Max Verstappen shows why he is the 2022 Champion with his first pole at the Mexican GP, however he has the resurgent Mercedes for company.
Q1
Q1 ended with the usual 5 drivers dropping out, some of them will be the usual suspects other maybe a tiny surprise.
At the bottom it was Latifi that will continue his record of being at the rear of the gird, he won’t start dead last as Lance Stroll, who qualified in 17th will drop to 20th, due to a grid penalty.
Other drivers, that failed to pass the Q1 test were Sebastian Vettel, Mick Schumacher and Alex Albon. Unfortunately for HAAS it was the wrong car to make it through to Q2 as Kevin Magnussen is taking a grid penalty for the race tomorrow.
Lance Stroll follows Sebastian Vettel, struggling to replicate their form from COTA, Vettel will start 17th, with Stroll starting 20th (qualifying 18th) after a 3 place grid penalty. Mick Schumacher qualified in 16th, the young German was unfortunate to make it into Q2.
The fancied Mercedes drivers of Hamilton and Russell were at the front end of the grid, however Russell was not overly happy with the set of the car, he couldn’t quite get the heat in the tires.
Q2
In to the next qualifying session with 15 cars fighting for ten places. Who would make it and who would lose out.
Unfortunately for Danny Ricciardo and McLaren, as he was unable to make it in to the top ten and qualifying 11th. It was more of the same from the Australian, who has just not been able to make it click in the McLaren.
The Alpha Tauri pair of Tsunoda and Gasly were the next two casualties in Q2, Tsunoda will start in 13th, outqualifying his teammate, Gasly, who took 14th. Zhou, in the Alfa Romeo would take 12th place, which is a decent result, however the Chinese driver will be disappointed, with his teammate, Bottas managed to fire the Alfa into Q3.
POLE SHOOTOUT
Max Verstappen takes pole in Mexico for the first time, beating the resurgent Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton, who will start second and third respectively. Local driver Sergio Perez, hampered with an electrical issue, could only managing forth, however he is definitely in the mix to challenge for the race win tomorrow.
The Ferrari’s of Sainz and Leclerc were surprising lacklustre with only fifth for Sainz and 7th for Leclerc. The car looking a bit squirmy through some of the twistier parts of the track certainly hindered the prancing horse throughout the session.
The Sole remaining McLaren and the Alpine pair had a largely anonymous session taking respectable positions (10th Ocon, 9th Alonso and 8th Norris), with only a few points separating these two teams in the battle for 4th in constructor’s championship.
The surprise package goes to Valterri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo, who takes a wonderful sixth place, the Finnish driver looked at ease throughout the session and will be hoping to scoop up some valuable points for the team tomorrow.
Final word goes to the Flying Dutchman, Max Verstappen takes yet another pole. In a session that didn’t always look like he would manage to secure the top spot, he comes out with yet another masterful lap to take the top spot, few can bet against Max this season and few can bet against him tomorrow.