Lando Norris put in a dominant display during qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix while title rivals falter.
Q1
Two drivers in top teams got awfully close to elimination in Q1, with Tsunoda and Antonelli narrowly avoiding the drop in 13th and 15th respectively.
One driver who would have hoped for a better weekend was Alex Albon, who was only 17th fastest in a car that was taken to Q3 by his teammate.
Q1 showed some strong pace from some of the midfield teams, making the timing tables at the sharp end of the grid not entirely representative, with the likes of Hadjar in first and Ocon in fifth.
ELIMINATED
16. Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +0.121
17. Alexander Albon Williams +0.199
18. Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.255
19. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.315
20. Franco Colapinto Alpine +0.379
Q2
Oscar Piastri had been struggling up to this point in the weekend, and after his banker lap he was under threat from being eliminated in this middle part of qualifying. While he would be able to get in a quicker lap on fresh tyres to make it through to Q3, it was hardly a convincing time.
After having just about avoided elimination in Q1, Tsunoda was only narrowly knocked out of Q2, finding himself just 12 thousandths off of 10th place, while Antonelli was a fair bit more confident in this part of qualifying and safely made it through to Q3.
ELIMINATED
11. Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +0.012
12. Esteban Ocon Haas +0.033
13. Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +0.212
14. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.299
15. Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1.268
Q3
While Norris had looked unflappable up to this point of the weekend, it was actually Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who took provisional pole position after everyone’s first lap, the car looking particularly strong this weekend.
However, Norris would return to form to claim top spot at the end, with both Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton going second and third respectively.
Verstappen was uncharacteristically off the pace, qualifying fifth, and while Piastri initially looked to have found his form after the opening laps, he would ultimately go eighth fastest, which will be converted to seventh on the grid after Sainz’s 5 place grid penalty is applied.
Qualifying Results
1. Lando Norris McLaren 1:15.586
2. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.262
3. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.352
4.George Russell Mercedes +0.448
5. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.484
6.Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.532
7. Carlos Sainz Williams +0.586 (5 PLACE GRID PENALTY)
8. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.588
9.Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.666
10. Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +0.874
