© Vladimir Rys2024 Mexico City Grand Prix - Qualifying ReportUnder pressure and almost out of time, Max Verstappen delivered a superb, last-gasp Q3 flying lap to claim a front row start for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
TheDutchmansettolineupbehindpolesitterCarlosSainzandaheadoftitlerivalLandoNorris.TherewasdisappointmentforCheco,however,withthehomeheroexitingqualifyingin18thplaceattheAutódromoHermanosRodríguez.
In the first runs of the top-10 shoot out Max went for broke and the Dutchman claimed an early provisional pole. However, within moments, the champion’s time was deleted for narrowly edging over track limits in Turn 2.
The deletion left the Red Bull driver in P10 and needing to deliver a flawless final lap to haul his way back to the front of the grid. And Max didn’t disappoint. Careful in the first two turns, the champion then put the hammer down across the remainder of the lap to cross the line in an even better time of 1:16.171 to guarantee himself a P2 start alongside Sainz. “[The pressure was] quite a lot,” said Max afterwards.
Yesterday I barely did any laps. Then, FP3 was not very good. So I was already under a lot of pressure to have a good qualifying, and then my lap time got taken away, so that added a little bit more pressure! So, yeah, very happy to be on the front row. I honestly didn't expect that to be possible.
Max took fourth place in a busy final practice session that saw the championship leader make up for the time lost on Friday afternoon where he was restricted to just four laps of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The session was trickier for Checo, though, finishing in P13.
At the top of the hour Max got things underway with a lap of 1:18.397 that kept him at the top for the first few minutes. However, as he settled into a long run on Soft tyres, he dropped down the order.
Checo waited until the 20-minute mark to join the action and the Mexican flirted with the top five across a couple of runs before sliding down the order ahead of the quali sims. And it was the Bulls that sparked the move to fresh Softs. Max’s first effort of 1:17.003 was good enough for top spot, while Checo slotted into P5.
Max was shuffled back by the McLarens of the session’s fastest man, Oscar Piastri, who posted a 1:16.492, and Lando Norris, while a final effort by Carlos Sainz took the Ferrari man ahead of the champion.
Checo, meanwhile, made two more attempts but he could find no improvement and as better times flooded in, he dropped to P13 at the flag.
While Max bided his time at the start of the opening qualifying session, Checo was among the early runners. And after Sainz set the pace 1:17.444, on Medium tyres, Checo slotted into P7 on new Softs with a lap of 1:18.530.
Norris then emerged to take P1, 0.241s ahead of Sainz, also on the Medium tyres, but Max on Softs powered to top spot with this first flyer of 1:16.998, two tenths clear of Norris.
Checo, though, was struggling and after a second flyer that was eight thousandths slower than his opener, he found himself at the bottom of the timesheet and headed for the pit lane to plot a recovery.
For others, the track was ramping up massively and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly climbed to P2, 0.15s behind Max and the Frenchman was joined, in P3, by Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg.
That sparked Norris into a switch to Soft tyres and with a little over four minutes left, the McLaren driver returned to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:16.505. Max then went again and an almost two tenths improvement to 1:16.803 kept him in P2, but only until Sainz edged ahead by two hundredths of a second.
At the other end of the timesheet, Checo’s attempt to haul himself out of the danger zone was unsuccessful. The Minister couldn’t find a comfort zone with the brakes of his RB20 and dropped out Q1 in P18. He wasn’t the only major casualty of the opening session though. Piastri, who had been quickest of all in FP3, also struggled for grip and pace and the Australian was eliminated in P17, just behind Williams driver Franco Colapinto. Ruled out behind Checo were Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in P19 and last-placed Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu.
Williams’ Alex Albon was the first man out on track at the start of Q2, followed quickly by Max and after Albon got things underway with a 1:17.090, Max took an early top spot with a time of 1:16.629. Sainz slotted into second place, 0.398s behind the champion. Leclerc initially made his way to P3, but the Monegasque driver had his lap deleted for track limits in Turn 2. Norris, though, got a useful slipstream and he moved clear of Max by 0.328s. Mercedes’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton took fourth and fifth.
In the final runs, Norris elected to stay in the McLaren garage, but Max went for another run and the Dutchman solidified his second place with an improvement to 1:15.514. His P2 was a close call, however, with Sainz just 0.001s behind in third place. Leclerc took fourth ahead of Russell and Hamilton, but 10 seconds before the chequered flag, VCARB’s Yuki Tsunoda spun into the barriers and the red flags came out.
The stoppage denied a final run to all those who’d planned to cross the line just ahead of the chequered flag and it meant that the Japanese driver was eliminated in P11 ahead of a queue of fellow fallers, with team-mate Liam Lawson dropping out in P12 ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, and the Sauber of Valtteri Bottas.
Max went out on track early at the start of Q3 and the Dutchman posted an impressive time of 1:16.368. However, though he held on to top spot as Leclerc crossed the line a tenth off, the champion soon dropped all the way to P10 as his lap was deleted for going beyond track limits in Turn 2. At the top of the order, Sainz took provisional pole with a lap of 1:16.055, a sizeable 0.360s ahead of Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton and Norris.
For Max, then, it all came down to final charge. And the champion delivered in style, posting an improved time of 1:16.171 to seal P2 behind Sainz and a tenth of Norris. Leclerc, who suffered a snap of oversteer on his final lap, was left with fourth ahead of Russell and Hamilton, while Kevin Magnussen is set to start seventh for Haas ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Williams’ Alex Albon and the second Haas of Nico Hülkenberg.
