F1 Paddock Notebook - Mexican GP Saturday

- It was one of those longer than needed Saturdays, with Max Verstappen’s penalty taking more than three hours to be confirmed. And the script was not new: there was some confusion coming from the FIA, first saying that the Dutchman had lifted in the last mini-sector, and later calling him to give explanations to the stewards. It was impossible not to question if Max was actually summoned because he was too sincere in his interviews.

- Even before the decision, the Ferrari drivers seemed to be confident they could beat the Red Bull. Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel believe they are not suffering as much from graining and trust in Ferrari’s more effective DRS. Now, without any other cars ahead, the number one priority is not to lose track position, especially in a track that punishes whoever gets stuck in traffic hard.

- But graining is far worse on the soft tyre, which explains why even McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and the Toro Rosso pair of Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly tried to go through Q2 with the mediums. It ended up not being enough, so the last four cars in the top 10 will be vulnerable.

- The first one who could be there to take advantage is Sergio Perez, 11th on the grid. The Mexican always seems to get an extra tenth or two by driving in the Hermanos Rodriguez track, as the support for him is huge: during qualifying, it was possible to hear the crowd in the stadium section from the media centre.

- Going back to the Q2 tyre rule, this is something the teams try to change every now and then. But McLaren’s Adreas Seidl explained what happens. “It’s more or less interesting depending on your performance level. That’s why this voting keeps never going through!” said Seidl, who also explained the qualy race idea is not completely out of question. There’s a rush to approve the new rules this week and publish it on Tuesday, and after that things that can be changed - either for 2020 or, more likely, for '21 - will be addressed.

- Going back to the paddock, the much-loved Mexican food has made quite a lot of victims this year, much more than in previous visits to Mexico City. And the most intriguing is that neighbouring teams in the paddock had most of the victims: Toro Rosso, Racing Point and Renault seemed to be the most affected, and at least one driver, Pierre Gasly, was not 100% fit this Saturday.

- As for Verstappen fans, there’s still hope, though: Max won here in the past two years, sharing the podium with Dutch DJs - Hardwell in 2017 and Armin van Buuren last year. And it’s another Dutchman, Tiesto, who will play this Sunday...