A three-way race for the constructors' championship between McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari will dominate the remainder of the 2024 F1 season.
But there are fascinating battles brewing across the grid, with perhaps the most interesting being the battle between Haas and VisaCash App RB F1 Team for sixth place in the constructors' championship. VCARB entered last week's US Grand Prix with a three-point lead, but Haas had a great week on home soil, leaving Austin with a two-point lead. Only a massive recovery drive from Liam Lawson, who started 19th and finished 9th, scoring two points, could alleviate VCARB's damage.
Now, Lawson and his friends are looking forward to a “battle of efficiency” in the highlands of Mexico City.
“For the second leg of this triple-header, we head south from Austin to Mexico City. North America's largest and most densely populated city is located at an altitude of 2,240 meters, which poses unique challenges for the team. “VCARB racing director Alan Parman said at the team's media preview for the Mexico City Grand Prix. “Because the air pressure is much lower, the downforce produced is significantly reduced, forcing teams to have Monaco levels of drag with less downforce than Monza levels. Another burden this brings is that all in the cooling system.
“The more you open up the bodywork to increase cooling, the more you lose downforce and increase drag, so this is a battle against efficiency. It's a good combination of low-speed corners and fast changes of direction,'' Permane added. “Pirelli plans to introduce the softest tires in the 2024 model year, but even with these tires the race is likely to be a one-stop strategy due to the smooth pavement and altitude effects. is.”
“Mexico is an unusual event due to the high altitude of the circuit, which means that even with the maximum aerodynamic package you will only feel Monza-level downforce and the car will reach its highest top speed of the season,” Tsunoda said. he said. He finished 14th in Austin. “I even notice a lack of oxygen when I get out of the cockpit a little bit, but I don't really feel it when I'm driving.It's not a sprint weekend today, but I've had a little less time than usual to work on the car's setup, and I've been working on the ICE This will ensure adequate cooling levels on a track where many components are prone to overheating, since FP2 will be spent entirely on testing Pirelli for next year's compound, which was not good. So I'm happy to be racing again soon.”
For Lawson, who showed incredible resilience in returning to the grid, the Mexico City Grand Prix is a chance to pick up where he left off in Austin.
Mexico is very different from Austin. Although they are different style circuits, the main difference lies in the altitude, which means higher downforce for the cars. The speed we reach is among the best of the season. That means there's much less downforce in corners, especially on high-speed sections of the track, compared to, say, the Austin. There's a lot less grip, so the car slips a lot and it's hard to manage the tires,” Lawson said. “For me, I've only been there once for the 2022 free practice session, so I have to relearn everything, just like in Austin, but I need the luxury of three times instead of just one. Hopefully some of the things we learned in Austin will be useful this week, but given the track is so different than before, we'll be running the car for a completely different period of time.
“I’m looking forward to my comeback and can’t wait to get back in the car!”
