out of reach.
Verdict:
With a better qualifying, a points finish might have been possible given his pace.
Started: 12th Finished: 13th
Qualifying
Was unable to get anywhere near team-mate Bottas’s pace, with the first sector the one he said he struggled with most but the middle sector also time-sapping. Even so, the pace of the Alfa Romeo was good enough for him to miss out on Q2 only by a couple of tenths despite the 0.714s deficit to Bottas.
Race
Unlike his team-mate, Zhou did use the softs after an initial 45-lap stint on mediums – at one stage attempting to hold up Ocon to help Bottas. That allowed him to produce an attacking final stint, climbing to 13th.
Verdict:
Was far further off Bottas on pace than usual.
Started: 6th Finished: 10th
Qualifying
On inspired form all weekend, he breezed through Q1 using only one set of tyres (he ran used softs for the second run) and was comfortably best-of-the-rest throughout. Leclerc’s engine troubles even allowed him to pick up sixth place with a qualifying performance that was the equal of arguably the best of his 19 F1 pole positions here in 2021.
Race
Lost places to Leclerc and Alonso at the start thanks to an average launch, which put him eighth. The plan was to run long and then switch to softs, but he was brought in for hards as he was starting to lose time. Ocon then passed him through Turn 1 on the first flying lap of his final stint, with Norris, also running hards, overtaking him late on.
But he did at least hold off Gasly for the final point, admitting that taking softs would have been preferable given he couldn’t get the hard front tyres up to the right temperature window.
Verdict:
Inspired in qualifying, but the switch to hards in the race meant he only just hung onto a point.
Started: 19th Finished: 17th
Qualifying
Taking a new V6 engine meant a five-place grid penalty, although he still managed to put a Haas into Q2 in Mexico for the first time in six events here. However, with qualifying not a major focus, he would have been outpaced by Schumacher without his team-mate’s track limits penalty.
Race
Magnussen was shuffled back to last in the early laps by Albon and Latifi after starting on mediums. He found the race to be a somewhat futile exercise given the Haas’s lack of pace but did close in on Schumacher towards the end and would have got ahead with a few more laps.
Verdict:
On a hiding to nothing given grid penalty and car pace.
Started: 15th Finished: 16th
Qualifying
Showed a promising turn of pace and would have comfortably made Q2 but for having the first lap of his final run deleted for exceeding track limits at the apex of Turn 2. But while he complained that the bollard should mark the track limit, this was a repeat of the same error he made in qualifying for the French Grand Prix and therefore one he should have been wary of.
Race
Given Haas lacked pace, Schumacher never looked like making much progress, sliding behind Albon early on then finishing ahead only of his team-mate and Latifi. As he ran a soft/medium strategy, the inverse of Magnussen’s, he came under pressure from his team-mate late on but stayed just ahead.
Verdict:
Should have qualified better and the repeat bollard error was frustrating, although there was little he could do in the race.
