Golf gross by Ferrari, Charles Leclerc in pole position in Mexico

Charles Leclerc said the word “surprise” countless times as he climbed out of the cockpit of the Ferrari SF-23, having just taken the most unexpected pole position of his career for the Mexican GP, ​​the 19th Formula 1 race of the year. had arrived, a tenth faster than Max Verstappen, who was the absolute favorite.

With a gap of 67 mm to the Monegasque, Carlos Sainz secured the front row for the Scuderia, which was nowhere near Red Bull’s performance in both the previous two qualifying sessions and the three free tests of the two-day session.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect to get pole position today.”said Leclerc, “In the third test I thought we were behind. We had a good pace over the two days, but I’m not sure if it was enough to win. I’m not sure whether the first starting position is the best here.”he added.

The Scuderia drivers set two top times on their first attempt in the third qualifying session, but although they didn’t beat them in the second, Verstappen’s improved time wasn’t enough to place the Dutchman ahead of the two Ferraris.

In addition, the champion, as well as Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, are being investigated by the stewards for various incidents – the former two impeded other drivers and Lewis did not reduce his speed sufficiently when the yellow flag waved – and no penalties are foreseen. for the next three hours.

The Scuderia may have been helped by the slight drop in temperature in the third quarter, where Leclerc was 0.120 inches quicker than Verstappen in the opening laps, while Perez, Russell and Hamilton followed on initially soft rubber. In the second attempt, Verstappen improved his time, but only by 3cm, and so Leclerc and Saints retained the top two positions, although neither was faster.

Daniel Ricciardo performed a small miracle by putting the Alpha Tauri on the second row of the grid, ahead of Sergio Perez, the two Mercedes – as Hamilton was unable to repeat his Q2 in the first year and Russell finished 8th – and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

The Australian’s opponent, Lando Norris, dropped out in Q1 and, due to a series of unfortunate events, was last to start tomorrow’s race – despite having his sights set on pole position. He started the first session on the medium tire and the team asked him to stop his fast lap. He then completed two laps on soft rubber, but in the first he made a mistake and in the second he had to avoid a four-man driver from Fernando Alonso in the again uncompetitive Aston Martin at the yellow flags.

In the previous two sessions (Q2 and Q1), Verstappen seemed invincible, although Hamilton managed the first time in the second session – the Dutchman didn’t set a particularly fast lap at the end. Williams’ Alex Albon, who said his car was unrecognizable in practice, finished ninth in the top ten – but his lap was soon canceled for exceeding track limits.

Guanyu Chow from Alfa Romeo made it into the top ten and Albon was eliminated along with Pierre Gasly, Nico Hülkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda. The latter did not set a competitive lap, but instead went out on track to provide Ricciardo with a slipstream and overtake the Australian in Q3. After all, Tsunoda would start last tomorrow anyway due to a replacement of the Honda engine components.

In the first stint, in addition to Norris’ disqualification, Alonso had his 4-a-ke (his second in two days) but still managed to qualify, but yellow flags spoiled the fast laps of Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen, Lance Stroll and Norris and locked them in the exclusion zone. Logan Sargeant did not improve his time, but overtook Norris, but returned to last place due to exceeding the track limits.

Given the relative surprise in qualifying testing today, the Mexican GP looks set to be quite interesting as Mexico City’s altitude will have a major impact on engine operation and tire management. The game starts at 10:00 p.m. (Greek time) – don’t miss Sportish LIVE.