Mexico City GP Qualifying: Charles Leclerc takes pole as Ferrari seal shock one-two in chaotic session | F1 News

Charles Leclerc led team-mate Carlos Sainz in a shock Ferrari front-row lockout after a chaotic Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying session.

World champion Max Verstappen appeared primed to take pole for Red Bull after impressing in Q1 and Q2, however the Dutchman might solely handle third after the Ferraris got here from nowhere to surge to the highest of the timesheet.

Leclerc delivered a 1:17.166 on his first run in Q3 to go 0.067 clear on Sainz, and, regardless of neither Ferrari having the ability to go faster on their second run, Verstappen’s enchancment on his last flying lap was not sufficient to gatecrash the entrance row.

Verstappen confronted a close to three-hour wait earlier than his third place on the grid was confirmed, with the stewards deciding to take no additional motion after investigating him for blocking the pit-lane exit throughout a chaotic finale to Q1.

AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo produced the very best second thus far of his return to Formula 1, making an announcement by beating Red Bull’s Sergio Perez to fourth on the Mexican’s dwelling race.

Lewis Hamilton additionally needed to await the result of a post-session investigation, for not slowing down beneath yellow flags on the finish of Q1, earlier than his sixth place was confirmed.

Oscar Piastri took seventh for McLaren, however the group will likely be left massively disillusioned after poor execution led to a shock Q1 exit for Lando Norris.

George Russell, who was additionally cleared of blocking the tip of the pit lane in Q1 after an investigation, took eighth forward of Alfa Romeo duo Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

After sealing a fourth pole place of the season – and his second in a row after additionally topping qualifying eventually weekend’s United States Grand Prix – Leclerc will likely be trying to finish a streak of 10 begins from the entrance of the grid that he has failed to show into victory.

Mexico City GP Qualifying end result

1) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
4) Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri
5) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
6) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
7) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
8) George Russell, Mercedes
9) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
10) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo

Ferraris come from nowhere to stun Verstappen

Ferrari’s tempo was one thing of a thriller going into qualifying after each drivers’ last runs in Practice Three had been ruined by visitors, however even going into the ultimate 12 minutes of the session, there was little clue of what was to come back.

Sainz had solely simply scraped by means of to Q3 by the narrowest of margins in P9, whereas Leclerc completed Q2 in sixth, three tenths off the time Hamilton had topped Q2 with.

Meanwhile, Verstappen, who had headed all three apply periods, appeared to have ominous pace and had the posh of sitting in his storage on the finish of Q2 having already set a powerful sufficient time to advance together with his first effort.

Verstappen was first to go in Q3 and appeared to have set an honest time as he out-paced Ricciardo and Perez, however then got here the Ferraris, with Sainz first bettering the Red Bull earlier than Leclerc went even quicker.

It was the Ferraris who went first on the ultimate runs, and so they appeared to have left the door open for Verstappen when failing to enhance, however his marginal acquire was not sufficient.

The final automotive on a flying lap, Hamilton, was additionally in a position to enhance, however solely sufficient to take sixth, which can be a disappointing end result for Mercedes on a weekend the place they’d hoped to problem Red Bull.

“I did not expect to be on pole today,” Leclerc stated. “We thought we had been missing fairly a bit after FP3.

“But for some reason once we put everything together it went well and on the new tyres we gained a lot.”

The shocking outcomes could also be partially defined by the distinctive circumstances of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which sits at a excessive altitude that creates hardly ever seen impacts on numerous parts of the automotive, maybe most crucially the tyres.

Unfortunately for Ferrari, the identical factor that helped them in qualifying could show to be their downfall on Sunday, with the Italian group anticipated to endure extra important tyre put on than their rivals over race distance.

That means Verstappen will nonetheless begin as the clear favorite to assert a report 16th victory of the season, as he continues to rewrite the game’s historical past books after sealing a 3rd successive drivers’ title.

Why had been Verstappen and Mercedes duo beneath investigation?

Before Ferrari stole the present in Q3, there had been a wild begin to the session with a lot of the points stemming from overcrowding on the finish of the pit lane.

At the tip of Q1, a number of vehicles tried to come back out of the pits in the closing levels, solely to be blocked by Verstappen, Russell, and Fernando Alonso who held station on the exit as they sought the optimum second to go away the pits, and subsequently keep away from breaking one other rule by going too slowly on their out-laps.

In clearing all three of the offence, the stewards admitted that guidelines prohibiting each pit lane exit impeding, and going over a most time on non-flying laps, are “contrary requirements”, and that breaching the previous is much less harmful than having vehicles at vastly totally different speeds on monitor.

The investigations concluded that a greater resolution for the pit lane exit is “desirable”, however at present “unknown”.

By the time the group had made it spherical to begin their flying laps, Alonso’s spin at Turn 3 introduced out yellow flags in the primary sector which compromised a big variety of vehicles behind him.

The largest loser was Norris, who had been left uncovered after inexplicably selecting to not set a time on medium tyres on his first Q1 run, after which botching his first try at a flying lap on smooth tyres.

He could not have been in a position to enhance sufficient to advance as he tried one other lap on those self same smooth tyres, however misplaced the chance when Alonso span.

Hamilton was additionally among the many vehicles behind Alonso, and was known as to the stewards concerning an alleged failure to decelerate beneath the yellow flags, earlier than later being cleared.

The solely driver to be punished for an infringement was Williams’ Logan Sargeant, after he overtook the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda beneath the yellow flags.

Sargeant obtained a 10-place grid drop, which could have no impression after he certified final, however extra considerably, two penalty factors on his FIA tremendous licence.

There had been equally wild scenes in the pit lane on the finish of Q2 as Tsunoda made contact with a Williams rear jack as he made his means out of the storage, for which the group had been fined for leaving unattended.

Alex Albon, who had proven spectacular tempo to complete second in last apply, appeared to have snuck his Williams into Q3 earlier than shedding the time for breaching monitor limits at Turn 2.

Zhou and Norris had been cleared for exceeding the utmost lap-time allowed throughout qualifying, as the stewards as soon as extra opted to not impose a penalty for an offence that has occurred repeatedly for the reason that rule was introduced in for September’s Italian Grand Prix.

When to observe the Mexico City GP stay solely on Sky Sports F1

Sunday
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (additionally on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (additionally on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP

F1 is in Mexico for the center leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the entire Mexico City Grand Prix weekend stay on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW