Mexico – Qualifying: Verstappen Dazzling, Mercedes Lagging Behind

Q1

George Russell kicks off the hostilities and sets off to attack the clock for this Q1. Followed by Kubica. They directly attack on soft tires. The other drivers are strapped in but wait a bit.

At 3 minutes, the Haas cars come out in turn.

The first reference mark is that of Kubica at 1:20.313, far behind the 1:16 of the Ferraris.

It’s time now for almost all the drivers to go out. Except for Leclerc, Bottas, Hamilton, and Verstappen.

Grosjean takes advantage of a clear track to attack… A little too much, it’s a spin at the first corner, yellow flag, and a damaged set of tires for him.

After the earlier run of the Porsche Cup today, the track is still quite slippery. We see a lot of small mistakes at the start of this Q1.

Räikkönen puts in a 1:17.6 quickly beaten by Vettel with 1:16.8. Q1 is underway. Albon, Leclerc, then Albon will come to dislodge him. The Red Bulls are in good shape, Verstappen takes the lead.

There are 6 minutes left and the 5 drivers provisionally eliminated are Stroll, Russell, Kubica, Magnussen, and Grosjean.

Räikkönen is the best of the others, 7th at 1.650 from Verstappen all the same.

From the Finn to Stroll, the drivers are within 0.5 seconds, the second part of Q3 promises to be tight.

After a short break, the two McLarens are the first to head back out. From Räikkönen to Kubica, they all go back out to ensure a passage to Q2, given the time remaining, there’s only one lap left for that.

They all improve, the ranking is shaken up in the middle of the pack, but the eliminated drivers remain the same. 15th is Stroll, followed by Magnussen, Grosjean, Russell, and Kubica brings up the rear. Giovinazzi saves the essentials by finishing 14th but will need to pick up the pace in Q2.

Q2

This time it is the Toro Rossos that set off first, confirming the strategy revealed by Pierre Gasly in a pre-qualifying interview; they are on medium tires.

Moreover, the rest of the drivers are going out on mediums. As a reminder, it is the tire that achieved the fastest lap in Q2 that must be used by its driver at the start of the race.

The deterioration being significant, the wish would therefore be to leave tomorrow with relatively durable tires.

Will a driver dare to shake things up and attempt a lap on soft tires?

Once again, in a timed lap, Kvyat is ahead of his teammate. Behind, still some errors, notably Hülkenberg and Bottas. This gives Hamilton, then Vettel, the opportunity to take the lead.

Räikkönen will be the last to start at the beginning of Q2 and finally with the two Renaults, the two Alfas, and Albon will dare the soft tires.

Despite this, before heading out for their second part of Q2, the Renaults are too marginal to be sure of making it to Q3, and the two Alfas are provisionally eliminated.

7 minutes remain and those eliminated are Sainz, Giovinazzi, Räikkönen, Gasly, and Kvyat.

Everyone is taking their time before the final rush to reach Q3. Strategies are being refined.

There are 2 minutes and 30 seconds left and Sainz, the first to be eliminated, goes out on soft tires, followed by the Renaults also on red rubber. The Mercedes remain on medium tires, the Ferraris are on softs just like the Red Bulls and the Alfas.

By improving, the Spaniard temporarily moves to 4th, all competitors are improving. For the moment, Ricciardo is certain to be eliminated; he hasn’t improved enough.

Kvyat and Gasly ultimately opted for the soft tires, made it to Q3 but will have to start with a compound that degrades quickly.

Ferraris didn’t improve the time, they were preparing the tires for Q3, just like the Red Bull. The pace still promises to be high for the rest of the operations.

Thus, Perez, Hülkenberg, Ricciardo, Räikkönen, and Giovinazzi are eliminated in Q2 for this qualifying session.

There is an investigation by the stewards into Kvyat for exiting the pit without paying attention to Daniel Ricciardo. Deliberation after the qualifying session.

Q3

The two McLarens are the first to set off for this Q3. The situation is simple: deliver the best possible performance. Everyone has fitted the soft tires. The Toro Rossos and the Mercedes follow, but no one delays in heading out. Time is always of the essence in Q3.

The first reference is set by Norris at 1:17.432, with Hamilton slightly slipstreamed by his teammate. He will soon be overtaken by Gasly, Kvyat, and Sainz. Behind them, the favorites are picking up the pace, intermediate sectors light up in purple, and in this game, it’s Verstappen who clocks a 1:14.910. A real feat. Leclerc follows, then Vettel, Hamilton, Albon, and Bottas. The latter missed on this attempt, having to wrestle with a lively rear end.

Everyone returns to the pits to check the cars, catch their breath, and head out one last time to chase the pole position.

There are 2 minutes and 30 seconds left, everyone is back in a pack. Vettel, incidentally, exits awkwardly in front of Hamilton.

Verstappen managed to start from last. He hopes to have the most rubbered-in track to snatch this pole position.

Everyone improves their first sector except Vettel, who remains the fastest in this intermediate. Hamilton sets the record for the second sector as Bottas goes off the track. A fairly violent crash in the last corner, fortunately without any serious consequences for the Finn. Nonetheless, he will remain in shock for a few minutes.

Ultimately, it’s Verstappen who starts on pole, as no one could improve on his time. The German from Ferrari is stopped in his tracks while he was having a great lap. He will start 3rd. Leclerc is second. Following this podium in order are: Hamilton, Albon, Bottas, Sainz, Norris, Kvyat, Gasly.

The session times