Kovalainen: Surprises expected in Mexico

Heikki Kovalainen 20:41 30/10/2015
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  • Predictions are difficult as the Mexican circuit is new to everyone.

    After Lewis Hamilton’s victory in Austin last weekend he joined an elite group of drivers to win three world championships. Lewis is a very strong driver, and not only because he’s a three time world champion, but because he has won races and championships when he didn’t have the best car. This was exemplified by his time at McLaren when he managed to win races in difficult circumstances and was thus the stand-out performer in F1. In an era of hybrid engines and new technologies, he’s clearly been the best driver. 

    During the race in Austin, there was a bit of controversy as Nico Rosberg felt Lewis went too far at Turn 1, but I disagree. When you’re fighting for the championship you don’t want to give an inch to a driver and Nico should have known that. Looking at the incident, I don’t think it was clear-cut that Nico necessarily had the corner. Both drivers were side-by-side and perhaps he should have given Lewis the corner, stuck behind him and tried to make the move somewhere else around the lap. Instead he tried to go around the outside. Overtaking Lewis on the outside is a tricky business, as already witnessed in Suzuka when Nico made a similar error

    It’s very tight at that level when you’re fighting to be the best. For any driver, the beginning of the race is very important. You want to hang in there, take that lead and then you can look after your tyres a bit and see what the strategy of the other drivers is to take control of things much better.

    This weekend brings the F1 public to the modified Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico, a track last used in 1992. In the lead up to the race each team would have received data from the tack, and the drivers would have spent time in the simulators learning the gears and the corners that face them this weekend.

    When you’re in the simulator, you’re mainly looking at the gear ratios and the down-force levels so that you have some sort of starting point to testing on Friday morning. At that point, everyone would be familiar with the circuit – the only difference is the surface is new, probably with very low grip at the beginning with lots of track evolution.

    It’s generally around the second or third practice session when you have a proper look at the set-up of the car to gain better judgment of the track. It’s exciting to have a circuit like Mexico on the calendar. When going to these new circuits, it doesn’t take long to get comfortable with the track, maybe 5-10 laps. You already have a key idea as to how the circuit is from using the simulators, and a detailed idea about the balance of the car.

    It’s important not to rush decisions after the first few laps as you attempt to adjust to changing wind conditions or temperatures. After 10 laps, you’ll know your way around and then it’s just a matter of chipping away during the practice sessions and qualifying. From this, you try to build up speed during the qualifying and then you aim to stretch the car a bit more to be competitive.

    As we approach one of the last three racing weekends of the season, I think it’s a lot more difficult to make predictions because the Mexican circuit is new to everyone. There have been a few situations this year where Ferrari have been able to surprise Mercedes on these types of tracks and so I hope for the sake of the sport and the spectators that it is one of the circuits where Ferrari may be more competitive. Still, as usual Mercedes are going to be the team to beat.

    Behind Mercedes, there is a battle for the remaining podium spot and Ferrari are best placed to grab it. It will be interesting to see how it works out and what the order is on the finishing line on Sunday. Hopefully something exciting happens, just like Sochi and Austin, and that this new circuit throws up some surprises.

    PREDICTIONS

    1. Nico Rosberg
    2. Lewis Hamilton
    3. Sebastian Vettel

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