Mexican GP Qualifying Report

Coming in to the event from Disqualificationgate, the big questions were...Should more cars have been inspected for floor wear?  Would Verstappen move over to give Perez a home victory?  Was there any chance that Perez could actually get close enough for his team mate to make this even possible?  After the free practice sessions, there was one more question.  Having been second to Verstappen in FP1 and FP3, could Albon qualify his Williams in the top 3?

In Q1, all the drivers apart from Norris came out and put in an early lap.  Stroll, the Williams and the McLarens were loitering at the bottom.  Sargeant went very wide and asked for his floor to be checked.  There was a large queue to get out of the pit lane with two and half minutes to go.  Some drivers were being investigated for impeding others.  With 30 seconds to go, Alonso brought out a yellow flag, with a spin across a kerb, which would also hinder some drivers.  Albon was lucky as he probably would have gone out having struggled with tyres but with the traffic problems he was through.  Out went Norris in last place until Sargeant had his lap time deleted.  The race stewards had a lot to investigate.

Q2 had a bit more silliness at the pit lane exit but otherwise was much more straightforward.  This session saw team mates dividing.  Zhou went out in 11th with Bottas out, Gasly out in 12th following Ocon, Hulkenberg out in 13th following Magnussen, Alonso out in 14th following Stroll and Tsunoda didn't set a time in the end with Ricciardo through in 4th.

Seconds later, Albon had his time deleted and Zhou was through to Q3.  All those saved soft tyres were redundant.  In Q3 it was tight at the top after the first set of runs.  LeClerc led from Sainz, then pole favourite Verstappen.  Ricciardo was 4th and home hero Perez was 7th after the Mercedes.

In the end, Ferrari pulled an amazing one-two front row lock out from nowhere.  LeClerc will lead another race off the grid, as last week.  Verstappen took third, Ricciardo, fourth then Perez.  Using the Mercedes engine, Hamilton was 6th, then Piastri, then Russell with the two Alfa Romeos completing the top ten.

After all these investigations, only Albon was penalised.  From hero to zero.