Verstappen will start on pole after a messy Q3 for Mercedes
A resurgent Mercedes has put its drivers in the mix to win the Mexican Grand Prix, despite missing out on pole position to Max Verstappen in qualifying.
The Silver Arrows topped the final FP3 session, as well as the first two parts of qualifying, but this year’s world champion was faster than anybody else on both of his Q3 runs.
It’s a sign of Mercedes’ progress that George Russell looked devastated to miss out on the top spot, apologising to his team after running wide in the stadium section.
“The team deserved more today,” said Russell. “This weekend I think it was our pole to have and it was just a terrible lap from my side.”
Hamilton topped Q1 and Q2 but lost out to Verstappen and Russell in Q3
Verstappen admitted that “it was a close one,” despite his eventual advantage of 0.3sec. The margins were wafer thin in the rarefied air of Mexico City where the top four drivers were separated by 14-thousandths of a second at the end of Q2, ahead of the final shootout.
But after topping both of the first two qualifying segments, Q3 began to go awry for Lewis Hamilton who had his first flying lap deleted after clipping too much of the kerb at Turn 3. As he returned to the pits, he complained of drivability problems.
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At the same time, Verstappen became the only driver to dip below 1min 18sec. He improved further on his final run where Russell had his (slower) lap deleted for exceeding track limits and Hamilton was third-fastest.
“Unfortunately the first [lap] wasn’t quite good enough,” said the seven-time champion, but he remained optimistic, as well he might given the long run to Turn 1, which often gives drivers on the second row a slipstream slingshot into the lead.
“I think this is such an amazing showing, I’m really proud of my team. It just shows that perseverance and never giving up can pay off.”
Sergio Perez, cheered throughout the session by his home crowd, will start alongside Hamilton. Carlos Sainz will be joined on the third row by a flying Valtteri Bottas who was among the top three teams throughout qualifying.
Ricciardo failed to make the Q3 cut, going out in 11th
Grand Prix Photo
A subdued Charles Leclerc, who crashed in FP2, starts seventh alongside Lando Norris, while the Alpine duo of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon are ninth and tenth.
Mercedes had gone into qualifying after topping the FP3 session; Russell ahead of Hamilton, and almost half a second clear of Verstappen, who was third on the timesheet.
The 2022 champion looked be struggling in Q1 too, abandoning his first flying lap, after his car slid into the first two corners, his tyres apparently not up to temperature.
He was soon on the pace, but half a tenth of a second off Hamilton, to finish Q1 second, ahead of Leclerc and Bottas, who was 0.353sec off the fastest time.
Vettel equalled Schumacher’s time in Q2, and both were eliminated
Grand Prix Photo
Both Aston Martins and Williams were eliminated in this first part of qualifying, along with Mick Schumacher.
Q2 brought a familiar grumble from the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly: the Frenchman complaining that he had no grip for his “clean” lap, and he was eliminated along with his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, Kevin Magnussen, Zhou Guanyu and Daniel Ricciardo.
Bottas was still revelling in his Alfa, finishing sixth behind the tightly-packed pole contenders: Hamilton was fastest with a 1min 18.552sec lap, with Sainz 0.08sec behind. Trailing by a further 0.05sec was Russell, who pipped Verstappen by 0.01sec.
Within touching distance to his team-mate by half a tenth was Perez.
But, with the mistakes of Q3, Mercedes’ ultimate pace in the duel with Red Bull wasn’t seen, and the team will be dreaming of its first win of 2022.
“To be on pole here is amazing,” said Verstappen. “Of course it’s a very long run to Turn 1 so we need a good start.”
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1min 17.775sec |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1min 18.079sec |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1min 18.084sec |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1min 18.128sec |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1min 18.351sec |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1min 18.401sec |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1min 18.555sec |
| 8 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1min 18.721sec |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 1min 18.939sec |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | Alpine | 1min 19.010sec |
| Q2 times | |||
| 11 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1min 19.325sec |
| 12 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 1min 19.476sec |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1min 19.589sec |
| 14 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 1min 19.672sec |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1min 19.833sec |
| Q1 times | |||
| 16 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 1min 20.419sec |
| 17 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 1min 20.419sec |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1min 20.520sec |
| 19 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1min 20.859sec |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1min 21.167sec |
