Notoriously difficult with its harsh track limits and demanding corners, tier 1 delivered a race which as many expected before hand, came down to the timing screens.
With penalties being notched up by drivers nearly every lap, who could keep it the cleanest to secure big points as we draw into the latter stage of our second season?
QUALIFYING
With the aforementioned tight track limit margins present here at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, qualifying would provide an exciting watch no matter the weather.
As it turns out, the weather made it even tastier, with moderate rain throughout the session meaning the track ramped up in difficulty.
Main talking points:
Monkeyboycurt97 suffered his worst qualifying of the season so far being eliminated in Q1. Struggling in the wet and unable to get a lap together at the right moment, leaving him needing to produce a great race performance to grab some crucial points for Williams.
Silversideboi couldn't quite put together the lap to get himself into Q3, but he could certainly try to get good points after starting 15th on medium tyres.
RSF1shaine0407 put in a respectable time for AlphaTauri to finish 8th in qualifying, giving him a good chance at getting some desperately needed tier 1 points for the team.
RSF1 Easton took pole again in his second race ahead of championship leader aliFerrari5. Underlying his extreme pace and speed, whereas last weeks other front row sitter HurshS2004, could only manage 5th on the grid
Wet qualifying meant that all drivers would get a free choice of tyre for the start of the race, giving us plenty of differing strategies throughout the field.
RACE
Inevitably, it was RSF1 Easton who picked up his second win in as many races in FPRL this season. Finishing with a gap of 8.587 seconds to second place man xOMTx KlooTsjak. The latter would be very happy to pick up 18 points for his Alpine team and himself personally as it keeps him right in the fight for the championship.
ObjektFungus165 will also be very pleased with his 3rd place in the race as it means he keeps up with the drivers at the top of the table following some unfortunate incidents in game for him in recent races, he will be happy to be back on the podium.
Shots2drippy also picked up 4th for Williams, just missing out on a podium by half a second meaning he would lose slight ground on those around him, but his 12 points limits what could have been potentially worse damage for his championship hopes.
RSF1 Shaine0407 did well for AlphaTauri, finishing where he started in an eventful race to secure 4 world championship points for the team.
But what of aliFerrari5? Perhaps the driver that most are talking about in tier 1 at the moment given he is leading the world championship. He had a race to forget this week, picking up no points for him or his Mercedes team, meaning he losing a massive amount of points to his championship rivals.
He also was involved in many incidents during the race with drivers up and down the grid and after speaking to a few of them after the event, you get the feeling that he could be running dangerously close to a qualifying or even race ban following this race. It all depends on whether those who had run ins with aliFerrari5 chose to report their incidents to the stewards (and of course the stewards decisions) but keep an eye out for that one going into Brazil this week.
Speaking of Brazil, that is the next round in this enthralling tier 1 championship. A track loved by most but hated by some, if there is one thing we can guarantee, its that you should clear your diary and join us @ 8pm this Thursday 2nd December for what im certain will be another fascinating round in this unbelievably close championship.
See you there!
- Biddle