2025 Mexican Grand Prix - Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Oct 24 - 26

[Matt2725]

Fingers crossed for a whacking great gravel trap on the outside of T1 from next year.

Time to stop the grass corner cutting that is so prevalent at Mexico.

[AR3-GP]

Really? I think they should leave it the way it is. It generates controversy. It's good for F1. All drivers have won and lost from it at some point. Every track is unique. This is a good thing. If they let you guys whining about every little thing have control, the drivers will just follow each other in lines for 70 laps. I'm sure there's a Scalextric channel on youtube for those who want to see that.

[Ben1980]

That was one of the best races of the year behind Norris.

Was it? Seemed fine, I guess. But this year, its been very meh. Like recent years in general I guess.

[AR3-GP]

That was one of the best races of the year behind Norris.

Was it? Seemed fine, I guess. But this year, its been very meh. Like recent years in general I guess.

As far as races go, the scene on lap 6 was mental. More drama than half the season Then actually seeing cars deep in the top 10 splitting strategies, the madness in the pitlane, and Piastri and Verstappen closing on those ahead, yes it was proper excitement.

[f1isgood]

That was one of the best races of the year behind Norris.

Was it? Seemed fine, I guess. But this year, its been very meh. Like recent years in general I guess.

As far as races go, the scene on lap 6 was mental. More drama than half the season Then actually seeing cars deep in the top 10 splitting strategies, the madness in the pitlane, and Piastri and Verstappen closing on those ahead, yes it was proper excitement.

Surprisingly exciting race.

[Gillian]

Was it? Seemed fine, I guess. But this year, its been very meh. Like recent years in general I guess.

As far as races go, the scene on lap 6 was mental. More drama than half the season Then actually seeing cars deep in the top 10 splitting strategies, the madness in the pitlane, and Piastri and Verstappen closing on those ahead, yes it was proper excitement.

Surprisingly exciting race.

Thoroughly enjoyed it as well! A few races ago I expected a boring processional waiting for Piastri to be crowned, but now there is actual excitement again and some surprises like Bearman! There's even some humour like the Red Bull radio asking if they where on a one or two stop. They should have added a 'we are checking' in there as well

[SiLo]

Max was in control of his car and kept it tight to the apex where he was side by side and then stayed within track limits on the exit. In this instance Lewis should have yielded once he lost the apex because he wasn’t entitled to the corner anymore, per the rules. This is why it was in fact car 44 that was investigated for “causing a collision” at turn 1, never car 1. It was ultimately dismissed as a racing incident because no damage occurred, but Max was never under any threat of penalty (Lewis was).

We’ve been over this many times and seen so many examples of this during the year. There’s little point arguing with people who just invent their own rules and standards and then claim that everyone else including the stewards have it wrong. This is fiction masquerading as debate.

We need to be tackling the shite rules that cause these kind of incidents. We should absolutely be expecting better from the drivers.

Now that is an opinion I can respect because it actually accepts reality even if it disagrees with the rule.

That being said, this rule was driver led, so they have no one else to blame. Also consider the difficulty in overtaking with these modern cars, giving the defender too many “rights” could be detrimental to the show. At the end of the day they all know that staying to the inside is the key to defending, so if you gamble on keeping your normal line when someone is close, you run the risk of being dived.

I just think if you're going to divebomb someone, you should leave them a cars width, and you shouldn't hit them. If you can't leave them room to continue to drive around the track, it's not a good move.

That's just my opinion though.

[PlatinumZealot]

Drivers need to understand outside line is off limits. Sometime in the last decade drivers got the urge to always hold it around the outside when a divebomb is attempted against them instead of trying to perform a switchback. If a switchback isn't possible then the position is lost. This used to be the case I believe up until like 2015-2016 when slowly but surely everyone would start to refuse to yield a place to a car on the inside in a 50/50 situation.

On the topic of abu dhabi 2021, Bottas showed us exactly how to to the right thing when dive-bombed. Yes, position is lost, but that's racing. Rules as they stand currently attempt to encourage this kind of racing, but drivers refuse to accept it. Eventually they will learn it the hard way.

The current overtaking rules are "let's get Max to end Mercedes dominance" rules. And guess who is benefitting the most from them?

In these new rules since 2022, dive bombs with the inside wheel on the curb, and running out wide, pedal to the metal to rejoin at 200kph is allowed... As long as you have tiny bit of the cars nose alongside your victim's before the attack.

When other drivers try to do this they don't do it as well and get judged very harshly.

It is just a warped directive we have to accept until the shoe is on the other foot. (FIA has a new "champion" to push when they get bored of Max and he becomes the villian)

[Mosin123]

They should just make it the rule that if you go off track you have to rejoin at the location you went off at, if you fail to do that, you have to serve a drive through penalty, no ifs no butts. If your forced off, then the offending driver should get a stop and go penalty equal to the time it takes to do a full lap. Cars should always be left enough room

Drivers must be punished for mistakes. if it ruins a race for them, tough.

Being able to skip 3 corners because you failed to slow enough trying to go 4 into a 2 car max corner is just terrible driving and should have lasting consequences for such poor decision making.

LH 10 sec penalty was also just, the FIA failing to apply the same penalty to CL for the same offensive is just double standards, being team mates should have no influence in a decision.

[ToffeeTyres]

All I can say is F1 hasn’t been the same since Charlie Whiting passed away all of these incidents would have been dealt with right away and properly. No way drivers would have got away with what they did in Mexico Charles would have had a penalty as would Max. No BS and certainly wouldn’t take so long either. I miss Charlie Whiting

[FittingMechanics]

They need to drop the "ahead at apex rule". This needs to go. The rule could be as simple as "if there is an overlap, both cars need to leave room for the other car to remain on track on their current trajectory/speed".

Then if you divebomb on the inside, sure, go ahead, but you have to stop your car in time and leave space on the outside.
If you defend the inside as is usually done today, you need to leave enough room for the car on the outside. It is all very simple and sensible.

If they really want to determine what amounts to "significant overlap" they can but I think it would be better if it is not well defined and allows stewards to use common sense. Not everything has to be super proscribed. By having the rule slightly vague it removes this gamesmanship they are using now because they can't be sure what will be determined as significant overlap. Today it is super clear so these best drivers in the world abuse the rule.

This change would promote overtaking, driving side by side and remove the stupid "let off brakes to reach the apex first" racing we have today.

[Farnborough]

They need to drop the "ahead at apex rule". This needs to go. The rule could be as simple as "if there is an overlap, both cars need to leave room for the other car to remain on track on their current trajectory/speed".

Then if you divebomb on the inside, sure, go ahead, but you have to stop your car in time and leave space on the outside.
If you defend the inside as is usually done today, you need to leave enough room for the car on the outside. It is all very simple and sensible.

If they really want to determine what amounts to "significant overlap" they can but I think it would be better if it is not well defined and allows stewards to use common sense. Not everything has to be super proscribed. By having the rule slightly vague it removes this gamesmanship they are using now because they can't be sure what will be determined as significant overlap. Today it is super clear so these best drivers in the world abuse the rule.

This change would promote overtaking, driving side by side and remove the stupid "let off brakes to reach the apex first" racing we have today.

Significantly, all of the most vocal in complaint (the drivers in Mexico) have all of them done exactly this before.

GR being very open about taking the 5 sec penalty a number occasion prior to this. It was part of his race strategy.

They all discuss it in driver briefing, redefining after Cota in 24 I believe ? They need to shut up whingeing and race.

Micro analysis will ALWAYS show up something, racing will die if we adhered to that sustained need to correct every eventuality.

It was a brilliant race start, the drivers corrected their errors in accordance with agreement .... by themselves ..... any residual concern should ultimately be forwarded to their next briefing for discussion.

Anyone constantly whingeing, after they also partook in this historically should get a one race ban, for being hypocritically pathetic

[venkyhere]

Significantly, all of the most vocal in complaint (the drivers in Mexico) have all of them done exactly this before.

GR being very open about taking the 5 sec penalty a number occasion prior to this. It was part of his race strategy.

They all discuss it in driver briefing, redefining after Cota in 24 I believe ? They need to shut up whingeing and race.

Micro analysis will ALWAYS show up something, racing will die if we adhered to that sustained need to correct every eventuality.

It was a brilliant race start, the drivers corrected their errors in accordance with agreement .... by themselves ..... any residual concern should ultimately be forwarded to their next briefing for discussion.

Anyone constantly whingeing, after they also partook in this historically should get a one race ban, for being hypocritically pathetic

Such 'boringly unpopular' opinions are not 'sellable', in terms of YT/podcast views, opinion pieces on websites, chat shows etc... why go that far, this doesn't make for 'a good reading' even in this forum/thread where, more than analysing 'events', discussing 'how I feel about this' , 'how morally correct was that move' , 'was this move by driver X, payback for what happened 10 races ago' , 'what would I do if I was race control / steward' etc etc is the recurring theme.
The fundamental assumption (in forums, in websites, in podcasts/videos) is that the 'opinionated person' is much cleverer than the drivers who have all agreed to play by a rulebook that they themselves have had input into, and which changes from time to time in pre-race meetings. And something that FIA/stewards make sure to publish such changes as a document.

[PlatinumZealot]

They should just make it the rule that if you go off track you have to rejoin at the location you went off at, if you fail to do that, you have to serve a drive through penalty, no ifs no butts. If your forced off, then the offending driver should get a stop and go penalty equal to the time it takes to do a full lap. Cars should always be left enough room

Drivers must be punished for mistakes. if it ruins a race for them, tough.

Being able to skip 3 corners because you failed to slow enough trying to go 4 into a 2 car max corner is just terrible driving and should have lasting consequences for such poor decision making.

LH 10 sec penalty was also just, the FIA failing to apply the same penalty to CL for the same offensive is just double standards, being team mates should have no influence in a decision.

At your first paragraph.. It's too rigid. Racing never had rules about where the track is until in recent times.. A track was just a track.. It had better grip and was faster than going off the track. The FIA needs to design better obstacles that pushish drivers for going off the track. This stupid policing the track lines is totally different "game" and is ruining the sport.

[PlatinumZealot]

All I can say is F1 hasn’t been the same since Charlie Whiting passed away all of these incidents would have been dealt with right away and properly. No way drivers would have got away with what they did in Mexico Charles would have had a penalty as would Max. No BS and certainly wouldn’t take so long either. I miss Charlie Whiting

Agreed except for one thing! Charlie would have put a sea of inescapable grave at turn one!

When he was in Charge, other than Monza turn one It's hard to remember any tracks where you could just skip off track and come back on unscathed because u were punished by the landacaping if you did.