Mercedes ended up with a 1-2 in F1 Mexico GP qualifying as Valtteri Bottas took pole from Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Q1:
The first part of F1 Mexico GP qualifying was red-flagged with about 11 minutes remaining after a heavy crash for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in the final corner. The Canadian lost control taking the corner as his rear smashed onto the tyre barrier.
Not only his rear was damaged, the front-end too had severe damage as the FIA got into quick action to replace the tyre barriers. It was a lengthy delay as the FIA noted about an investigation of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen after the session.
Replays showed that the Finn tried to get into the pits but aborted that idea and continued on the main straight under double waved yellows. As the session went green, there was momentary trouble for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz reporting no power.
But a reset helped him to get back on power and get going, as a late lap from Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas (1m16.727s) put him on top in Q1 of F1 Mexico GP from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m16.748s) and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1m16.788s).
It was disaster for Alpine, though, where a late run from them cost them a place in Q2. While Esteban Ocon – with a penalty – just made it in, teammate Fernando Alonso (1m18.452s) was knocked out in 16th from Williams’ Nicholas Latifi (1m18.756s).
The Canadian’s teammate George Russell – with a penalty as well – did make it in Q2, as the Haas duo rounded out 18th and 19th from Stroll, where Mick Schumacher (1m18.858s) was ahead of Nikita Mazepin (1m19.303s) – not before more team dramas. Post-session there was a note of Williams being under investigation for pitlane incident.
Q2:
The second part in F1 Mexico GP qualifying saw everyone apart from AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Ocon go for the soft tyres in their first run, while Russell remained in the pits for longer. It was close at the top with just 0.016s separating the two.
It was Verstappen (1m16.483s) ahead of Hamilton (1m16.474s) but the Brit used a second set of medium tyres to set a lap quicker than the Dutchman by 0.009s. A soft tyre run for Tsunoda helped him to be third with a 1m16.701s lap.
A late yellow flag for an off for Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi did not allow for major changes in the Top 10 as Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m17.746s) missed out in 11th, as he led the other Alfa Romeo of Raikkonen (1m17.958s).
Russell (1m18.172s), meanwhile, improved on his last attempt to be 13th ahead of Giovinazzi (1m18.290s) and Ocon (1m18,405s), where the latter was hurt due to the yellow flag.
Q3:
The final part of F1 Mexico GP qualifying saw Mercedes duo topple Red Bull after the first run, with Bottas on provisional pole from Hamilton by 0.145s. They were comfortably ahead of the Red Bull duo, with Verstappen ahead of Perez but 0.350s behind the Finn.
Both AlphaTauri’s Gasly and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo had tow from their teammates, but the Frenchman was faster of the two with the Australian getting beaten by even Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who got tow from teammate Sainz to be fifth.
The final run eventually got ruined for Red Bull after Perez went off and it hurt Verstappen (1m16.225s) as well. The replays showed that it was Tsunoda who had an off which caught out the Mexican and eventually the Dutchman too, as he had to settle for third.
It was Mercedes 1-2 with Bottas taking F1 Mexico GP pole with a 1m15.875s lap ahead of Hamilton (1m16.020s), Verstappen and Perez (1m16.342s) in the Top 4. AlphaTauri’s Gasly maintained fifth after a 1m16.456s lap as Ferrari’s Sainz (1m16.761s) was sixth.
Despite the tow, Ricciardo (1m16.763s) was only seventh but crucially ahead of Leclerc (1m16.837s), while Tsunoda (1m17.158s) and Norris (1m38.830s) rounded out the Top 10.
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UPDATE: Looking at the two incidents, the stewards reprimanded Raikkonen for his pit entry goof-up for not following the Race Directors’ note. At the same time, there was no further action in the case of Russell and Latifi as the positioning of their pit garage doesn’t make it easy for them to join the pack.
“Car 7 entered the pit lane after the bollard and then re-crossed the painted area and
re-joined the track,” said the stewards regarding Raikkonen. “The Stewards determine that this is a breach of the FIA Code of Driving Conduct on Circuits and a failure to follow the Race Director’s instruction given in Article 19.3 of the Event Notes. Accordingly, they impose a Reprimand on the driver.”
Regarding the Williams drivers, they stated: “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 6 (Nicholas Latifi) and team representative. At the restart of the session, Car 6 left the pit lane ahead of cars which had already formed up in the fast lane. The Stewards accept the team’s explanation that, unless they are first to move to the fast lane, the positioning of their garages which are located at the end of the pit lane makes it impossible for their cars
to join the end of the line of cars already there.
“The Stewards also accept that it is difficult for the driver, having moved out of his garage, to determine exactly where he should filter into the line of cars once they start to leave the pit lane. In these circumstances, and considering that no unsafe situation was caused in this instance, the Stewards determine that no further action is appropriate.”
