An authoritarian pole position: Lando Norris (McLaren) banged his fist on the table by flying through qualifying for the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix and will start far ahead of his opponents for the world title, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren). While the Briton will start in the lead for the 14th time in his career, the fifth this season, the four-time defending Dutch champion and the Australian leader of the world championship will start 5th and 7th respectively on the grid.
Already very comfortable during free practice on Saturday noon, Norris showcased the superiority of his orange car to achieve an almost perfect lap and beat the two Ferraris of Monegasque Charles Leclerc and Briton Lewis Hamilton by around three tenths of a second. “It was an incredible lap, I really pushed the brakes a lot and yet I felt like I hadn’t taken the right line at times. And ultimately it was great. I have rarely felt so good in the car this season,” said the Englishman.
Oscar Piastri in delicacy
Norris, 2nd in the championship with 14 lengths behind Piastri and 26 ahead of Verstappen, has a golden opportunity to get closer to his teammate, who missed his qualifying, or even overtake him. The Australian, beaten by his garage neighbor over the last four weekends, never found his rhythm and, for example, secured his place in Q3 by only 80 thousandths of a second. “The lack of performance is a bit of a mystery. (…) Being this far away when you feel like you’ve done a decent job is a difficult situation,” lamented the Melbourne native.
Only 8th in qualifying, Piastri will however start 7th due to the five-place penalty inflicted on Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Williams) for hitting Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) during the United States GP last Sunday. The Madrilenian will be 12th on the grid despite his seventh fastest time on Saturday.
Max Verstappen pessimistic, Ferrari in ambush
Verstappen, very comfortable on Friday and winner of five of the nine GPs he contested at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, failed to shine during qualifying and was pessimistic for Sunday’s race. “I have no rhythm, so it doesn’t matter what I do in the first corner. Even if I gain two places, they will take me back during the race… If an opportunity presents itself, you have to seize it. But what worries me most is just our sheer pace. “He was not good this weekend,” said “Mad Max,” fatalistically.
Ferrari, on the other hand, could smile after the unexpected 2nd and 3rd places of Charles Leclerc and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. If the Monegasque will start on the front row for the fifth time this season (including once on pole), the Briton achieved his best result of the year in qualifying.
“It’s the first time we’ve both been in the top three and the team deserves it because we’ve worked really hard to get the most out of the car. Starting 3rd is almost the best place on this circuit so I will try to take advantage of it. Our race pace looks good so we will try to have a good race,” said the Englishman.
