Carlos Sainz was able to comfortably put his Ferrari on pole for the Mexican City Grand Prix, almost a quarter of a second ahead of second-place qualifier Max Verstappen.
Pulling up the rear of the top three was Lando Norris. Norris will need to get by Verstappen in order to keep any hope of taking the driver’s championship at the end of this long campaign.
“[The constructor’s championship] is our number one priority,” Sainz said in the podium interviews, as Ferrari will be the lone team with both cars in the top 4 on the grid. “To bring both cars home, especially if you win the race. Those extra seven, eight points you get when you win are important for the team in constructors.
“I’ll just be looking to keep P1 in turn 1, then hopefully our race pace will be good enough to win it.”
Q3
After a few rounds where the track was taking in a lot of rubber and getting faster all the time, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez seemed to level off at the end of this round. Sainz took pole in spite of completing his lap well before Norris and the Mercedes team.
Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Leader |
1. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:15:946m |
2. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | +0.225s |
3. | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | +0.314s |
4. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.319s |
5. | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.410s |
6. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.705s |
7. | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | +0.940s |
8. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | +0.946s |
9. | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | +1.119s |
10. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | +1.419s |
Q2
The only incident in qualifying this week came with 20 seconds remaining in this round.
Yuki Tsunoda lost rear grip entering turn 12 after a lock-up on the front, spinning into the wall. The Japanese driver was able to walk away, but the red flag curtailed this round of qualifying.
Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
11. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | +0.081s |
12. | 30 | Liam Lawson | RB Honda RBPT | +0.114s |
13. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | +0.120s |
14. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | +0.246s |
15. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK Sauber Ferrari | +0.769s |
Q1
There were a couple of surprise eliminations in Q1, as the track changed radically throughout the round as more rubber was laid on it.
Oscar Piastri had a deleted lap time for track limits. He went out, had a faster lap and still did not avoid elimination.
Meanwhile, Sergio Perez had a massively disappointing day, qualifying just 18th to start his home race.
Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
16. | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams Mercedes | +0.151s |
17. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | +0.190s |
18. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | +0.204s |
19. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | +0.210s |
20. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK Sauber Ferrari | +0.665s |
Now that qualifying is out of the way, it’s time for the biggest fiesta on the F1 calendar. Lights out for the Mexico City Grand Prix will come on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 4 p.m. EST.
About the author
Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021, and also formerly covered the SRX series from 2021-2023. He now covers the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.
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