F1 Mexico GP: Verstappen secures pole ahead of both Mercedes

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen secured his 19th career pole position as he pipped both Mercedes to the top spot ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix.

Q1

When the session got underway, and the pit exit light went green, the Haas drivers of Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen were the first drivers to venture out onto the Mexico City circuit, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Naturally, Schumacher was the first driver to set the benchmark to beat, followed by Magnussen who filtered in behind. However, it wasn’t long before the time was beaten. The Williams duo of Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi were the first drivers to beat the German’s time as the two went P1 and P2, respectively.

The fastest time was soon toppled by a number of drivers before the session reached its final 10 minutes, by the likes of Red Bull’s home favourite, Sergio Perez, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda.

With seven minutes left to go, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the timing board with a 1:19.222 ahead of Leclerc and Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) who were sat in P2 and P3, individually.

Perez was at risk of falling out of the top 10, as the track began to ramp up and rubber in, but the Mexican gave his home crowd something to cheer as he progressed further back up to field and finished P7 by the chequered flag of Q1.

At the same time, Hamilton had found some extra time on his final lap and jumped to the top of the timing board ahead of Verstappen, by 0.053 seconds.

Eliminated:

20. Nicholas Latifi, Williams

19. Alexander Albon, Williams

18. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (three-place grid penalty – causing a collision in US Grand Prix)

17. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin

16. Mick Schumacher, Haas

Q2

Although the pit exit light went green to signal the start of Qualifying 2, no one was eager to be the first driver out. However, it didn’t take long before the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell provided the spectators with some racing action with the former out first.

Both drivers completed their banker laps on a used set of soft compound tyres. Despite this, Hamilton still put in an impressive lap time of 1:18.552 which was nearly beaten by Russell who sat in second place, 0.013 seconds slower.

After the second third reached its halfway mark, the top five drivers stood as; Hamilton, Russell, Botta, Verstappen and Esteban Ocon. The top three secured their lap times on a used set of tyres.

With four minutes to go, and down in 12th, Perez ventured out onto the circuit to secure a lap time which will put him in a position to progress into Qualifying 3. Despite the fresh set of tyres, Perez was only able to go third fastest behind both Mercedes who had secured their fastest times on a used set of tyres.

Only Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was able to match the Mercedes time but the Spaniard was only able to split the two Silver Arrows. As the chequered flag fell, Hamilton remained the fastest driver out on the circuit.

Eliminated:

15. Kevin Magnussen, Haas (five-place grid penalty – additional power unit)

14. Pierre Gasly, Alpha Tauri

13. Yuki Tsuonda, Alpha Tauri

12. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo

11. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren

Q3

Followed by the roars of the Mexican crowd, Perez was the first driver to venture out on the track to secure his bid for pole position. Naturally, the Mexican driver was the first to set a timed lap and provided the benchmark for the remaining 10 drivers to beat: 1:18.153.

Perez’s time was soon beaten by the likes of Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton who went P1, P2 and P3 respectively. However, Hamilton’s lap time was deleted for track limits as the seven-time world champion cut over the kerb at turn three.

Ahead of the final runs, in respective order, the top five stood; Verstappen, Russell, Perez, Sainz and Bottas.

Despite a smashing middle sector, to go fastest than everyone else in the session, Hamilton could only best third place on the grid as Verstappen secured pole position. Russell rounded out the top three, in second place ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday.

Top three:

10. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

9. Fernando Alonso, Alpine

8. Lando Norris, McLaren

7. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

6. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

5. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

4. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

2. George Russell, Mercedes

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

That’s it for the article; F1 Mexico GP: Verstappen secures pole ahead of both Mercedes! With the long sprint down into turn one, who will lead the race into the first corner? Let us know in the comments!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• F1 Mexican GP: Mercedes top FP3 ahead of qualifying
• F1 Mexican GP: Russell tops FP2 as Leclerc crashes
• F1 Mexico GP: Sainz tops first practice session amongst red flag stops
• FIA punish Red Bull for 2021 Cost Cap
• Alpine’s protest upheld Alonso returns to P7

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