维斯塔潘与哈贾尔谈墨西哥站极端挑战
维斯塔潘和哈贾尔认为，由于主动空气动力学，今年墨西哥站对车手更具挑战性；涡轮迟滞在高海拔也将成为重要因素。
“滑得要命”——马克斯·维斯塔潘和伊萨克·哈贾尔解释墨西哥站的“极端”挑战
马克斯·维斯塔潘和伊萨克·哈贾尔认为，由于主动空气动力学，今年墨西哥站对车手来说将更具挑战性。涡轮迟滞在高海拔也将成为重要因素。
在罗德里格斯兄弟赛道举行的F1周末，对车手、引擎制造商和车队来说，在多个方面都将构成相当大的挑战。
在周四于墨西哥城举行的媒体日上，关于涡轮迟滞作用的讨论很多，尤其是在MGU-H无法在高海拔帮助涡轮之后——墨西哥城赛道海拔2286米。
海拔还会影响车手所感受到的下压力和抓地力水平，而这正是他们预计本周末会十分艰难的原因。当然，在墨西哥情况一向如此，但在往年，仍然可以在一定程度上通过翼片选择来弥补。
传统上，车队在墨西哥会使用接近摩纳哥级别的翼片设定，因为阻力代价很小。然而在高原环境下，这只能带来大致相当于蒙扎规格翼片的下压力。今年情况不同，因为有了主动空气动力学，这意味着按照维斯塔潘的说法，可用来弥补的空间更小，赛车很可能会更加打滑。
“这里的抓地力要低得多。由于海拔，我们通常会用翼片来稍微弥补这一点，但现在基本上只能用一种翼片，”维斯塔潘说。
“所以赛车上的下压力会少很多，我认为这本身就已经相当有挑战性。因此，这可能会更加突出低速性能的重要性。”
维斯塔潘认为，红牛的低速表现并非特别强劲。
他在奥斯汀表示，小红牛22 现在是一个合理的全能型赛车，但在任何地方都不算真正出色，无论是高速弯还是低速弯。话虽如此，需要注意的是，维斯塔潘在新加坡——一个以低速弯为主的赛道——成功夺冠，甚至在赛车尚未获得重大升级之前，就在摩纳哥将赛车放到了头排发车。
队友伊萨克·哈贾尔也预测，这将是一个车手们大多会打滑和滑动的周末，尽管赛道已经重新铺设，新的一层沥青据称能提供更多抓地力。
“我只是在想，驾驶这些赛车会有多极端，”哈贾尔在被 Motorsport.com 问及本周末的挑战时说道。
“去年用摩纳哥尾翼时，我就已经感觉车尾滑得厉害。现在全年下压力水平基本差不多，而你要去这样一条赛道，感觉会滑得要命。”
可靠性是另一个考量因素。2026年，尽管技术规则进行了彻底改革，这一方面总体上出乎意料地好，但哈贾尔预测，在墨西哥所有装备都将承受相当大的压力。
“当然，从冷却角度看，赛车的条件会非常极端。引擎、轮胎、刹车，所有东西都会热得冒火，连车里的我可能也是！”
此外还有涡轮迟滞的挑战。乔治·拉塞尔在新闻发布会上暗示，法拉利可能因其更小的涡轮在高原占据优势，但哈贾尔不打算事先排除自己的车队。
“我没有在想法拉利或梅赛德斯。我认为他们都会非常有竞争力，但我主要想的是我们这个周末会有多艰难。最近几场比赛，赛车在非常不同类型的赛道上都运行良好。所以，为什么不在这里也行呢？”
红牛福特动力单元在高海拔下的表现仍有待观察，因为这将是该制造商首次在这些极端条件下运行。
但正如维斯塔潘所解释的，作为车手他对此几乎无能为力——甚至在某些时刻选择更低挡位以保持更高转速也做不到：“不，从我们这边来说，能做的并不多。
“但周末可能主要是微调，我想对所有人来说都是如此，包括我们。在理解引擎需要在什么状态下运行、赛车冷却、刹车冷却方面。对所有这些来说，这都是一条非常极端的赛道。”
英文原文
"Slippery as hell" – Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar explain the "extreme" challenge of Mexico
Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar believe the F1 weekend in Mexico will be even more challenging for drivers this year because of active aerodynamics. Turbo lag is also set to be a major factor at altitude
The Formula 1 weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez promises to be a considerable challenge in several respects for drivers, engine manufacturers and teams.
During Thursday’s media day in Mexico City, there was plenty of discussion about the role of turbo lag, especially now that the MGU-H can no longer help the turbo at high altitude - the Mexico City track is 2,286 metres above sea level.
The altitude also affects the downforce and grip levels that drivers experience, and that is precisely why they are expecting a difficult weekend. That is always the case in Mexico, of course, but in previous years it could still be compensated for to some extent through wing choices.
Traditionally, teams run almost Monaco wing levels in Mexico, as the drag penalty is minimal. At altitude, however, that only gives them roughly the same amount of downforce as Monza-spec wings. This year, the situation is different because of active aerodynamics, meaning that, according to Verstappen, there is even less scope to compensate and the cars are likely to slide around even more.
“Here is a lot less grip. With the altitude, we normally have the wings to compensate a little bit for that, but now you basically just run one wing,” Verstappen said.
“So there will be a lot less downforce on the car, which I think will already be quite challenging. So that probably puts even more emphasis on low-speed performance.”
According to Verstappen, Red Bull's low-speed performance is not exceptionally strong.
He said in Austin that the RB22 is a reasonable all-rounder now, but does not really excel anywhere, either in high-speed or low-speed corners. That said, it should be noted that Verstappen managed to win in Singapore – a circuit predominantly featuring low-speed corners – and even put the car on the front row of the grid in Monaco, before it had received the major upgrades.
Team-mate Isack Hadjar also predicts a weekend in which drivers will mostly be slipping and sliding around, despite the circuit having been resurfaced and the new layer of asphalt supposedly offering more grip.
“I'm just thinking how extreme it's going to be to drive these cars,” Hadjar said when asked by Motorsport.com about the challenges of this weekend.
“Last year, I already felt like I was sliding around a lot with the Monaco rear wing. Now, it's kind of the same downforce level throughout the year and you're going to a track like this. It's going to feel slippery as hell.”
Reliability is another consideration. In 2026, that aspect has generally proved surprisingly good despite the radical overhaul of the technical regulations, but Hadjar predicts that all the equipment will be put under considerable strain in Mexico.
“Of course, the conditions for the car, cooling-wise, are going to be very extreme. And for the engine as well, the tyres, the brakes, everything is going to be on fire, even myself in the car probably!”
And then there is still the challenge of turbo lag. George Russell suggested during the press conference that Ferrari could have an advantage at altitude because of its smaller turbo, but Hadjar is not prepared to rule out his own team beforehand.
“I'm not thinking about Ferrari or Mercedes. I think they're all going to be very competitive, but I'm mostly thinking about how tough the weekend is going to be on our end. The last couple of races, the car has been working well on very different kinds of track. So, why not here?”
It remains to be seen how the Red Bull Ford power unit copes with the high altitude, given that this will be the manufacturer's first time operating in these extreme conditions.
But as Verstappen explains, that there is little he can do about it as a driver – not even by selecting lower gears at certain points to keep the revs higher: “No, from our side there is not so much [we can do].
“But it's probably going to be fine-tuning over the weekend, I think for everyone, including us. In terms of understanding where the engine needs to operate, cooling of the car, cooling of the brakes. It's a very extreme track for all of that.”
Motorsport.com ·
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