Hamilton tames the Mexican track, Rosberg comes back from the devil, Verstappen completes the picture
Building on the momentum of his start to the weekend, Lewis Hamilton added another pole position to his already impressive list of honours - the 59th of his career - ahead of Nico Rosberg, who had been struggling until then, and Max Verstappen, who had been solid since FP3. By the way, it's the 12th front row for the Silver Arrows this season.
The triple world champion dominates his subject and his teammate.
The Briton is on a mission to try to claim a fourth world championship title. Mission impossible with three races remaining and 26 points behind? In any case, he has not given up, far from it. He is even showcasing the full extent of his talent this weekend on a timed lap. Today, he clinches the 59th pole position of his career, setting a new record as the only driver to have secured a pole position on 24 different circuits. He could only thank his team and supporters and be pleased with having a successful weekend so far.
But strangely, from a personal point of view, he wasn’t the happiest with his qualifying round, likely due to the very difficult track conditions for all the cars: « The Q3 wasn’t great for me. Even though I got the pole, it wasn’t a great lap. I had a pretty large gap throughout the session before that, but I lost it later during my first lap in Q3 and even more during my second lap. I couldn’t achieve the three best sectors at the same time. I think there were probably three or four tenths to find. »
The work accomplished is only the first part of the contract, now it is projected towards the race and particularly the start which will be crucial: « It’s a long, long straight before the first corner. The start will therefore be important. But our pace on the long stints seems solid, and we are on the best tires, so the signs are good. »
Lewis Hamilton does not overlook the Red Bulls, which seem very fast on super softs on this track: « Red Bull might have a slight advantage on super softs, but it seems that this specification deteriorates very quickly. »
Despite this, the English driver remains optimistic and believes in his car: « The car is fantastic this weekend, and I hope that continues tomorrow. It’s a race I’ve never won before, and I’d like to add it to the list with this huge crowd that has been spectacular all weekend. »
Nico Rosberg saves the day.
not super happy with today, but in a very good position for tomorrow #MexicoGP 📸 by Steve Etherington pic.twitter.com/Zk7xH9cgao
— Nico Rosberg (@nico_rosberg) 29 octobre 2016
The current championship leader had been struggling since the start of this Mexican round, having difficulties with the pace of his car and bringing his tires up to temperature.
Nevertheless, he managed to improve his second Q3 lap when his rivals couldn’t find the tenths or hundredths to do so, in order to stay close to his teammate and secure the front row tomorrow: « This weekend, I’m taking time to find my rhythm. At the end of the qualifying, I’m relatively pleased with my feeling in the car and the way I managed to put together a good last lap, but Lewis was too fast. I’m not thrilled about missing pole position. But, on the other hand, starting in second place here is not so bad. »
He continues by trying to reassure himself about his chances of gaining a position in the race: « There are many opportunities, like the straight line and the first turn on the first lap. We’ve seen several times this year that pole position wasn’t so important. » Just like his teammate, he is wary of the Red Bull cars and their pace: « It will be a tough race and we need to keep an eye on the Red Bulls. »
The German concludes by praising the upcoming race for the spectators and their enthusiasm for the weekend: « I think the Mexican fans are going to have an interesting Sunday. It’s great to see so many of them here today. They are filled with passion and it’s something to see them when you’re on the track. »
Red Bull and Max Verstappen 3rd in ambush
After leading the FP3, Max Verstappen could have disrupted the Mercedes game today, especially with a subdued Nico Rosberg. But as always, in the end, it’s the two Silver Arrows that have the final say. Currently 6th with 165 points in the drivers’ standings, he could take this opportunity to try to get ahead of the Ferraris – 4th and 5th, 12 and 5 points ahead of him.
The Dutchman, like Lewis Hamilton, lamented on Saturday that he was not able to make everything work at the same time during the third part of qualifying. However, he was satisfied with the behavior of his car and is already looking forward to the next day.
“Very happy qualifying 3rd! Great balance in the car. Our different strategy offers opportunities for the race 👍🏽 #keeppushing #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/vZv51ltRQq” — Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) October 29, 2016
He reports: « We couldn’t get the perfect lap in Q3. I’m still happy with how the qualifying sessions went. We are on the second row again, which means we are in an ideal position to fight right from the start. We will have a different strategy tomorrow. We will start on super-softs, and the straight before the first corner is very long, so our chances to progress are great. »
At the lights out tomorrow, at the first braking there could be duels that will be played with a shoehorn, hoping that everyone comes out unscathed.
