Two-time world champion Max Verstappen achieved his sixth pole position of the season and will start ahead of the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton for the Mexico Grand Prix.
Home crowd hero Sergio Perez took fourth, while Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was a surprise star of qualifying to split the Ferrari drivers and secure sixth on the grid for Sunday’s race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
After Hamilton had led Q1 and Q2, he lost his opening time in Q3 for cutting Turn 3, with Verstappen leading at the head of the times after those first runs in the final segment, his one minute, 17.947 seconds breaking into the one minute, 17 seconds bracket for the first time all session.
Perez, like he had in the first runs, led the pack around for the final fliers and he improved with his last go, but not by enough to topple his teammate nor Russell, who trailed by 0.132 seconds after the opening goes.
Following Perez, the two Ferrari drivers could not recover from slow opening sectors on their last laps, with Sainz unable to improve his personal best from the first runs and ending up fifth.
Leclerc did improve but not by enough to trouble the top positions, which left the focus on the Mercedes drivers after Verstappen then flashed through to improve the best time to a one minute, 17.775 seconds.
That became the pole lap when Hamilton finally registered a Q3 time that was 0.309 seconds behind Verstappen’s new best and still not quicker than Russell, who lost his final time for sliding off track beyond the Turn 12 exit kerbs entering the stadium but had done enough already to secure second.
While the focus was on the frontrunners, Bottas slipped in a one minute, 18.401 seconds having been in the top six in both Q1 and Q2 in a strong showing for Alfa Romeo.
Behind Leclerc came Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso, who completed just a single run in Q3 during the action lull between the two efforts completed by all the rest, with Esteban Ocon rounding out the top ten in the other Alpine.
Daniel Ricciardo was the highest-placed faller in Q2, the McLaren driver not to set a personal best on their final flier, missing out behind Alonso in the middle segment by just 0.053 seconds.
Behind Ricciardo came Zhou Guanyu, then the AlphaTauri pair of Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly – both frustrated by their lap of grip and the latter particularly annoyed to end up out after completing a clean final run.
The final driver eliminated in Q2 was Kevin Magnussen, who will drop five places on the grid for Sunday’s race for Haas having to fit a sixth internal combustion engine of the year to his car after it ground to a halt during FP1 with Pietro Fittipaldi aboard.
In Q1, Zhou’s last-gasp improvement knocked out Mick Schumacher, the Haas driver losing his penultimate lap that would have easily been fast enough to get through for cutting the kerbs at Turn 2.
Although Schumacher, who ended up just behind his grid-penalty-addled teammate at the end of Q1, set a personal best on his final flier, it was 0.8 seconds slower than his deleted previous time and left him vulnerable as the final laps in the opening segment were completed.
Sebastian Vettel ended P17 but behind Schumacher because the Haas driver set his identical one minute, 20.491 seconds first, with Lance Stroll just behind in the other Aston Martin. Stroll will start last as a result of his penalty for his incident with Alonso in Austin.
The Williams pair of Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi brought up the rear of the field, with the former the only driver knocked out in Q1 not to set a personal best on his final lap – thanks to an off-track moment at Turn 8, having had to catch a rear axle slide in the preceding corner.
So congratulations to Max Verstappen with pole position but there’s a long run down towards Turn 1 so starting on row two will add Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez especially with the slipstream effect. Going to be a fascinating opening lap, so game on!
Mexico Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:17.775
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:18.079
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:18.084
4 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:18.128
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:18.351
6 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:18.401
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:18.555
8 Lando Norris McLaren 1:18.721
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine 1:18.939
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:19.010
11 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1:19.325
12 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:19.476
13 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:19.589
14 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1:19.672
15 Mick Schumacher Haas 1:20.419
16 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1:20.419
17 Alex Albon Williams 1:20.859
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1:21.167
19 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:19.833
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:20.520
Mexico Grand Prix qualifying review as reported by Formula1.com.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took pole position over the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in a scintillating qualifying session in Mexico City.
Hamilton led Q1 and repeated the feat in Q2, but his first Q3 run was chalked off for track limits, which meant Verstappen held provisional pole over Russell. Final flying runs saw Verstappen improve again, this time to a benchmark of 1m 17.775s, to leave Russell second by 0.304s – as he had his final run chalked off for track limits – and Hamilton another 0.005s off in P3.
Home favourite Sergio Perez qualified fourth, 0.353s off the pace, and Carlos Sainz took fifth – over half a second off pole.
Valtteri Bottas split the Ferraris, with the Alfa Romeo driver taking sixth ahead of Charles Leclerc, while Lando Norris qualified eighth for McLaren. The Alpines lined up ninth and 10th, Fernando Alonso ahead of Esteban Ocon to seal the intra-team qualifying battle.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo missed out on Q3 as he qualified 11th, ahead of Zhou Guanyu and then the AlphaTauris of Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly. Kevin Magnussen qualified 15th for Haas but will start last as he has a five-place penalty for taking his sixth engine of the season.
Mick Schumacher had a time deleted in Q1 and finished 16th, with the same time as Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel in P17 – having set his time after the Haas. Lance Stroll, who qualified 18th for Aston Martin, is set to start 19th as he has a three-place penalty after a collision with Alonso in Austin.
Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi, who rounded out the standings in that order for Williams, will therefore be promoted two places apiece for Sunday’s race.
Q1 – Hamilton fastest over Verstappen
Though there was a 60% risk of rain for qualifying, temperatures were high and the clouds were scattered above Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Q1. Williams and Haas – whose driver Magnussen has a five-place grid penalty having taken his sixth engine – began their runs first, the rest of the field waiting a minute or two to hit the track.
Verstappen’s first run was compromised by oversteer into Turns 1 and 2 but he set the early benchmark with a time of 1m 19.222s, fastest in Sector 3, to go 0.283s faster than Leclerc, who was another 0.018s faster than Bottas – the Finn in turn 0.004s faster than Hamilton, who lost time in Sector 3.
In the provisional drop zone was Schumacher in 16th, leading Albon, then Vettel, Magnussen and Latifi. Schumacher improved with three minutes left but his lap was chalked off for track limits at Turn 2.
There was plenty of margin left on the table but neither Ferrari emerged for a final run, while Verstappen and Perez – who had to set a second flying lap with four minutes remaining – also declined another go.
Hamilton shot to the top thereafter, bumping Verstappen to second by 0.053s, while Leclerc ended up third ahead of Bottas. Sainz rounded out the top five ahead of Russell and Perez settled for seventh, almost half a second off his team mate.
With a big hit of the kerbs at Turn 10, Norris took eighth, Tsunoda ninth, and then Ocon rounded out the top 10 ahead of Alpine team mate Alonso. Gasly, Ricciardo, Zhou and Magnussen made it to Q2 – but Schumacher missed out on his 15th-place team mate by 0.126s.
Vettel set the same time as Schumacher, just later than his compatriot, for 17th, while Aston Martin team mate Stroll – who has a three-place penalty for his Austin collision with Alonso – took 18th. A baffled Albon took 19th for Williams, and Latifi rounded out the standings.
Knocked out: Schumacher, Vettel, Stroll, Albon, Latifi
Q2 – Just 0.014s splits the top four as Hamilton leads again
Having headed the previous session, Hamilton led Russell out for Q2 as Mercedes got the session under way. With a time of 1m 18.552s, Hamilton set the fastest time early on with Russell – who relayed on the radio that he was worried about his brakes – 0.013s behind and Bottas another two-tenths off in P3.
Verstappen, meanwhile, was 0.382s off the pace with his first run, taking P4 ahead of Ocon. A huge tow on the front straight saw Leclerc begin his lap with an advantage, but he lost time in Sector 2 and ended up 0.557s off the pace in P6.
With three minutes left, Perez – who was sitting 12th – once again emerged on a clear track and this time he found more than a second. Ricciardo, Tsunoda, Zhou, Gasly and Magnussen were in the drop zone, but the final runs were incoming.
Hamilton retained top spot but Sainz improved to go 0.008s off the Mercedes, Russell keeping third as he suffered a front-right lock-up on his final run, and Verstappen going 0.001s behind the Briton in P4, leaving Perez fifth – just 0.063s off the pace.
Bottas therefore ended up sixth, ahead of Ocon then Leclerc, who had aborted his final run despite setting a fastest Sector 2. In ninth was Norris, and in 10th was Alonso – leaving Ricciardo 11th by a margin of 0.053s to the two-time champion ahead.
Zhou qualified 12th ahead of AlphaTauri drivers Tsunoda – unhappy with his track position – and Gasly, while Magnussen qualified 15th before his five-place penalty kicked in.
Knocked out: Ricciardo, Zhou, Tsunoda, Gasly, Magnussen
Q3 – Verstappen storms to pole as Mercedes fumble
Mercedes held the cards going into Q3 but there was evidently a three-team fight for pole on the table. Perez began the shootout, packed-out Foro Sol grandstands emitting a goosebump-inducing roar for their home driver as he set a time of 1m 18.153s.
Perez would drop down to third after Verstappen eclipsed him by two-tenths, Russell going a provisional second by 0.132s and Hamilton P3 by 0.147s – before track limits at Turn 3 cost him that flying lap. Worries compounded for Hamilton as he reported drivability issues soon after. Sainz, then Bottas, rounded out the top five.
The Mexican driver went out first once again, followed closely by his rivals, but could not improve beyond P3. He had time for another run. Verstappen meanwhile improved to a 1m 17.775s, and Russell had his final time chalked off to finish 0.304s off the champion’s pace.
Hamilton couldn’t sweep the sessions and for the 11th-straight year, there would be a different pole-sitter at the Mexican Grand Prix: Verstappen’s time would not be toppled. Later admitting his final effort was a “terrible lap”, Russell ended up second on the grid, however, and Hamilton third – just 0.005s off his team mate.
Perez settled for fourth, but was backed to recover by his team mate as the crowd cheered for the Mexican long after the chequered flag flew, while Sainz rounded out the top five, more than half a second off the pace.
Bottas took P6 to split the Ferraris in a stunning performance for Alfa Romeo, while Leclerc settled for seventh, 0.780s off pole. That left Norris in eighth, with Alpine’s Alonso ninth and Ocon rounding out the top 10.
Verstappen now holds the advantage, but not since 2016 has the pole-sitter won in Mexico City.
Mercedes driver George Russell “kicking” himself after “terrible” lap that cost Formula 1 pole shot. Motorsport.com has the full details.
George Russell rued a “terrible” final lap in Mexico Formula 1 qualifying that meant he finished second for Mercedes behind Max Verstappen, believing it was “our pole to have.”
Russell topped both FP2 and FP3 for Mercedes at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and looked to be in the fight for pole after sitting just 0.132s off Verstappen following the opening runs in Q3.
But Russell endured a scrappy final lap, struggling with oversteer at Turn 5 before running wide at Turn 12 at the end of the back straight. This caused him to run wide and ultimately lose time.
Verstappen found more time on his final lap to take pole by three tenths of a second from Russell, but the Briton was left ruing his scruffy last effort.
“The team deserved more today, they’ve produced a really great car this weekend, and I think it’s testament to them for the hard work they’ve been putting in for so long,” said Russell.
“We saw last week Lewis showed what the car was capable of. I feel like it was our pole to have, and it was just a terrible lap from my side, so I’m sort of kicking myself.
“But at the end of the day, no points for qualifying and I’m excited to be back on the front row.”
Russell will line up just ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes enjoyed its best qualifying result of the 2022 season on Saturday.
The team has three races remaining to try and end its winless campaign, and looked to boost its late-season chances while aiding its development for next year with its final W13 car update in Austin.
Russell felt Mercedes “didn’t really get an opportunity to show what it was truly capable of” over the United States Grand Prix weekend, but felt the high altitude conditions were allowing it to show more of its potential.
“With this high altitude, the drag is less of a factor, and that is where we get outscored by Red Bull, let’s say,” said Russell.
“They’re always taking like three tenths out of us on the straight. Here it’s less of a factor, so that’s probably why we’re a little bit more competitive.”
Asked about Mercedes’ long run pace heading into the race, Russell felt the team was “looking competitive” and has a “reasonable shot” in the battle at the front.
“Having Lewis at the front gives us the chance to do something different with the strategy,” he said. “We’ll see what we can do.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fears a “nightmare” Sunday at the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix after experiencing engine and DRS issues in qualifying.
Both Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz have experienced a lack of power at the high-altitude circuit, with some rivals suspecting that the team may have detuned its power units in some way in a search for reliability.
Earlier this year, Sainz suffered a fiery engine failure at the Red Bull Ring, another venue where altitude is an issue, and a non-finish in Mexico could be costly in the team’s battle for second place in the championship.
Leclerc suffered more than his teammate on Saturday, and he also had a DRS issue on the back straight in his final run in Q3, leaving him only seventh on the grid. Telemetry indicated to the pit that the DRS had operated correctly, but the aero engineers could see that Leclerc still had full load.
Leclerc’s weekend had already been compromised by a heavy crash in FP2, which damaged his gearbox.
“There was something strange or wrong with the engine,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com about his qualifying session. “I was losing quite a lot of time down the straights from FP3 to Q3, not compared to the Red Bull or Mercedes because this has been the case since day one, and we knew it.
“But, yeah, there was something strange. And also the engine was not really responding to the throttle input I was having in the high speed.
“So I really hope we can fix those issues for Sunday. Otherwise, it’s going to be an extremely difficult race to be to be consistent.”
Both Ferraris looked tricky in the high-speed corners, but Leclerc admitted that it was hard for him to judge: “Honestly, for me, it’s very difficult to comment on the balance, because there was really a lot of inconsistency in the high-speed and it would not do exactly what I wanted with the engine.
“So I will get surprised, and then get a snap. So yeah, it’s difficult to compare the balance because it felt quite good when the engine was responding to what I was doing. But it was just very inconsistent.”
He added: “It was quite tricky on the kerbs. Unfortunately also on the bumps there were things that were happening that were very weird.”
Sainz indicated that he felt that, unusually, the Ferrari will be stronger in Sunday’s race than it was in qualifying. However, Leclerc was not so optimistic.
“Again, unfortunately, I cannot comment on my side. If I still have the same issues, then the race will be a nightmare. So I hope we can fix that.”
Leclerc insisted that his engine problem wasn’t just down to the circuit’s altitude: “This is the case since the beginning of FP1, with the altitude, obviously, you lose a bit of performance.
“And Red Bull and Mercedes seems to be stronger than that for the whole weekend. But for me FP3 and qualifying, there was something more specific that I don’t know yet what the problem was.”
Source: Motorsport.com
The Mercedes team admitted that the Formula 1 engine issue “definitely affected” Lewis Hamilton’s Mexico Q3 lap. Motorsport.com has the details.
Mercedes believes the engine issued faced by Lewis Hamilton in the final stage of Formula 1 qualifying in Mexico “definitely affected his lap” as he took third on the grid.
Mercedes entered qualifying chasing only its second pole of the season after finishing 1-2 in FP3, but ultimately lost out to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Q3 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Verstappen beat Russell and Hamilton to pole by three tenths of a second as both Mercedes drivers struggled in their final Q3 runs.
Russell called his last lap “terrible” after running wide at Turn 12 and failing to improve his time, while Hamilton revealed after the session that he felt an engine issue in Q3. He qualified third, five thousandths of a second off Russell’s time.
Hamilton said it was “generally a good qualifying session” with “no major issues”, but he felt the engine problem did cost him a bit of performance.
“We had some problem with the engine towards the end and in Q3,” he said. “So, I definitely think there was performance left on the table. I did the best I could.”
Hamilton explained that the issue “started to appear in Q2” and was then occurring on “every run in Q3, basically dropping out of power on exits from corners.”
He added: “I do think we were losing quite a bit of time I think out of the last corner and basically out of most of the corners. It felt like an ignition issue. But, I’ll find out from the team.”
Asked by Motorsport.com about the issue, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said there was an “oscillation” that had been spotted on Hamilton’s engine.
“That badly affects drivability,” said Wolff. “So it definitely affected his lap.”
Hamilton’s only valid time of Q3 was set on his final lap after his first effort earlier in the session was deleted due to exceeding track limits at Turn 2, setting a time that would have been one-hundredth of a second slower than his second effect.
Hamilton explained that losing the first lap made his second one “very hard” as he ensured he did not breach track limits again and risk setting no time at all, which would have left him 10th.
“I had to be very reserved on that last lap, just to make sure that it was clean, because I was a tenth up to that point,” said Hamilton. “Unfortunately, [I was] not able to push as hard as I’d have liked.
“Nevertheless, I think it’s a good result for the team, second and third. It’s no bad position to start.
“I hope we can fix the problem on Sunday.”