Trouble for Ferrari, great performance by Mercedes, great drive by Bottas: How did qualifying for the Mexican GP go?

A great performance by Mercedes, a great drive by Valtteri Bottas and a struggling Ferrari – this is probably a safe way to interpret Saturday’s qualifying for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix. Max Verstappen took pole position at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, so what does the full grid look like?

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a circuit like no other. Because of the thin air at the high altitude, the monoposts have problems with cooling and generating downforce.

Add iconic sections of the circuit such as the Foro Sol stadium passage and a crowd of 100,000 fans supporting their home hero, Sergio “Checa” Pérez, and you have a recipe for a thrilling qualifying session with an inimitable atmosphere.

Q1

After the first few attempts, Verstappen dictated the pace of the first qualifying segment. He shot his Red Bull to first place with a time of 1:19.222, almost three tenths of a second ahead.

With three minutes to go, both Williams, both Aston Martins and Mick Schumacher’s Haas were in the top five elimination spots. The German driver did set the sixth fastest time on his second attempt, but his time was wiped out due to a track limits infringement.

The top five remained unchanged after the chequered flag waved. Schumacher and Vettel set identical times, but as the Haas driver set his lap early, he will start Sunday’s race ahead of his compatriot from 16th place.

Both Williams drivers qualified on the last row. Alex Albon was improving on his last attempt, but lost control of his car at turn seven and failed to complete his well paced lap.

Q2

The Silver Arrows entered the second part of qualifying the best. Valtteri Bottas came closest to matching their almost identical times, with a loss of 228 thousandths. It should be noted that these three drivers set their times on new tyres.

Both the Ferrari and Red Bull monoblocs ran on used tyres. Pérez’s old set-up didn’t really suit him, and after the first attempt he was in twelfth place, not advancing. He was seven tenths of a second behind his teammate in fourth place.

The Mexican’s attempt on the new set of soft tyres was already better, but it was still not enough for the Mercedes. He was six hundredths off Lewis Hamilton’s fastest time.

No one else could beat the seven-time world champion’s time, but three drivers came very close. Second Carlos Sainz was only 8 thousandths behind Hamilton, Russell 13 and Verstappen 14.

Kevin Magnussen was the slowest in the second qualifying session. He had to add a penalty for changing an engine component to his 15th place, dropping five places at the start. Along with him, Pierre Gasly, Yuki Cunoda, Kuan-yu Zhou and Daniel Ricciardo said goodbye to qualifying.

Q3

In a direct battle for pole position, Dutchman Verstappen set the bar. He was the first to go under 1 minute and 18 seconds. The closest drivers to him were Russell and Pérez.

Hamilton also set a fast time, but in turn three he crossed the white line on the inside of the corner with all four wheels and his time was wiped out.

The second attempt was a complete failure for the Maranello stable. Sainz only set the fifth best time. Charles Leclerc lost almost 8 tenths to first place and will be seventh on the grid.

On the other hand, the Finnish driver Bottas gave a great performance. He pulled his Alfa Romeo to sixth place. In the Grand Prix, he will have the chance to gain very important points for the Drivers’ Championship and the Constructors’ Cup.

Verstappen once again put in a flawless performance. With a time of 1::17.775 he became the eleventh different pole position holder in the last eleven years.

Russell will start alongside Verstappen. The latter was already reaching for his second pole position of the season with his last attempt, but a mistake at Turn 12 thwarted his efforts.

They say the best position to start in Mexico is third. Before the drivers reach the first corner, they have to go down a long straight where the slipstream behind another car plays a big role. That starting position will belong to Hamilton.

You can see the overall qualifying result in the twitter post below.

Source: F1 TV