The Mexican Grand Prix was , bizarrely, a breath of fresh air for the Formula 1 circus. We went there expecting nasty old pollution by rain in the week before the race meant that the skies were clear. The revamped Autodromo was spectacular, even if the surface was very slippery because of the new tarmac, rain and cool temperatures. Qualifying was all about getting the tyres hooked up, which some managed and others did not. On race day the place was heaving with 135,000 excited spectators. The three-day total was 335,850, which gives you an idea of just how much Mexico loves F1 these days. The huge crowd and the enthusiasm was a nice change from the new tracks we have visited in recent years in Korea, India and Russia where there is no great excitement. The Chinese and the Bahrainis are beginning to get more excitable but being in Mexico was fabulous. These people get F1. They understand its traditions and the passion involved. It was supposed to rain on Sunday but the weathermen got it wrong and it was warm when the race began, so warm in fact that the track temperature was reckoned to be 56-degrees. This meant that more and more rubber built up on the track as the race went on, giving the drivers more traction and that, added to the thin air of Mexico City meant that we saw some impressive speeds, notably from Sebastian Vettel who clocked 227mph on the main straight in his Ferrari. The race was a straight fight between th two Mercedes and Rosberg kept the advantage. Valtteri Bottas drove a good race for Williams to take third, having had another collision with Kimi Raikkonen, who came off worst on this occasion.
Also in GP+ this week…
– We look at the Red Bull engine situation
– We talk to Lewis about the future
– We consider the possibility of Force India becoming Aston Martin F1
– And we remember Moises Solana, a fast Mexican who had some great F1 races in the 1960s
– JS praise Lewis for being his own man
– DT looks at the highs and lows of Mexico City
– The Hack remembers the old days in Mexico
– And Peter Nygaard and his team had plenty of great things to photograph
GP+ is the ultimate magazine for Formula 1 fans. If you want to know more about the sport this is the magazine to find out. The staff of GP+ are part of the furniture of F1. We go to all the races and we want to share our love for the sport with the fans. We are happy to fight for it and we don’t hold back. The magazine is packed full of good stories, great features, fun and a taste of what it is like to be part of the F1 circus. The magazine – usually around 90 pages – is published a few hours after each race. It is in PDF format, so you can download it and keep it in your computer, tablet or even your smartphone. There is nothing like it, and it’s a great bargain.
joeblogsf1 
Voltaire Bottas! Is your spell check set to French Joe?
My auto-correct system is like the 100 Years War. Sometimes the English win, sometimes it is the French
Reminds me of the time I was searching Amazon for books on the Pétain regime, and got bombarded with side ads for face cream.
Say what you like about the quisling shits, those Vichy guys must have had really good complexions…
I love autocorrect, because I’m a big fan of the Finnish-French racing poet Voltaire Bottas.
I’m not sure Voltaire was ever really a poet… but there was some pleasant symmetry in Colliding Finns – The Remake
Hi Jem: I, too, adore Voltaire, Condorcet, Bacon (Francis) Hume, Kant, Descartes & other giants of the Enlightenment. But I don’t think Maestro, although a Historian, will allow us to have a go at the classics
Hi Jem: I too adore Voltaire, Condorcet, Bacon (Francis) Hume, Kant, Descartes & other giants of the Enlightenment. But I don’t think Maestro, although s Historian, will allow us to have a go at the classics
I think you need to get a new proof reader.
Electronic sub-editing will one day start a war!
As the message left the trench somewhere in the Somme: “Send reinforcements. We’re going to advance.”
And as it arrived, several runners later, at the chateau occupied by the brasshats: “Send three and fourpence. We’re going to a dance.”
Understanding the Blogosphere requires a paradigm shift in thinking. An axiom of the medium tells us that in the blogosphere the traditional modes and parameters of communication are relaxed, hence we should not expect adherence to the rules of either grammatical or syntactical standards. Thus pedants should not bother to report or comment on errors committed by the original writer; replies; or inter-commenters point-counterpoints exchanges.
Some of the relaxations of the rules in the blogosphere stem from factors such as: the speed at which commenters write, the number of comments a person posts; because commenters are not submitting a post in order to be graded. Further, the rules are relaxed because some commenters do not speak English as a first language; and because some commenters do not have a good grasp of the rudiments of English.
Further, some commenters do not have the time to proof-read their written products before posting same. And often long after a writer has moved-on, that annoying feature called Auto-Correct seems to take pleasure in wrecking a person’s contribution to the dialogue.
Finally, it is customary to find errors & corrections, on a daily basis, in many famous newspapers e.g., NYT. In addition, errors often surface in the work products of many independent journalists. The only exception is a noted English-French Journalist. (I can’t recall his name). This guy produces an astoundingly large volume of high quality journalism products that must be the envy of his colleagues. It is a mystery how and, when he finds the time to produce his remarkable output. Oh, I think his name is Joe Saward. Maybe you’ve heard of him.
Cheers
Presumably Voltaire Bottas was philosophical after his clash with Kimi Raikkonen!
Autocorrect… making idiots of people who can spell since 2008…
All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds…
Don’t you just love auto correct. Voltaire would be intrigued!
There were a few ham-fisted moves again, but this time they yielded no penalties at all. Consistency, yeah right!
A bit like Sochi then…
I hear Voltaire’s mr panglos was one of the stewards in mexico….
There was a Cunegonde, but I didn’t see Pangloss
What has happened to Peter’s pictures in the Mexico GP+ edition. On my iPad, where Peter’s pics normally look great, this week they are very contrasty, lots of too dark shadows and over saturated colour and look like photos taken with a 7 year old phone camera (image technical quality not content, which as usual, was just fine). Was there a problem transmitting the copy to the GP+ server, which degraded the pictures?
Wilson
No, it is a problem of file size. We have to balance size with practicality. We are looking at ways to do this better
Is it possible to have a low resolution and a high resolution version of the magazine?
Not just yet
I can imagine the challenge when one photo is probably at least 4 times the size of one issue of GP+
Yes, this week and last week the pictures looked over exposed. Looked very ropey on my ipad. I’d prefer small pictures if this is the result of larger file sizes.
It is to do with the size of the file, not the individual pictures.
I really enjoy GP+ but could I ask on some of the pictures is it possible to put a name as some people I have no idea who they are please?
Joe do you think in light of Kimi’s recent incidents do you think Mr Marchionne is sat somewhere and is now beginning to regret his decision to keep Kimi on for next season? Also I should point out apparently Kimi wants to also stay on for ’17, but I think there are many drivers if that (Kimi wanting to stay on for 2017) is the case (Verstappen , Bottas , Ricciardo, Grosjean) who are all pressuring Kimi in that regard and he isn’t responding well to it at the moment.
He ought to be, but I am not sure that Marchionne knows very much about motor racing
Does Kimi have as much support inside the paddock as he does with the fans in general?
The only journalist I see consistently rating him these days is Peter Windsor, but I also know he’s likely to be rather biased in that respect – and I usually take what he says with a pinch of salt anyway, due to his history.
Another great issue, guys. Wonderful to see F1 back in a country which appreciates just that. I was hoping for some reference to the situation at Manor, but didn’t see any unless I missed it. Perhaps because there is nothing to be revealed publicly as yet. All the best for John, Graeme and the other members of the team who seemingly have tendered their resignations. It was interesting that on the UK Sky coverage pre-race yesterday there was a hint from the duo that their impending departure might not be permanent. Hope so. This news story seems to have a long way to run. A gift for F1 conspiracy theorists, I guess.
Joe: On Stateside broadcast, the circuit looked fantastic (especially the stadium). Did not look like a “cookie cutter” design. Was it as good as it seemed on TV, especially “backstage” for teams and media?
A prescient spelling mistake. Valteri would be wise to tend his garden.
I don’t want to start another conspiracy theory but once again the Mercedes were almost invisible on TV. Even after the safety car restart the cameras focused on a lonely ‘Voltaire’ Bottas rather than a close leading pair. This is beginning to look like a trend.
Some great stories in this issue as always, with hints of great times past, which we would love to read more of.
I have to express admiration for the guy holding the tray of beers which seem to be defying gravity. The only explanation I think, is that he was moving the tray in a perfect parabola at the time of the photo. Else the level of drinks parallel to the tray is just impossible!
I think it is an optical illusion. Look at the beer in the glasses, it is not at an angle
That was exactly my point.
The crowd could be heard on TV loud and clear. Their enthusiasm was refreshing, everywhere the camera pointed everyone had a big smile and looked like they where really enjoying the event.
The peraltada might not be the greatest turn in all of grand prix racing but for atmosphere it was brilliant.
Another great issue. I love it when the team adds the subtle legends to Peter’s pictures.