Lando Norris stormed to his fifth pole of the season in Mexico City as his title rivals struggled to get to grips in the dusty conditions. Ferrari capitalised on Piastri’s seventh place finish, lining up second and third while Verstappen could manage no better than fifth.
Antonelli scrapes through Q1
Qualifying got under way and it was Lando Norris setting the representative pace early on. The McLaren driver’s lap time of a 1.17.147 sent him to the top of the time sheets, 0.618 clear of Haas’ Oliver Bearman in second.
Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri continued to struggle with the track conditions, the Australian 0.703s adrift of his teammate in third.
Ferrari continued their impressive pace, Leclerc flying up to second, 0.138s behind Norris. His teammate, Hamilton, sat fifth after beaching his car on the kerb into the stadium section, losing him time.
The 7-time world champion wasn’t the only front runner struggling. Max Verstappen was setting a personal best in the first sector but a big snap of oversteer at turn 9 cost the Dutchman 0.130s and left him fourth.
As the clock ticked down Antonelli was in serious danger. Sitting 14th, the Italian driver managed to improve to 11th with a 1.17.291.
Other drivers were improving though: Hulkenberg jumped from P20 up to P11, pushing the Mercedes driver further down the order.
Gasly managed to jump Stroll but both would be eliminated in Q1, Gasly in 17th Stroll 18th.
Bortoleto also failed to progress, skating over the kerbs at turn 12 in an identical move to Hamilton’s a few minutes prior leaving the Brazilian 16th.
Gasly’s teammate Colapinto also struggled having run wide at turn 3 after taking too much kerb. The Argentine couldn’t set a competitive lap time leaving him 20th.
Alex Albon failed to improve meaning Antonelli scrapped through into Q2 sitting in 15th.
Piastri’s woes continue in Q2
It has been painfully clear all weekend that Piastri is not settled within the McLaren around the Mexico City track. The Australian’s opening Q2 lap time, plagued by a power unit issue meaning his acceleration out of turn 5 was 10KPH slower than his teammate’s, left him 9th.
George Russell relegated the championship leader to 10th as he managed to put his Mercedes ninth.
Norris continued to be a class above the rest, a 1.16.252 putting him 0.406s clear of Leclerc, his closest competitor.
Despite being 0.746s off Norris up front, Hulkenberg sat comfortably in fifth, faster than Tsunoda and Hamilton.
With just enough time for two fast laps Bearman moved his Haas into fifth ensuring his progression into the final session.
Antonelli, despite his woes in Q1, moved into sixth having sat 14th while his teammate moved into third.
Piastri sat 13th but elevated himself into seventh, pushing Tsunoda down to 11th and out of qualifying.
Ocon missed out on joining his teammate in Q3 along with Hulkenberg and Alonso. Liam Lawson rounded out the eliminations having not set a lap time in the session, the Kiwi struggling with track limits.
Norris takes fifth pole of the season
Q3 began with Verstappen first out of the pits to set the first representative fast lap.
A 1.16.455 was the benchmark which was quickly beaten by Norris with a 1.16.170 while his teammate sat three tenths behind with a 1.16.489 to his name.
The Ferrari’s continued to impress though, Hamilton shooting up to second with a 1.16.374 while his teammate Leclerc set a 1.15.997 to send him to the top of the time sheets.
The Monégasque 0.179s clear of Norris and, incredibly, improving by over 7 tenths compared to his fastest lap in Q2.
Drivers briefly returned to the pits before returning with three minutes to go, Bearman first out to set a lap which propelled the British driver to a provisional fifth place on the grid.
Piastri was next but could only muster a time good enough for third. A 1.16.174 would see the Australian fall to a starting position of seventh overall ahead of Sunday’s race.
Sainz gave Williams something to cheer putting himself into seventh but a five place penalty will see the Spaniard drop out of the top ten.
Up front, it was Norris who was finding time, setting a personal best in the first sector. Elsewhere, his title rival Verstappen was fractionally behind on his previous sector time.
The Dutchman moved himself provisionally into second, 0.079s off the time set by Leclerc.
But Norris soon changed that as he shot up to pole with a 1.15.586, over four tenths clear of Leclerc’s previous best time.
The Ferrari drivers would improve with Leclerc 0.262s adrift in second with Hamilton a close third.
The focus though, was on the Mclaren driver, who always seemed set to line up on pole. Rivals could only watch as he stormed to his fifth pole of the season.
Russell managed to move his Mercedes into fourth with Verstappen rounding out the top five. Behind came the Mercedes of Antonelli and Piastri in seventh, after Sainz’s penalty was applied.
Feature Image courtesy of Formula One