‘Supersonic’ Saint in the pole position of the Mexican GP

Carlos Sainz took out at the end of qualifying tests of the GP of Mexico – 20th Formula 1 race this year – all the speed he seemed to have in the free tests and with two amazing laps in Q3 of the qualifying tests he won his first pole position of the year – and very symbolic, at the end of his days at Ferrari.

In a battle for pole position that looked extremely tight, Saint left Max Verstappen in the Red Bull RB20 by two and a half tenths, who in turn beat McLaren’s Lando Norris by less than a tenth of a second and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – who will line up on the second row of tomorrow’s start.

In the 3rd row, the two Mercedes will line up, with George Russell in front of Lewis Hamilton. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and RBR’s Sergio Perez were absent from this battle, having been eliminated from Q1 – where nothing went right for either the Australian or the Mexican, much to the dismay of the huge Foro Sol grandstand.

Consequently, the top ten will be closed by four drivers who made impressive overtakings: Kevin Magnussen of Haas with the 7th year, Pierre Gasly of the reborn Alpine, Alex Albon of Williams and Nico Hulkenberg with the other Haas.

How ranked tests evolved

In Q3 Carlos Sainz achieved not once, but twice the fastest time which was enough for pole position. In the first of the two attempts by the drivers, he stopped the timer at 1:16.055, while in the second he even went below 1:16 as with a time of 1:15.946 he sealed his first pole position this year.

Max Verstappen managed to get the most out of the Red Bull RB20, and in the end under pressure as his first lap in Q3 was wiped out due to exceeding the track limits at the turns 2-3 chicane.

Although his time of 1:16.171 was 0.22” slower than Saint’s, the Dutchman achieved his main objective of beating title rival Lando Norris. The Englishman was fastest of all in Q2, but in his first attempt at Q3 he didn’t do as well as he would have liked – finishing just 5th.

In his second attempt he got the lap he wanted, beating Charles Leclerc by just 5 milliseconds. But he was less than a tenth behind Verstappen. As for Leclerc, a slight jolt of the Ferrari in the fast corners of the track left him three tenths clear of his counterpart, Saint.

In Q2 Yuki Tsunoda’s last-minute crash brought out the red flags and spoiled the chance of those who needed to improve their times to make the top ten – Fernando Alonso among them.

The Japanese locked his brakes at the entrance to turn 12 and ended up in the opposite barrier, where he collided with the left side of his RB, but without sustaining any injuries. Both he and his counterpart Liam Lawson were on fast laps that would have put them in the top ten.

As for Piastri and Perez, they were completely unexpectedly eliminated in Q1. The Mexican never found the confidence in the RB20 to push, especially on the brakes for the slow corners, and Piastri said he just made a mistake at Turn 12. Earlier, a fast lap by the Australian had been written off for exceeding the track limits.

The Mexican GP, ​​the 20th of this year’s 24 Formula 1 races, will be held on Sunday night (27/10) at 10:00 PM (ANT1+, LIVE SPORT24).