Scuderia Ferrari
Seven days after victory in Austin, Scuderia Ferrari HP again stood on the top step of the podium with another dominant performance, thanks to brilliant teamwork, perfectly completed and on track by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. The Spaniard was the dominant force this weekend and followed up yesterday’s pole with the win that owed much to a brilliant passing move on Max Verstappen before he flew off and took an unchallenged victory.
Charles made the most of the fight between Verstappen and Lando Norris to move up to second, but towards the end, had to concede second place to the Englishman. However, he then kept a clear head and deprived the McLaren driver of the additional point for the fastest race lap, so the team left Mexico with a further 41 points. This was Ferrari’s 248th win, its 825th podium finish and with four rounds remaining, it is now second in the Constructors’ standings, 29 points behind McLaren, having overtaken Red Bull. This was his fourth Formula 1 win for Carlos with Ferrari and his second this season, following on from victory in Australia. He now joins the likes of Eddie Irvine, Clay Regazzoni and John Surtees on the Ferrari all-time list.
Carlos Sainz #55
I’m incredibly happy! I’ve been chasing another win since Australia, and getting it here in Mexico makes it even more special. It almost feels like a second home to me, and I have the incredible support of Mexican fans! My family is also here this weekend, so I can’t ask for anything more. We knew losing a position at the start could happen, but the key to the race was quickly regaining it by diving down the inside into turn 1. From there, it was all about managing tyres and pace, a smooth operation until the chequered flag! This second win in a row is a further testament to the team’s work in recent months. We are getting closer to the Constructors’ Championship, and we’ll fight until the end as a team. Congrats to everyone! On to Brazil!
Charles Leclerc #16
It was a difficult race, and I think P3 was the best we could do, having spent the weekend a bit on the back foot. The first stint was about managing the tyre temperatures, which was difficult. After that, I just had to bring it home and maximise the points we scored as a team. It was a good race for Carlos and an excellent points haul for the team, which has been working well, coming back to the level we want to be at, which is fantastic to see. Our target is still to fight for the Constructors’ title, and we are getting closer thanks to weekends like the last two; now, on to the final race of this triple header, where we will push to keep up this momentum.
Frédéric Vasseur – Team Principal
We are delighted with this second win in a row. Carlos had a perfect weekend; he was on the pace from the first lap in FP1 and drove a very clever race, losing the lead on the opening lap before overtaking Max with a great move, after which he raced with control. Charles also had a good pace but lost some time with backmarkers, which cost us P2. But, honestly, it was a good weekend for him, too, even if he was not happy with the final result, which I understand completely. The car is not designed for Mexico, which is too much of a one-off track, and that means we didn’t have any particular advantage and had to do a lot of management because of the altitude, constantly monitoring the temperature of the engine and the brakes to keep them at the limit, so today we can say the team did an excellent job. Since Monza, our car has worked well at very different track types, so we can also be competitive at the remaining races. We must continue working like this because it’s not just down to the car’s potential but also how the team executes the race. Now, we will start from scratch in Sao Paulo next week. We have won two races in a row and done an excellent job, so we must continue to push. As for the championship, we are continuing to take it one race at a time. It’s not a given that we will be in front of Sao Paulo; what is a given is that we will tackle it with the same approach.
