Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc somewhat surprisingly raced to pole position for the Formula 1 race in Mexico. The Monegasque was 0.067 seconds faster than his Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz in qualifying in Mexico City on Saturday. “I didn’t expect that, we were a bit lucky,” admitted Leclerc. Triple champion Max Verstappen unexpectedly had to settle for third place.
The Red Bull driver had previously secured the best time in all three training sessions, but had to admit defeat to the Ferrari duo at the crucial moment. The Dutchman was 0.097 seconds behind Leclerc. “I didn’t get it all together 100 percent. But it’s a long race,” said Verstappen.
For the Grand Prix on Sunday (9 p.m./Sky), Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko once again sees the world champion as the favorite. “I’m still optimistic about the race,” said the Austrian. Leclerc also admitted: “I don’t know if that’s enough to win.” Teammate Sainz said: “We’re not that strong with a lot of fuel on board.”
Nico Hülkenberg didn’t get past twelfth place in the Haas at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and will probably have a hard time scoring championship points in the Haas racing car in his anniversary race. On Sunday, the 36-year-old became the fourth German racing driver to reach the mark of 200 Formula 1 race starts. “Unfortunately we’re not strong enough on our own,” said the Rhinelander and explained: “We can’t find a good rhythm and have rebuilt the car from session to session. We can’t do much better than twelfth.”
Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished a strong fourth in the Alpha Tauri. However, the hunt for a starting position was bitter for the recently strong McLaren driver Lando Norris. The Brit made a driving error and was eliminated in the first round in 18th place. Most recently, the 23-year-old made it to the podium four times in a row. “I had one lap and it didn’t work,” said Norris on Sky.
The World Cup has already been decided since the beginning of the month. Verstappen already secured his third title in a row in Qatar. With another victory in Mexico, the 26-year-old would surpass his win record from last year and would have already won 16 World Championship races this season.
