It was a little surprise that Carlos Sainz pulled off in qualifying for the Mexican GP. The Spanish driver obtained his first pole position of the season, his 6th in his career, thanks to a time of 1’15”946. Well placed in Q1 and Q2, the Madrid native came out of the woods in Q3, with two great times. He initially took provisional pole on his first attempt, but this was somewhat overshadowed by the cancellation of Max Verstappen’s time.
So to clearly show that he was the fastest on this Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, he did it again on his second flying lap, improving his own mark, and being the only driver to lap below 1’16. Sainz’s performance confirms Ferrari’s good intentions on this American tour and on a Mexico track which has characteristics quite similar to those of Austin, where the two prancing horse cars scored a double last week.
The two rivals in the Championship, Max Verstappen (2nd) and Lando Norris (3rd), who responded with better times between Q1 and Q2, were not able to rise to the level of the Ferrari driver, no more than his teammate Charles Leclerc (4th), who also dreams of getting involved in the fight for the title. Verstappen will start from the front row, behind Sainz, but ahead of Norris, which is, for now, his main concern.
Piastri and Perez eliminated in Q1
Ferrari will be able to play collectively in the race on Sunday, unlike Red Bull and McLaren. Verstappen and Norris will have to fend for themselves as their teammates will be far behind. Oscar Piastri and Sergio Perez completely missed each other in Q1 and were eliminated prematurely. For the Australian from McLaren, not really on the pace, a lap canceled for exceeding track limits forced him to do a quick second lap on worn tires and it didn’t happen, with only the 17th fastest time. . For Sergio Perez, his season described as “ terrible » this week is taking on the appearance of a nightmare at home. Never in the rhythm, the Mexican fell by the wayside with the 18th time and dark clouds are gathering over his future.
At Alpine, there is good and bad. As in Austin last week, Pierre Gasly managed to reach Q3. The French driver set the 8th fastest time and will no doubt be keen to score points this time, something he failed to do in the United States. For Esteban Ocon, the disappointment was great at the end of a qualifying session which ended in Q1. The other French driver on the grid will start from 19th place in the race on Sunday.
