The Official 2017 Mexico Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**

[thainy77]

Date(s): Fri 27 Oct – Sun 29 Oct 2017

UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)

All sessions are live on Sky F1 with catch-up on Channel 4.

Session	Day	Sky F1	Session Start	Local Time
Practice 1	Fri	1545	1600	1000
Practice 2	Fri	1945	2000	1400
Practice 3	Sat	1645	1700	1000
Qualifying	Sat	1800	1900	1300
Race	Sun	1730	1900	1300

Live timing for all sessions available here:

https://www.formula1.com/en/f1-live.html

Weather forecast:

http://www.myweather2.com/Motor-Racing/Mexico.aspx



Event timings, steward decisions, technical reports and laptimes for the weekend will appear here:

https://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-c...



2016 podium, Max was relegated by "that steward" this time last year.




Gasley and Hartley to start for Torro Rosso this time around, has Kvyat done enough to secure a drive for 2018?

Edited by thainy77 on Wednesday 25th October 12:26

[thegreenhell]

thainy77 said:

Gasley and Hartley to start for Toro Ross this time around, has Kvyat done enough to secure a drive for 2018?

Kvyat has been permanently dropped from the Red Bull driver programme, so his only hope is at another team.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns37622.html

[Sylvaforever]

[quote=thainy77]Date(s): Fri 27 Oct – Sun 29 Oct 2017

UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)

All sessions are live on Sky F1 with catch-up on Channel 4.

28th Oct
22:00 - Qualifying Highlights
29th Oct
22:30 - Race Highlights

Session	Day	Sky F1	Session Start	Local Time
Practice 1	Fri	1545	1600	1000
Practice 2	Fri	1945	2000	1400
Practice 3	Sat	1645	1700	1000
Qualifying	Sat	1800	1900	1300
Race	Sun	1730	1900	1300

Live timing for all sessions available here:

https://www.formula1.com/en/f1-live.html

Weather forecast:

http://www.myweather2.com/Motor-Racing/Mexico.aspx



Event timings, steward decisions, technical reports and laptimes for the weekend will appear here:

https://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-c...



2016 podium, Max was relegated by "that steward" this time last year.




Gasley and Hartley to start for Torro Rosso this time around, has Kvyat done enough to secure a drive for 2018?

EFA for those of us not in the thrawn of SKY

[thainy77]

thegreenhell said:

Kvyat has been permanently dropped from the Red Bull driver programme, so his only hope is at another team.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns37622.html

I hadn't read that, Marko comes across as a heartless tt. I understand there is no love lost in these matters but there are ways of dealing with things. Perhaps a press release wishing him the best etc. but Marko just doesn't give a st and blurts it out as usual.

[Dr Z]

Expecting Ferrari & RB to be strong here. Ric will probably get the upgrade that Max had in Austin. It will make Hamilton's job much easier as he only needs a 5th place finish to win the title.

[p1stonhead]

Lewis pretty much guaranteed to get the title unless he retires?

[Alfa numeric]

Some interesting stats on the BBC website. I hadn't realised that Lewis has finished every race in the points. That's pretty impressive, even with the perceived car advantage.

ETA the picture doesn't want to hotlink so I've removed it.

[Dr Z]

p1stonhead said:

Lewis pretty much guaranteed to get the title unless he retires?

He can DNF twice, and still would only need a 5th place finish in one of the three remaining races, with Vettel winning all three.

Just for interest, it would be fun to have Hamilton DNF the next two races, and seal it in Abu Dhabi when it will be live FTA.

[p1stonhead]

Dr Z said:

p1stonhead said:

Lewis pretty much guaranteed to get the title unless he retires?

He can DNF twice, and still would only need a 5th place finish in one of the three remaining races, with Vettel winning all three.

Just for interest, it would be fun to have Hamilton DNF the next two races, and seal it in Abu Dhabi when it will be live FTA.

Ok so 99.9999% sealed in one way or another then. Outside the top 5 for one race and two DNF's is pretty much impossible.

[DIW35]

p1stonhead said:

Ok so 99.9999% sealed in one way or another then. Outside the top 5 for one race and two DNF's is pretty much impossible.

Take another look at his rookie season to see how the last few races worked out for him allowing Kimi to pip him for the title.

[K50 DEL]

Dr Z said:

Just for interest, it would be fun to have Hamilton DNF the next two races, and seal it in Abu Dhabi when it will be live FTA.

Given that I shall be there in person again this year I wholeheartedly agree with you.... I'd love to see the championship still alive in AUH

[sandman77]

DIW35 said:

Take another look at his rookie season to see how the last few races worked out for him allowing Kimi to pip him for the title.

He got a 1st, RET and 7th in the last three races of 2007. The same results this year would see him comfortably win the WDC.

[thegreenhell]

If it does go down to the last race from here then I'm calling it a fix. WWF1...

[Dr Z]

DIW35 said:

p1stonhead said:

Ok so 99.9999% sealed in one way or another then. Outside the top 5 for one race and two DNF's is pretty much impossible.

Take another look at his rookie season to see how the last few races worked out for him allowing Kimi to pip him for the title.

Funnily enough (or not), he needed to only place 5th in one of the final two races then...

[HustleRussell]

Bring back double points for Abu Dhabi, that what I say!

(remember that? Farcical!)

Thanks for kicking us off OP.

[rdjohn]

thainy77 said:

I hadn't read that, Marko comes across as a heartless tt. I understand there is no love lost in these matters but there are ways of dealing with things. Perhaps a press release wishing him the best etc. but Marko just doesn't give a st and blurts it out as usual.

This was discussed on C4. For once I agree with EJ, the RB driver program exists to identify drivers who can win a GP. It has been hugely successful in that objective.

I am not sure that Hartley is more deserving of the drive than DK, but at least he is being given a second chance. Alguersuari and Kyviat are good drivers, just not good enough, but if you look at Marko’s hit rate with Vettel, Ricciardo, Verstappen and Sainz, it is pretty impressive.

Gratitude is also better expressed in private - that rubs both ways, given the huge cost of supporting drivers through their minor championships.

[rdjohn]

Dr Z said:

Expecting Ferrari & RB to be strong here. Ric will probably get the upgrade that Max had in Austin. It will make Hamilton's job much easier as he only needs a 5th place finish to win the title.

Looking at the predicted temperatures, I feel certain that you are right.

However, the big unknown is what the effects of high altitude will be? Perhaps it will mean that Mercedes can pile on the downforce, knowing that their compressor can be worked harder and therfore be able to manage their tyres better than would be the case at sea level.

Last weeks race was affected by fuel saving - that was why Kimi was running so slowly at the end. Those long straights need power.

[Derek Smith]

rdjohn said:

Looking at the predicted temperatures, I feel certain that you are right.

However, the big unknown is what the effects of high altitude will be? Perhaps it will mean that Mercedes can pile on the downforce, knowing that their compressor can be worked harder and therfore be able to manage their tyres better than would be the case at sea level.

Last weeks race was affected by fuel saving - that was why Kimi was running so slowly at the end. Those long straights need power.

I'm confused. The air is thinner. Why does this bother Merc more than Ferrari? With the long straights one (at least this one) might have thought it would suit Merc, just like the last race. Yet according to what I've been reading, the thinner air means it is a Ferrari shut out.

[anonymous-user]

They will run Monaco levels of wing in Mexico and maximise the cooling, but that only gives Monza levels of downforce and less cooling capacity than normal, due to the altitude.

Power level will be based on how efficient the turbo airflow is, in other words who compromised their peak turbo performance more for normally unused turbo flow. To get the same power they will have to run much higher turbine speeds to produce the same airflow at sea level, but as that is limited to 125K rpm, it's unlikely they have a great deal of headroom there. That means they wont be able to use all the available fuel even if they run flat out for the race.

[Derek Smith]

jsf said:

They will run Monaco levels of wing in Mexico and maximise the cooling, but that only gives Monza levels of downforce and less cooling capacity than normal, due to the altitude.

Power level will be based on how efficient the turbo airflow is, in other words who compromised their peak turbo performance more for normally unused turbo flow. To get the same power they will have to run much higher turbine speeds to produce the same airflow at sea level, but as that is limited to 125K rpm, it's unlikely they have a great deal of headroom there. That means they wont be able to use all the available fuel even if they run flat out for the race.

Thanks for that. Interesting about the fuel 'savings'.

Had the WDC still been up for grabs, I assume Merc and Ferrari would have gone for more exciting settings, risking reliability.