For failing to heed a yellow flag associated with Bottas’ crash, Verstappen will start fourth in Sunday’s race. Leclerc was awarded the pole with Vettel second and Hamilton third.
MEXICO CITY, Mexico—October 26th—Just as Daniel Ricciardo set the track record at the Autodromo Hermandos Rodriguez last season by taking the pole, on Saturday afternoon, it was his former teammate, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who set a time of 1:14:758. Verstappen finished ahead of both Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel in preparation for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen: It’s been an interesting day, but to come out top is incredible. Ferrari have been really quick on the straights, so to come out and take pole here is great. We kept bringing out new parts to the car, and it showed today. We are very quick. We always hope we keep pushing and try to find the right balance, and in Q3, it all came together.
Verstappen had the best time right from the middle part of the final session. His earlier time of 1:15:949 came after the opening period. But the Dutchman had some difficulties in the middle session when Lewis Hamilton bettered his time with a 1:15:721.
Verstappen’s fastest time was secure when–just seconds before the end of the final session–Valtteri Bottas scraped the wall on the final corner and smashed into the barriers. That incident ended the chances of any other driver bettering their times ahead of Verstappen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IGRWa1CtAM
Both Ferrari drivers knew they would have the pace for the race but were still impressed by Verstappen. “The start will be very important,” Leclerc asserted. “The top speeds we have are very good, so hopefully we can take that on.”
Vettel, on the other hand, although disappointed in the qualifying day, knows the race is much more important. “The car was good. I would like to be further up, but we’ll see tomorrow. It’s a long race, and we had the speed. It will be tough on brakes and cooling, in general, and tires. All top six cars have opted to start on medium tires, so we see who dares to go the longest.”
While the Ferrari’s were confident, the American Haas F1 Team had a horrible day–a performance not inconsistent from how it does at this circuit. Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean finished the day in 17th and 18th, respectively.
Renault drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo went one step further to advance to the second session but were denied moving on, taking 12th and 13th places, respectively. Home hero Sergio Perez just missed out going to the last session, by finishing in 11th.
For the rest of the top ten, Hamilton had a quiet day taking fourth, while Alex Albon had his best performance qualifying to date, finishing in fifth with the second Red Bull. Bottas, despite his accident, ended up sixth, while the McLaren duo of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Two more drivers from the same team–Toro Rosso’s Dani Kvyat and Pierre Gasly–took ninth and tenth, respectively.
But it was Verstappen who stood tall on this day, hoping that Saturday’s performance will lead to better things.
“It will be a bit different starting first instead of second [on the grid], so I’ll give it all. We have a good race car anyway, so if something happens at the beginning, we can get it done.”
___________
EDITOR’S NOTE: After this story was filed, stewards determined that Verstappen did not slow his car for a single wave yellow flag. Verstappen will now start fourth on the grid at Sunday’s race. Leclerc was awarded the pole, Vettel will go second, and Hamilton will run third. For more details, see this story at Sky Sports.
