Will damaged F1 cars have to retire? What to watch for at the 2022 Mexican GP

F1
- Last updated: October 29th 2022

Challenges abound for F1 teams in the thin air of Mexico City, where another Alpine hotshot makes his race weekend debut, legends return and Verstappen has a chance to claim more F1 records: what to watch for at the 2022 Mexican GP

Spectators watch the 2021 Mexican Grand Prix

Grand Prix Photo

The Mexican Grand Prix is usually a cast-iron feelgood story for F1: stands full of fervent Sergio Perez fans, a popular circuit, and the stage of the season where there’s often either an intense title battle or, as with this year, a settled championship, which brings the sense that anything could happen.

We can only hope that the race reverts to form after a build up dominated by stewards’ hearings and the continuing Red Bull cost cap row.

There is plenty to look forward to on track: as well as the ever-present challenge of racing in the rareified air of Mexico City, we’ll see the first race weekend appearance of Alpine protegé Jack Doohan, as well as a blast from the past with Champ Car legends.

Here’s what to watch for at the Mexican Grand Prix

 

Keeping cool

The famously thin air of the Mexico City circuit, 2,238m above sea level, requires Monaco levels of wing simply to generate Monza levels of downforce, which poses challenges for the drivers: “The car does slide around a lot,” says Williams’ Alex Albon.

The slower corner speeds mean that the tyres have it easier, but last year teams struggled with overheating rubber due to high track temperatures. It’s forecast to be 24C for the start of this year’s race, which is warmer than in 2021.

Teams face a greater struggle to cool the cars though. Turbocharged engines provide similar levels of performance as at other circuits, but the thin air is less capable of wicking away heat from radiators and brakes. “This brings considerable challenges on the engine and brake cooling fronts,” says Ferrari’s head of aerodynamic track performance group, Thomas Bouché. “Current Formula 1 cars have not been designed and optimised to operate in this very particular window.”

Ferrari pitstop practice ahead of the 2022 Mexican GP

Finned Ferrari in pitstop practice on Thursday

Expect to see plenty of fins on engine covers and gaping brake ducts, but even then there will be a torrent of radio traffic, telling drivers to cool their cars — particularly if they are running close to another driver, ingesting the warm, dirty air from their car.

It will favour the bold, who can catch and pass in swift succession before the heat rises. Biding your time for a mistake, or to spot a weakness won’t work in Mexico.

Teams in harmony may be able to launch two-pronged attacks, with drivers taking it in turns to put pressure on cars ahead, while the other cools their components.

But any rifts at this point in the season where plenty of drivers are preparing to leave their teams, could well come out into the open. Would Mick Schumacher move over for Kevin Magnussen? And for that matter, would George Russell or Lewis Hamilton allow the other past if a resurgent Mercedes is again battling for victory?

 

Max Verstappen looks to set new win record

A victory in Mexico would make Max Verstappen the most successful driver in a single Formula 1 season — based on overall number of wins.

He has already stood at the top of the podium 13 times this year to equal the record held by Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher, and he’ll be into uncharted territory if he, entirely unsurprisingly, crosses the line first on Sunday.

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez spray champagne at the 2022 Japanese GP

One more victory for Verstappen would see him take the record for the most wins in an F1 season

Red Bull

Of course, by this stage of the year, as we head to round 20, Schumacher’s 2004 season (18 races) and Vettel’s 2013 (19 races) was over.

That doesn’t necessarily make Verstappen’s current season less impressive: if he wins all of the next three races, he’ll have a 72.72% win rate: slightly better than the 72.22% of Schumacher and ahead of Vettel’s 68.42%.

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Out of reach is Alberto Ascari, whose 1952 record of six wins from eight gives him a 75% strike rate.

After a season of near-dominance after the first few races, Verstappen is still in with a chance of breaking several other long-standing records, including the most points in a season and the greatest championship-winning margin, once again aided by the number of races including sprints.

But how will that square with Red Bull’s desire to achieve a 1-2 in the drivers’ championship, which it has never done before, along with Sergio Perez’s yearning to win his home race.

 

Will safety concerns force drivers into retirement?

Lewis Hamilton winning the 2020 British Grand Prix on three wheels; Sebastian Vettel clawing his way back through the field to win the 2012 title, after a first lap spin in Brazil left him with a cracked sidepod; Max Verstappen making it into the points at last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix despite much of the right part breaking off during the race.

Some of the great Formula 1 performances have been the result of drivers battling wounded cars, but will we see any in the future? Alpine may have won its appeal against Fernando Alonso‘s penalty for dangerously running with a loose wing mirror, which eventually fell off, but it was only on a technicality — because Haas’s protest was too late.

Max Verstappen trails bodywork at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix

Verstappen battles into the points at Hungary, despite trailing bodywork

Lars Baron/Getty Images

Stewards reiterated their concerns over the lack of a black and orange flag, which would have forced Alonso to pair for repairs or to retire, and said that teams also had a responsibility to act if they see loose bodywork, which could fall off. The FIA is now reviewing its black and orange flag procedure, which could result in its greater use when cars are damaged.

Alonso described the situation as a “huge problem for the future in Formula 1”.

“I think 50, 60, 70% of the cars will have to retire when they have an aero device that is not properly fixed because it is unsafe,” Alonso said. “When you see the black and orange flag, you have to stop and retire the car because I think it’s very difficult to fix some of those. Maybe the front wing is the easiest one. Apart from that, I think it is difficult.”

 

Champ Car legends blast back from the past

You just need a single word to make any long-term F1 fan misty-eyed: Procar.

The one-make BMW M1 series was the answer to the eternal debate over which driver would win if you lined them up in identical cars and let them loose.

There’s no chance of a repeat given the costs involved — which killed the series in 1980 after two seasons — as well as the sponsors it would upset and the strong likelihood that it would prove more entertaining than some of the processions we’ve seen in grands prix this year.

Yardley BRM with 202 Red Bull F1 car and Champ Car

Champ Cars stars (right) will be on track throughout the weekend in GT cars, as will the ex-Pedro Rodríguez Belgian GP-winning BRM P153

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

But in what may be the next best thing, this weekend we’ll see Champ Car stars of the past blasting around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in “equally prepared” 500hp V8 cars, used in the Gran Turismo Mexico series.

Many raced at the circuit in the Champ Car Series between 2002 and 2007 when, in the words of Mexican GP race director Federico González, the championship was “as big as F1 these days”.

Among those battling to revive past glories will be the 2003 race winner Paul Tracy and 2005 championship runner-up Oriol Serviá. Former F1 and Champ Car drivers Mark Blundell and Max Papis will be on the grid, as well as plenty of Mexican ex-Champ Car representation in the shape of Luis Diaz, Mario Dominguez, Adrián Fernández, Roberto González and Michel Jourdain Jr.

Set your alarm clocks: the race starts at 5am GMT on Sunday.

 

Jack Doohan set for Alpine FP1 drive

Jack Doohan makes his F1 race weekend debut at Mexico, replacing Esteban Ocon in FP1, and may be wondering what might have been. Before Pierre Gasly was released from his 2023 AlphaTauri contract, Doohan was next in line for a drive.

He could still be an option for Williams if Logan Sargeant fails to finish high enough in the F2 championship to get the superlicence he needs to race for the team next year (Doohan too needs to secure his points at the season finale).

Jack Doohan in Alpine F1 top

Alpine junior Jack Doohan has already driven Alpine’s F1 car on a filming day earlier this year

Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

As the son of two-wheel legend Mick Doohan, perhaps the most determined competitor ever seen in a motorcycle grand prix, his name precedes him, but Doohan has the talent to back it up, with four race wins in his debut Formula 2 season.

It’s a fantastic opportunity for me and I’m really excited to drive Esteban’s car in the session,” says Doohan. “For me, it’s another step closer to achieving my ultimate goal of reaching Formula 1 and I’ll do my best to take as much from the experience as I can.”

It might be the first you see of him in a Formula 1 car. It’s unlikely to be the last.

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