Brad Pitt, “the star driver” of Formula 1 in Mexico

Sergio Pérez’s nightmare does not end. The Mexican driver raised the hope not only of reversing a season in hell, but also of shaking off the horror of what happened on this same track at the Hermanos Rodríguez racetrack, where a year ago a crash left him out in the first seconds of competition. But he was eliminated just in the first cut of the qualification. And while the man from Guadalajara dreams of better luck, Carlos Sainz, from Ferrari, conquered the pole positionjust a blink ahead of Max Verstappen and his Red Bull with which he has not won since June.

Without the local hero in the dispute for starting places, the public in the stands took refuge in another star, in the brilliance of the American actor Brad Pitt dressed in a pilot’s suit to perform some scenes for his next film about a fictional team of Formula 1. People were devoted to the Hollywood figure, who in addition to pretending to be in competition, walked around the track with a Mexican flag. The entirely real fuss gave the illusion that the movie star had won a race. The Mexican public is fantastiche managed to say when he was leaving after filming. With or without Checo, fans enjoy this afternoon.

hell that doesn’t stop

But the tricolor pilot had nothing to take refuge in. To paraphrase the poet, there is a hell that does not cease and has ended up scorching the entire landscape of Checo Pérez, who yesterday was eliminated in the first cut of the qualification. Q1 leaves out the last five competitors and the Mexican finished in 18th place, which will be what he will occupy on the starting grid this Sunday at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Checo complained that his Red Bull did not brake in the corners and was barely able to overtake Esteban Ocon (BWT Alpine) and Guanyu Zhou (Sauber), the last in this first cut. Before the Guadalajara, and also outside, the Argentine Franco Colapinto (Williams) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) arrived.

Frustration once again took over Checo, who will now have to work uphill if he wants to reverse some of the bad results he has accumulated in this season that he describes as terrible.

It’s a shamePérez lamented at the end of his session; I have a hard time stopping the car, I can’t and that has been the problem I have had in the last three races..

Throughout this year he has complained about the performance of his car due to the modifications that have been made to it and that have turned it into a vehicle that seems unreliable to him. These problems, he stated, are already well detected, but whose solution is not easy.

“I hope I can score some points this Sunday to minimize the damage; That would be the best we could do.

The Mexican Grand Prix is ​​a long race where absolutely anything can happen and we will do our best, because this is the weekend where I want to do things best and unfortunately I have not been able to achieve it.added the Mexican.

Only on Friday he indicated that a good result would save this stormy campaign. But with this elimination everything once again becomes a desolate wasteland where he will need something more than the mettle and expertise that he has shown in other races in which he has managed to reverse adverse situations.

We are limited with parts of the aerodynamics on the floor; I don’t know if there is an important difference beyond what we think, but that is the main problem I have at this moment.he finished.

The dilemma will then be to overcome a start in the last positions, a track that becomes complex due to low air resistance, fight against rivals who are unleashed and, above all, a machine that does not respond.

Inch by inch

While Checo struggles to improve performance in front of his own fans who do not stop supporting him, another competition occurs between drivers who fight inch by inch and for every thousandth of a second on the track. In this dispute, the pole position was won by the Spanish Carlos Sainz from Ferrari with 1:15.946, who managed to beat the current champion Max Verstappen by a few thousandths. Behind them they entered in that order: Lando Norris (McLaren), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), George Russell (Mercedes) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

Although he continues to lead the championship with 354 points, Verstappen has lost authority in the face of McLaren’s push with Norris as a shadow just 57 units away and Leclerc 79 from the top, with only five races left – including today’s – to finish. the serial.

A panorama so different from that of a year ago for Red Bull, which was the undisputed dominator of the series. Yes, Checo is far from the sub-leadership of that time, and currently the triple champion Versta-ppen does not seem irreducible, since he has not managed to climb to the highest position on the podium since he achieved it at the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23. The Dutchman even complained of car problems during free practice on Friday, but managed to stay competitive yesterday, despite suffering the cancellation of the first lap in Q3, to finish in second position on the starting grid.

Another story is told in the stands where people are discouraged for just a moment by Checo’s poor result, but they do not stop encouraging him and hoping that everything will improve on Sunday. Although Pérez did not achieve what the public expected, he did not stop enjoying this Grand Prix. And if not, there was the footage of Brad Pitt to save the afternoon. Hence, perhaps, the organizers affirm that the future success of the Mexico City Grand Prix does not depend on the presence of Pérez. Even without a local hero, it seems that the public is fully involved in Formula 1 as confirmed by the attendance of close to 143 thousand people.