Max Verstappen beat the Mercedes drivers of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton by three-tenths of a second to take pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix.
Verstappen secured his sixth pole position of the season, bettering his own provisional pole time on the final lap. Russell took second on the grid despite crashing the final lap at 12. Hamilton would start fourth from Sergio Perez, third on the grid.
Q1
Mexican Grand Prix promoters couldn’t have asked for more unusual conditions at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, a packed venue with millions of television viewers tuning in for the start of qualifying. Track temperatures were breaking 50 degrees and the two Haas drivers, Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen, were the first cars to take to the track together.
Schumacher set a first time of 1’21.024, but that was quickly beaten by Alexander Albon’s Williams. Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen left the first push after the back of his car in turn three, sparking more boos as Sergio Perez was the first of the front runners to make up time and set the pace.
The duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz-Jnr Ferraris moved to the highest point of the season, before Verstappen’s second attempt on the first lap allowed him to be ten seconds quicker on the soft tires in third. Lewis Hamilton finished third in the first qualifying round, with team-mate George Russell fifth after complaining about running under the Mercedes driver.
As the drivers began to return to the pits after the first run, Schumacher was 16th, one tenth ahead of Albon, the first pitted car. Sebastian Vettel, Kevin Magnussen and Nicolas Laffy all need improvement if they want to reach Q3.
At the checkered flag, only Zhu Guanyu, who entered the danger zone, could deny Schumacher a place in Q2. Fortunately for Alfa Romeo, Zhou improved enough to finish 14th, knocking Schumacher down to 16th and sealing his relegation. Joining Schumacher in Q1 were the two Aston Martins of Vettel and Stroll and the two Williams of Albion and Latifi – although his efforts were lower than his previous efforts, the former’s final lap time was cancelled.
Verstappen ended the session in the garage after Hamilton made an extra run at the end. Perez, who complained of a DRS problem, dropped to seventh.
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Q1 result
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Q2
The Mexican fans were so enthralled by the first qualifying round that spectators around the circuit filled the grandstands with a wave of Mexicans as they eagerly awaited the second period. Drivers didn’t seem to share the fans’ enthusiasm as they weren’t in a rush to get to the green light.
A few minutes later, Mercedes broke the silence by sending Hamilton and Russell out, causing the cars to merge. Hamilton was the first driver to complete his fastest lap and posted a 1’18.552 to set a strong starting benchmark and Russell almost matched his teammate, 0.013s.
Leclerc turned the final corner to start the first lap to find Magnussen’s Haas ahead on the main straight, giving him a superb drift. However, Leclerc was sixth at the end of the lap, with Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon ahead of the Ferrari but behind the two Mercedes.
With five minutes left in the second half, the drop zone consisted of Yuki Shunoda, Perez, Zhou, Pierre Gasly and Magnussen. Red Bull sent Perez out early and gave the local favorite a luxuriously clear track to try and improve on a new set of softs to break into the top ten. He jumped to third by more than half a second off Hamilton’s fastest time and threatened Daniel Ricciardo in 11th.
Sainz sat nervously in ninth but found plenty of time on the new softer tires to pull away from danger and take second. Magnussen couldn’t improve enough and was hit by Gasly, but both were out. As such, none of the drivers in the bottom five were able to find a way to escape elimination in their last-ditch effort, leaving Ricciardo just 5-hundredths of a second from safety as the 11th driver.
As well as the McLaren driver, the other four drivers are Zhou, the two AlphaTauris of Tunoda and Gasly and Magnussen’s Haas. By the end of an incredibly close session, the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers and five including Sainz were covered by just 0.063.
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Q2 result
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Q3
Fastest in final practice and first and third fastest in Q2, Mercedes looked set to pose a real threat for pole position heading into the crucial final 12-minute session. Perez received a standing ovation from the fans as he was the first driver to take to the track, with no traffic in front of him to prepare for the first push lap of the final lap.
Perez’s laps behind Leclerc were quick through the first two sectors and the Red Bull crossed the line to take provisional pole position in 1’18.153, two tenths quicker than the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc. Verstappen was next on the line and broke through the 1’18 barrier to take provisional pole from his team-mate with a 1’17.947, as the duo of Russell and Hamilton’s Mercedes moved between the Red Bulls.
However, Hamilton’s third-place time was canceled out as he overcut on the inside of turn three. That moved Perez up to third place. The cars returned to the garage with Verstappen in a strong position before the final run.
Perez was again the first driver and although he improved for the first time, it did not change his position. The Ferraris were unable to trouble the front row on their final lap, but Verstappen bettered his own mark time with a winning 1’17.775.
Only Mercedes could defend Verstappen’s pole, but Hamilton was unable to do so, still setting a legal lap three tenths clear of Verstappen. Russell was the fastest of all in the first sector but at 12 he ran wide at the entrance to the stadium and damaged his leg, which was later cancelled.
Despite making a mistake, Russell remained second to start on the front row alongside the world champion. Hamilton was third, just five thousandths of a second behind his team-mate, while Perez was fourth on the grid.
Sainz starts fifth, the Botts Alfa Romeo separating him from Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari. Lando Norris finished eighth for McLaren, finishing the top ten ahead of Fernando Alonso of the Alps and Esteban Ocon.
Q3 results
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2022 Mexican Grand Prix
Browse all 2022 Mexican Grand Prix articles
