An unprecedentedly fast lap from Carlos Sainz has earned him pole position for the Mexican GP. Behind the Ferrari Spaniard, Max Verstappen records the second time, ahead of his title rival Lando Norris. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Pérez once again falls short for himself and his Red Bull team. The Mexican is eliminated in front of his home crowd already in Q1 of the qualification. He will start from P18 in his home race on Sunday.
Below is a quick overview of the qualification for the Mexican GP:
Q1: Pérez and Piastri Disappoint
Max Verstappen starts his qualification in Mexico well, despite two disrupted free practice sessions. He records the fastest time in his first quick run on softs, at 1.16,998. With this, he is two-tenths faster than Lando Norris, but the latter has chosen the medium compound at this stage. In the final phase of Q1, Norris turns the tables on softs. The McLaren driver leads the field with 1.16,505, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Verstappen respectively.
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Pérez is the negative standout of the day at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. In front of his home crowd, the Red Bull driver is already eliminated in Q1, with the eighteenth time. For Pérez, who complains about braking problems afterwards, it’s yet another embarrassment of the season. Oscar Piastri also falls short. In a superior car, he doesn’t get further than the seventeenth time. Pérez has been eliminated more often in Q1 this season than, for example, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Yuki Tsunoda (Visa RB).
Q1 Dropouts: Franco Colapinto, Oscar Piastri, Sergio Pérez, Esteban Ocon, Guanyu Zhou.
Q2: Tsunoda’s Crash Disappoints Visa RB
In the thin air of Mexico City, Norris impresses from the start of Q2. With three purple sectors, he clocks a time of 1:16.303, significantly faster than Max Verstappen‘s 1:16.629, who leads the rest of the field. Charles Leclerc, last week’s winner of the American GP in Austin, has yet to post a time after the first series of fast runs due to track limits.
Norris stays within the limits during the final phase of Q2. Verstappen improves, but the gap remains over two-tenths. Behind the three-time world champion from Red Bull, the two Ferraris and the two Mercedes follow. Suddenly, a red flag appears due to a crash by Tsunoda, immediately ending Q2. This is particularly disappointing for Visa RB, as both Tsunoda and Liam Lawson seemed on their way to Q3.
Q2 Dropouts: Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Valttery Bottas.
Q3: Sainz Dominates to Pole
BAM! Carlos Sainz rockets at the start of Q3, clocking a time of 1:16.055, by far the fastest at that moment. Max Verstappen’s time is disqualified due to track limits in turn 2. Norris’s first fast run also falls short. His 1:16.937 is the fifth time, behind Sainz, Leclerc, Russell, and Hamilton.
In the final phase of the qualification, Verstappen has one last chance for a supreme lap. But Sainz is unbeatable. He dips under 1:16 with a 1:15.946, securing pole position! Max Verstappen records the second time (0.225 behind Sainz), followed by Norris.
Top-10: Sainz, Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Magnussen, Gasly, Albon, and Hülkenberg.
The Grand Prix of Mexico starts on Sunday at 20:00 UTC.
