Written by Jenny Clynes, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
An action packed qualifying headlined Saturday’s running at the Mexico City Grand Prix. So let’s delve into the action that headlined qualifying at Mexico!
First to take to the track in Q1 was Kevin Magnussen in the Haas, followed by Pierre Gasly. It was a disappointing Q1 for Logan Sargeant, who radioed to the garage with concerns about the floor of his Williams, having ridden the kerbs. As a result, his car was sliding on the track.
Norris aborted his initial flying lap, and after Fernando Alonso hit the kerb into Turn three and spun, causing a yellow flag, Norris was unable to set a worthy lap. A disappointing qualifying for the Englishman, who has been on song so far. Those who failed to make the second round of qualifying were Esteban Ocon, Keven Magnussen, Lance Stroll, Logan Sargeant and Lando Norris. The end of Q1 also brought out a range of incidents being looked at by the stewards, including Tsunoda overtaking during the yellow flag, and Hamilton not slowing sufficiently under the yellow flag.
Q2 saw lots of traffic in the pitlane, with several cars side-by-side, jockeying for track position. Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda were ultimately the victims of the Q2 elimination.
Albon had his time deleted despite getting P9, promoting Zhou Guanyu into the top ten shootout. Now, all eyes were on the final round of qualifying, especially on Sergio Perez at his home race. Ultimately, it was Ferrari's day to shine, as the Italian team pulled out a mega 1-2, with Charles Leclerc taking pole for the second race in succession, followed closely by Carlos Sainz. Perez managed to take fifth, ending up behind Daniel Ricciardo, who had a mega qualifying and managed to bag fourth for AlphaTauri.
This is his highest qualifying finish since Spa 2021! Verstappen managed P3 place behind the Ferraris, after an error induced by going wide on the turn eight kerb. The Alfa Romeo cars had a good day, both of them made it to Q3, with Zhou taking P10 and Valtteri Bottasi taking P9. Oscar Piastri held the hopes of the McLaren team and took seventh, splitting the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
In the post qualifying interviews there was a mixture of delight and disappointment. Lando Norris admitted that he “probably should have done P1” and that he blamed himself for his shocking Q1 exit. Daniel Ricciardo was all smiles, as the Aussie as he excitedly announced that he wanted to rip his shirt off, and that he was “very happy with P4”.
The Ferrari’s however, were confused by their amazing qualifying. Charles Leclerc admitting that he “did not expect to be on pole position today” and Sainz stating that “it was a very strange one”. However, the top two were quick to turn their focus on winning the Grand Prix on Sunday.
The starting grid for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix is as follows, after Logan Sargeant’s 10-place grid drop for a qualifying infringement, and Yuki Tsunoda’s 10-place grid drop for new power unit components:
Charles Leclerc
Carlos Sainz
Max Verstappen
Daniel Ricciardo
Sergio Perez
Lewis Hamilton
Oscar Piastri
George Russell
Valtteri Bottas
Zhou Guanyu
Pierre Gasly
Nico Hulkenberg
Fernando Alonso
Alex Albon
Esteban Ocon
Kevin Magnussen
Lance Stroll
Lando Norris
Logan Sargeant
Yuki Tsunoda
UPDATE - Lance Stroll will be starting from the pit lane, after the team elected to change various pieces of bodywork on his Aston Martin car.
Here’s how you can catch the Mexico City Grand Prix, based on your geographical location:
Europe:
Austria - Servus TV / ORF
Belgium - RTBF / Telenet / Play Sports
Croatia - Sport Klub
Czech Republic - AMC
Denmark - TV3+ / TV3 Sport / Viaplay
Finland - Viaplay / V sport + / V sport 1
France - Canal+
Germany - Sky
Greece - ANT1 / ANT1+
Hungary - M4
Italy - Sky
Netherlands - Viaplay / Viaplay Xtra
Norway - V sport 1 / V sport + / Viaplay
Poland - Viaplay
Portugal - Sport TV
Spain - F1 DAZN
Sweden - Viaplay / V sport motor / TV 10
Switzerland - SRF / RSI / RTS
UK - Sky Sports F1
Americas:
USA - ABC
Canada - RDS / RDS2 / TSN / Noovo
Latin America - ESPN
Asia:
China - CCTV/ Great Sports TV / Guangdong Television Channel
India - F1 TV only
Japan - Fuji TV / DAZN
Malaysia - beIN SPORTS
Indonesia- beIN SPORTS
Singapore - beIN SPORTS
Thailand - beIN SPORTS
Turkey - S Sport / S Sport Plus
Vietnam - K+
Oceania:
Australia - Fox Sports / Foxtel / Kayo
New Zealand - Sky
Africa:
South Africa - SuperSport
Can I stream the F1 Mexico Grand Prix?
Viewers can subscribe to F1 TV in selected countries to stream the race on a device of their choice.
Sky Sports and Movistar also offer their own live streaming service in the UK and Spain respectively.
Will Sergio Perez take the top at his home race? Or will Ferrari get their tactics right? Watch all the action of the Mexico Grand Prix on Sunday, October 29th!
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