Mexican Grand Prix Prediction: Leclerc can build on victory in Austin
Fans were treated to an action-packed weekend in Texas last time out as Formula One returned from a month-long break to enter a hectic final period of the 2024 season.
In the first of six Grand Prix weekends across the next eight weeks, three of which are also Sprint weekends, Charles Leclerc took a dominant victory around the Circuit of the Americas to throw the cat amongst the pigeons in both the World Drivers’ Championship and the World Constructors’ Championship.
Next up is a trip to Central America, with the high-altitude Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez beckoning the drivers for the Mexican Grand Prix.
Tip 1 - Charles Leclerc to win @ 9/4
For much of last weekend, Charles Leclerc was playing second-fiddle to his team-mate and Ferrari did not look like they had the outright pace to match the upgraded Red Bull of Max Verstappen, but that all changed come the main event on Sunday.
Leclerc rocketed from fourth on the grid to first place on the opening lap as title-contenders Verstappen and Lando Norris battled with one another, and from there on out his victory was never in doubt.
The Monegasque put on a masterclass, beating team-mate Carlos Sainz by eight-and-a-half seconds and coming in almost 28 seconds ahead of the first non-Ferrari car.
The Scuderia’s exceptional tyre-wear proved crucial, but importantly they still had the outright pace to put themselves in a position to take advantage of their race pace.
This one-two finish cut the gap between Ferrari and Red Bull to just eight points in the World Constructors’ Championship, while they are still in the running for top spot, with McLaren only 48 points ahead of them.
It also leaves Leclerc a mere 22 points off Lando Norris in the individual standings and, while the 79 points between him and leader Verstappen is a big ask, he isn’t out of the title fight just yet.
Leclerc and Sainz locked out the front row in Mexico City last year and the 27-year-old has arguably the best pace over a single lap of the entire grid, so he can build on last weekend’s win to further slash the gap at the top of both tables.
Tip 2 - Franco Colapinto to finish in the points @ 8/5
After Logan Sargeant’s run of zero points from 15 Grands Prix and a highest finishing position of 14th, there was not much expectation from mid-season replacement Franco Colapinto when he made his Formula One debut at Monza.
The 21-year-old surpassed these admittedly low expectations, though, coming from 18th on the grid to finish 12th, and he followed that with a fantastic eighth in Baku.
An 11th-place finish followed in Singapore as team-mate Alexander Albon retired, and he beat the Thai driver on track in Austin as he took a second points finish in four races.
Albon has been beaten by his team-mate just 13 times in 61 races since joining Williams in 2022 and two of those occasions have come from Colapinto in the past couple of months, so he clearly has the talent to add to Williams’ points tally and aid their World Constructors’ Championship battle with Alpine.