Adam Cooper
adamcooperf1.bsky.social
Adam Cooper
@adamcooperf1.bsky.social
2.2K followers 39 following 1.1K posts
Freelance F1 Journalist. Crazy enough to have attended every GP for the past 31 consecutive seasons!
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An upgrade, a good start, a bit of luck, a logical strategy call and great driving propelled Ollie Bearman and his Haas F1 team to P4 in Mexico. Here's how they did it: www.roadandtrack.com/news/a691673...
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Kimi Antonelli on Mercedes team orders: "At least I got the position back. Of course we need to review. It's very easy to talk now, but if we would have held position, we probably would have had a better chance to undercut Ollie, and we would have had a better shot to finish maybe P4 and P5."
Alex Albon on P12 in Mexico: "I can confirm the hard tyre was not good during the race, and I think that just fixed the whole strategy. We had chances to be dynamic and convert to a two-stop, but we were just a bit too stuck in our ways, and we just committed to something that wasn't working."
Max Verstappen on his title chances: "I lost 10 to Lando, if you look at it like that. I said before the weekend, everything needs to go perfect to win. And this weekend didn't go perfect. So that's your answer. I think it's going to be tough, but let's see what we can do in other tracks."
The first lap in Mexico City is rarely straightforward, with the long tow down to Turn One allowing cars to drag past, creating three-into-two bunching up etc. The three title contenders have more to lose than those around them. Let's see if they all emerge unscathed...:
Ollie Bearman P17 in FP2, P17 in FP3 - and P10 in qualifying: "Yesterday, I was struggling a bit to get on top of the car in just one session. Today, I had a bit of an issue on my soft tyre. So heading into quali, there were a lot of question marks. I'm happy to be in Q3, all things considered."
Liam Lawson on P15: "We basically tried to keep improving the car, and I think we just went a little bit too far. It's frustrating, because we had a very fast car. We just chased a little bit too hard. I think the car has been in a really good place. Obviously it's very small margins."
Yuki Tsunoda on P11: "As a team, we struggled a little bit for pace. I think me and Max struggled with the same thing, I think he was struggling with the grip, also the same for me as well, especially just mechanical grip. With this kind of situation, it's very sensitive to warm up as well."
Alex Albon’s recent struggles have continued in Mexico City, and he has no answers. Meanwhile his Williams F1 team mate Carlos Sainz is on a roll - although a grid penalty has spoiled this weekend for the Spaniard:

adamcooperonf1.substack.com/p/albon-stru...
Albon struggles for answers as Sainz continues to set the pace at Williams
Albon is on a difficult run just as Sainz is finding his feet at the Grove team
adamcooperonf1.substack.com
Lance Stroll on P19 in Mexico: "Generally, the car goes backwards throughout the weekend, so I'm not surprised. I had no grip - no grip. So it's kind of what happens a lot. There's good grip in the practice, and then you come into qualifying and there's just no grip. I don't have all the answers."
Fernando Alonso on P14: "We were slow the whole weekend. We know we knew Mexico and Vegas on paper are the worst tracks for us, and unfortunately, we confirmed it. Normally we are P3/P5 [on Friday], so when I was only only P8 yesterday, I knew that it could be a tough weekend."
Nico Hulkenberg on P13 in qualifying: "I was struggling to get more out of it, but laps were clean, quali was clean. I think we thought we were better. I thought we had a crack at Q3 throughout all the practice sessions, but it just seemed to slip out of our hands now in quali."
Pierre Gasly on P18 in Mexico qualifying: "Overall, pretty happy to be only bit more than a tenth away from Q2. But I must say, it's very, very difficult. At the minute, in the car, with the balance we have and the grip we have, to just put every corner together is nearly impossible."
F1 title contenders Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri were both left struggling in the wake of poleman Lando Norris in Mexico City. However their respective situations were very different: www.roadandtrack.com/news/a691563...
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Charles Leclerc on P2:"The car was actually really good today. The whole weekend has been pretty strong. But on a track like this, it’s very difficult because it’s such a low grip track, and it’s very easy to make a mistake. Whatever small mistake you do is exaggerated in terms of lap time lost."
Lewis Hamilton on P3: "How Charles and I have worked together to move the car and develop it forward has been really positive. Our cars are pretty much identical now, and I’m finally figuring out how to drive this car that Charles has been fortunate to drive for the past seven years."
George Russell on qualifying P4 in Mexico: "Ferrari have been on pole here for the last few years, we're always very strong here. Lando did an amazing job. So we were best of the rest, and there was only a tenth between me and Oscar in P8, so I'm glad to be on the right side of that tenth..."
Gabriel Bortoleto on P16 in Mexico qualifying: "I think it is different than last weekend, when we were just in the position that we were. This weekend we could have been through. I feel like I have very comfortable and confident in the car. I just don't know why we couldn't put it together."
Carlos Sainz on P7 with a 5-place penalty: "I'm gonna focus on the positives, because it was one of my best qualifyings of the year, if not my best Q3 lap. I'm honestly very happy, feeling more and more at home with the car every session that I do, knowing where to go with setup, with tyres."
Just spoke to a frustrated Max Verstappen, who starts from P5 on Sunday after a strong recent run: "It's just been very difficult. Tried a lot of stuff, it's not the lack of trying. It's been not great, let's say it like that. I mean, just no grip, doesn't turn, I have no traction, it slides..."
Former Ferrari and McLaren F1 driver turned artist Stefan Johansson has his work on display in the Mexico City paddock this weekend:
Has the McLaren F1 team missed a trick by turning off 2025 development while Red Bull Racing has continued to hone the RB21? Andrea Stella is confident that his team has made the right choices: www.roadandtrack.com/news/a691545...
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Max Verstappen admits that it's "surprising" that he's still in the 2025 F1 title fight - and the Dutchman insists that despite it becoming a more realistic goal he will maintain his nothing to lose approach: www.roadandtrack.com/news/a691473...
www.roadandtrack.com
Franco Colapinto on US GP team orders: "I fully agree that a team instruction should always be obeyed, but also the situations are tricky, and I think as a driver, it was natural for me at the moment to compete. We went through it with the team."
Pierre Gasly on US GP team orders: "What's had to be said has been said. It's difficult to still understand why [it happened], but ultimately, as a team, we are not in an enjoyable situation. So I think we just trying to stick together as a team, be united, and that's what we just want to achieve."