The Saturday in F1 Mexico GP seemingly put Lando Norris in prime spot to gain against his title rivals, as field is closely knit once again at a short track.
It was not easy for F1 title rivals on Saturday in Mexico GP after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen found himself in only fifth, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was eighth – will gain a position to start seventh. At the same time, McLaren’s Lando Norris took pole position to be in the prime spot.
The Brit didn’t understand how he managed to do it but noted a change from Monaco, where he revealed that he has removed the delta feature on his dash, as he doesn’t want the distraction. Piastri, meanwhile, is unable to understand why the lap time didn’t come, even though he felt good.
For Verstappen, he ruled out recovery considering the bad long run pace with no grip available to him. He doesn’t expects a lot from the race, while teammate Yuki Tsunoda was slightly disappointed on missing out on Q3, but was happy to be within two tenths of the Dutchman all-through.
He echoed Verstappen’s sentiments on lack of grip, while noting that he isn’t running the full spec of floor as the Red Bull driver. The Ferrari F1 pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were elated to be second and third after what looked like an average Friday in terms of pace.
They hope to hold on to the position, with Hamilton eyeing a front spot with nothing to lose situation. Mercedes’ George Russell reckoned he did the most he could given the pace, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli thought his pace fell through after Q1 and finishing inside Top 10 was a good return.
Norris: “That’s the confusing thing. I mean, obviously it was an incredible lap. I pushed the braking everywhere. I pushed the high speed a bit more and all those things. But I don’t have a delta, so I didn’t know if I was up, if I was down, if it was good, bad, whatever. There were a couple of little places where I thought I messed up a touch and didn’t get the best exits, like out of six, but the rest of it felt pretty decent. I was happy, but I thought I’d be more like a 15.9, 15.8. I thought if I’d get ahead of Charles, I’d be pretty happy. So when I saw 15.5 on my dash, it put a pretty big smile on my face because it was one of those laps which was — everything just came together in terms of feeling. It was very natural and similar to my lap in Monaco. A good feeling because it’s been a while. It’s not that often this year I get that feeling in this car, even with how quick it is.
“But yeah, happy because of this. No, I’ve not had it since Monaco. I’ve never used the delta since, in qualifying. So, yeah, I don’t know. Who knows if it would have helped me or made me worse? I think the thing when I don’t have it is, I push no matter what — no matter how the start of the lap was, no matter how any corner was. I guess it’s because you have no reference of maybe the overall lap time, you just always try and maximize every corner to the maximum. And yeah, otherwise sometimes I just stare at it too much, and that’s never the best thing. So yeah, it’s just nice because normally when it goes well, like today, it’s a pleasant surprise to see the lap time pop up when it’s as good as this one. Potentially. I mean, obviously with the Hard being a step harder, that can change a few things. But the race last year was very nice and we were very confident.
“Our race pace was very strong with the Medium-Hard last year. So yeah, I don’t think we’re too worried about anything. I think the pace has still been decent, even with missing FP1 and just kind of getting that high fuel stuff in FP2. But you never know. Many things can happen around here. It’s a long race. Easy to make mistakes. A lot of overtaking opportunities, that kind of thing — but the pace is there. So as long as I get my head down and focus, then I’ll be fine. That’s tonight. That’s with my engineers and my team around me to review things, see what’s best. Of course, you want a good start and go from there. But it’s a long run. I don’t know what our straight-line speed is like compared to the Ferrari. In general, I think we’ve been a touch down, so we’ll wait and see.”
Leclerc: “A little bit. But yeah, after the first lap in Q3, I thought this was a really good lap. So I knew there was a little bit more to come, but not so much. But considering the gaps that were behind, I was like, “OK, let’s see how it goes. I will still go flat out on the second lap and see where we end up”. But I was very surprised, obviously, by the jump Lando did from the first to the second run in Q3. I just don’t think we had the pace today to match that. There was a little bit here and there, but I don’t think it would have been enough for pole position anyway.
“I don’t think there’s a silver bullet or something that we’ve changed significantly that makes us a lot better now than three, four, five races ago. I think it’s a little bit everywhere. Like Lewis was saying earlier, I think the processes and all the small differences make a big difference at the end, and we improved all that in the last few weekends. Yeah, on the bumps, I don’t think this was particularly a weakness at any point. I think we had to manage some other things at one point of the season, which now we are in a bit more of a comfortable place. But yeah, the pace in itself is more down to small details everywhere rather than something standing out.
“In the race, he’s [Norris] got the race pace too. We were speaking about it earlier. I think he will be very strong tomorrow for sure. But the start is definitely a chance for us — it’s an opportunity for us to try and make something special even though starting second here on the dirty side of the track. I’m not sure it’s great, but it’s OK. I’ll just focus on what I can control and hopefully it will be enough to be alongside him into Turn 1.”
Hamilton: “I was just saying to these guys, it’s been a long time since I’ve been up here, so it feels fresh. And yeah, really grateful to the team for the hard work and just the constant effort through the year. Of course, I wish we had this experience earlier on in the year, but the fact is we’re continuing to improve and continuing to stay positive, and so it’s just great to be up here with these two. Relatively happy. As Charles said, it is a really difficult circuit. We’re all sliding around in general. The grip is quite low at this circuit because of the altitude. But even with that, clearly, everyone’s experiencing the same thing and our pace has been great all weekend.
“I think we’ve made good steps with the car through the weekend. Obviously, I missed FP1 — I wouldn’t say that hampered the weekend, but of course, you learn more with more laps on the track. I think I got the car to as good a place as I could. It’s definitely not easy to put a lap together. But yeah, I’m just happy to be here. I think this is a peculiar circuit, obviously, with the altitude, so we perhaps are closer than we would normally be, I would say. It’s difficult to say where we’ll be in the next races. I’m not sure we’ll be as close as we are. B
“ut I do think through those small improvements that Charles was talking about, that we’ve made — they make big differences. And it feels great to finally get into Q3 and be able to deliver good laps and be competitive. That’s been a problem all year, particularly on my side. I don’t know. Definitely want to be racy tomorrow. I don’t have anything to lose, but he does. So I’ll be… Yeah, we’ll be quite aggressive, I’m pretty sure. Hopefully we’ll be close enough to put up a good fight.”
Verstappen: “I mean, there’s not much more to say. It’s just been very difficult. Tried a lot of stuff. It’s not the lack of trying, but yeah, it’s been… It’s been, yeah, not great, let’s say like that. I don’t know, I mean, just no grip. [The car] doesn’t turn, I have no traction, it slides. Yeah, I don’t know. I have no pace, so it doesn’t matter what I do in Turn 1. Even if I jump two cars, they will get me in the race. So, I just need to stay out of trouble and just do my own race. Every lap that I did, even in the long run, has been weak compared to the cars ahead of me. So, just try to follow, see what we can do.
“We were not good here last year. People always think, ah, you have won here five times, so you need to be good here. But last year, we were not good as well. And the years before, we probably had a big advantage to not really suffer. And now, definitely, we are not good. I’ll figure it out tomorrow, if you have an opportunity, you go for it. But, yeah, I’m more worried just about our pure pace. That has just not been good this weekend. I am experienced enough to know what to do.”
Piastri: “I mean, difficult to know, everything feels normal. But the gap was big in that session, it’s been big all weekend. And there’s been some things where I felt like I can tidy it up and make some easy progress, but not all of it. And I think in qualifying, I feel like I did a reasonable job and the car felt reasonable as well. So, yeah, the lack of lap time is a bit of a mystery. In some ways, not too dissimilar. I think what’s been a bit surprising here has just been that the gap [to Norris] has been the same pretty much every session. I feel like I’ve done some decent laps through the weekend, but everything seems to be about four or five tenths off. So that’s obviously not a great sign.
“But some of the things that were difficult in Austin are also proving difficult here. I mean, ultimately, just a bit frustrated with how the session’s gone. There’s a lot of things I could worry about, but ultimately, being that far off when you feel like you’ve done a reasonable job is a difficult place to be. And so, that’s my biggest concern at the moment. I think from Austin there were some things that were clear. But even those things that were clear were a bit unusual, some of the differences. Again, this weekend it’s been a bit different. I’ve not changed really how I’m driving since the start of the season and even a few races ago when things were going really well.
“So it’s difficult to pinpoint where the lap time’s been lacking this weekend. But I’m sure we’ll find it. I think it [brakes] was in a pretty good spot. I haven’t obviously seen the data, but I’m expecting it to be losing a little bit everywhere. There wasn’t any big moments or corners where I felt I did something massively wrong. That’s been a bit of the story of the weekend. I’ll try my best. It obviously is the longest run of the year, so I’ll try and make up some spots there, but I think if I can unlock the pace in the car, then we can have some fun. We’ve just got to try and unlock it.”
Russell: “Yeah, I think so, we were third in every session for slightly different reasons, Q2 was my best session but Q1 I had new tyres and other drivers didn’t. I think Ferrari have been on pole here for the last few years, they’re always very strong here. Lando did an amazing job. So we were best of the rest, and there was only a tenth between me and Oscar in P8, so I’m glad to be on the right side of that tenth. ou would still choose to start on pole over any other position, but this is the most challenging circuit of the year to start from pole. You’re kind of at the mercy of the pole man.
“If he stays to the left, the odd numbered starters get a slipstream, he moves to the right, the even numbered starters get the slipstream. Ours looked pretty strong to be honest, other than Singapore and Montreal, it was most competitive Fridays in terms of race pace of the season. It is promising but if you are still behind Ferrari, you can’t use it. But equally the two of them can’t pit on the same lap, maybe we can use that to our advantage but I do think Turn 1 this weekend is going to be crucial. For sure [podium would be the goal]. I don’t think the strategy will be as clear cut like Austin with the soft-medium one-stop, so that’s the only thing we are kind of hoping on to mix things up.”
The 10 featured Williams’ Carlos Sainz as the best but with the penalty he will drop out of the Top 10 to start the F1 Mexico GP. The Spaniard felt the best in qualifying, even though his teammate Alexander Albon struggled all-through to be knocked out in Q1 itself.
He had brake issues, but he was disappointed to miss out on Q2 despite the issues. Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson rued the mistake due to lack of grip, as the late tyre switch did not help either. Teammate Isack Hadjar expected a bit more after finishing P1 in Q1, but lauded the team’s turnaround.
Haas’ Oliver Bearman was in the Top 10 again, but rued missing FP1 where he admitted that he underestimated the toughness of the track. Teammate Esteban Ocon missed out on Top 10 but was happy to get through Q1 to be a decent position to start the grand prix.
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg had similar thoughts, but Gabriel Bortoleto rued missing out on Q2 despite a good lap. He had to redo his lap after track limits. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was not too pleased, as Fernando Alonso did not expect much on a tough circuit, as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was satisfied with his run, not Franco Colapinto, though.
Sainz: “That was probably my best qualifying lap of the season. I’m enjoying the feeling in the car and today we executed a very solid qualifying. We’ll take the positives and refocus on tomorrow. It’s a shame we have to serve that penalty as it will definitely make our race tougher with the dirty air and the cooling. However, I have confidence in my race pace and we’ll do all we can to fight back into the points. I also want to say thank you to the fans here; their support is truly something special and it’s incredible to drive around this circuit listening to all their cheers!”
Bearman: “It is a tough track and I probably underestimated how important it is to do FP1, so again it is tough, it is my rookie season but I am still having to miss FP1. So, it is a bit tough because in my position I should be able to do FP1 like this, but the fact is that I have to give it up. But being in Q3…I was struggling on Friday to get on top of the car in just one session and in qualifying I had an issue on my soft tyre and I didn’t get a feeling on it. So heading into qualifying I had lots of question mark.
“On the other hand the pace was suddenly, I was looking for more because we had a really good race pace. So, I am happy to be in Q3, all things considered. We are still missing a bit because that lap that I did in Q3, honestly I felt like all that she could do. That’s a bit of bittersweet feeling but we are in Q3 for the third time in a row and the upgrade definitely brought performance in the car which is also important.”
Alonso: “We’ve been struggling for pace today and I think it was the maximum we could achieve in Qualifying. It was very low grip out there, but it was the same for everyone. Let’s see what happens in the first few corners tomorrow, as it’s tight into the chicanes and there might be something to gain there. We will give it our all and try to fight for points.”
Hadjar: “Saying it like this is a good session but I am actually a bit pissed because I was on a very good lap but I made a bit of a mistake actually, it was unexpected, so clearly the other guys made good progress through qualifying and we didn’t. Honestly, we made all the right calls, that’s the most important thing. We really understood what was going on, we were slow and now we are pretty fast. Within two sessions to turn the car around is a very [good]. When I was P1 in Q1, that’s why I expected a bit more but the Top 6 kept finding time and we simply don’t.”
Hulkenberg: “I’m not super happy with how qualifying went, as we thought there was a bit more potential after the pace we showed in practice. It felt like we were close to the limit but just couldn’t quite extract the extra couple of tenths needed for Q3. The laps were clean and consistent, but the pace wasn’t quite there. Still, we’re in the mix and tomorrow’s race is another opportunity. The field is very tight, so we’ll look carefully at our strategy options and give it everything to come away with a strong result.”
Gasly: “Considering how much we seemed to struggle yesterday, it felt like we did a better job today to at least close the gap to some of the cars ahead and, in the end, we were only a couple of tenths off reaching Q2. Since yesterday, the car has felt very difficult to drive, sliding a lot, lacking grip, and we have been far off the pace. We knew it would be difficult here so it has been good to make some steps forward and get on top of a couple of issues, which we faced in Practice. Tomorrow, we know it will be tough. We need something to happen in front of us and we will give it our best go as always.”
Albon: “We have been chasing a lot, never feeling that comfortable with the car and then qualifying was even the more painful ones, can’t tell you what it was, sliding around from Turn 1 to Turn 16 and brakes were an issue but we should still be getting to Q2 without the brake issue. I can’t put my finger on it but yeah, it was a strange session. Fine for qualifying, fixed [the power unit issue], but I think we have been extinguishing fires all weekend, at the same time it was scrappy.”
Here’s how F1 Mexico GP qualifying panned out
Here’s Andrea Stella explaining McLaren dev route