The F1 Mexican Grand Prix race weekend certainly didn’t hint at a Ferrari front row lockout for Qualifying but that’s exactly how it unfolded in Mexico City with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz leading Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
If Free Practice was any indicator, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen seemed in control for Pole Position and even both McLaren’s looked very handy around the circuit but come Saturday, as temps cooled in the late afternoon, it was a shock front row from both Ferrari’s who somehow managed to find the pace to take the top spots.
Mercedes looked like they may have the pace in Q1 and Q2 but that never materialized in Q3 and the same story for McLaren with Lando Norris making a mistake on his initial run in Q1 leaving him starting in P19 and Oscar Piastri missing the pace rendering him P7.
The feel-good story has to be Daniel Ricciardo’s P4 qualifying story and that’s great to see the Aussie back at the sharp end of the grid. Also, both Alfa Romeo’s in the top 10 was a great result as well.
Unfortunately for hometown hero Sergio Perez, his Red Bull couldn’t manage better than P5 for Sunday’s start of the Mexican Grand Prix.
Mexico GP Qualifying Results:
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:18.401 | 1:17.901 | 1:17.166 | |
| 2 | 1:18.755 | 1:18.382 | 1:17.233 | |
| 3 | 1:18.099 | 1:17.625 | 1:17.263 | |
| 4 | 1:18.341 | 1:17.706 | 1:17.382 | |
| 5 | 1:18.553 | 1:18.124 | 1:17.423 | |
| 6 | 1:18.677 | 1:17.571 | 1:17.454 | |
| 7 | 1:18.241 | 1:17.874 | 1:17.623 | |
| 8 | 1:18.893 | 1:17.673 | 1:17.674 | |
| 9 | 1:18.429 | 1:18.016 | 1:18.032 | |
| 10 | 1:19.016 | 1:18.440 | 1:18.050 | |
| 11 | 1:18.945 | 1:18.521 | ||
| 12 | 1:18.969 | 1:18.524 | ||
| 13 | 1:18.848 | 1:18.738 | ||
| 14 | 1:18.828 | 1:19.147 | ||
| 15 | 1:18.890 | |||
| 16 | 1:19.080 | |||
| 17 | 1:19.163 | |||
| 18 | 1:19.227 | |||
| 19 | 1:21.554 | |||
| RT |
