After Friday, Charles Leclerc let himself be heard that winning the pole position would surprise him a lot. Scuderia Ferrari finally caught us all by surprise. Not only did she get the pole position, but she even occupied the entire first row. However, the qualification in Mexico brought more surprises.
The Italian team did it. Charles Leclerc usurped the first place with a time of 1:17.166, which none of the competitors could beat. But it was very close. Carlos Sainz lost only 0.067 seconds and Max Verstappen less than a tenth.
It’s a big surprise for Red Bull. Verstappen dominated the first three practice sessions and was on the best way to pole position. But in qualifying, his speed surprised him so much that the team even asked him to check the floor. Damage could explain his third place, but so could Ferrari’s brilliant performance.
Let us remind you that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz should not lose their positions. However, the FIA will investigate both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton for their offenses in the first part of qualifying. The Dutchman stopped in the pits and blocked opponents there, Lewis Hamilton did not slow down under the yellow flags.
Daniel Ricciardo is already asking for a place in Red Bull with great emphasis. On Friday, the Australian surprised by claiming that it would be great to have a car in the top five. In the end, he had it, and even managed to beat the pilot from “A” and home hero Sergio Pérez, who will surely be blushing after today’s qualification.
Lewis Hamilton took seventh place and his colleague George Russell finished eighth. Mercedes couldn’t turn it around this weekend. As Toto Wolff said, every weekend one of his drivers has problems. Both of them seemed to lack speed in qualifying.
There is only one McLaren pilot in the top ten, and that’s very low. Oscar Piastri took seventh place, his teammate already finished in Q1. McLaren already regretted that he had big eyes and tried to advance on a medium-hard compound. Neither of them could do it on the first attempt, Oscar Piastri got ahead in the second round. However, Lando Norris did not improve. It was once again confirmed that it is good to have at least a lap in case the pilot makes a mistake in the next attempts — which he admitted — or has to slow down for yellow flags.
Both Alfa Romeo drivers made it to the top ten. Valtteri Bottas on his own, Kuan-yu Chou with the help of the competition.
Alex Albon was very unpleasantly surprised at the beginning of qualifying. His Williams suddenly behaved completely differently than in training. He reported to the team that the car must be damaged, otherwise he could not explain the loss of speed. Despite these problems, he made it to Q3, but only for a few seconds before the marshals canceled his promotion lap. Albon’s misfortune was Chou’s fortune.
2023-10-28 20:31:18
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