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

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In a busy qualifying session for the Mexico City GP, Charles Leclerc secured the top starting position, while Lando Norris did not advance past the first round of qualifications.

In the qualifying session of the Mexico City Grand Prix, Ferrari unexpectedly dominated the front row with Charles Leclerc in first place and Carlos Sainz in second place. The session was filled with chaos.

Max Verstappen, who is a world champion, seemed prepared to achieve the pole position for Red Bull. He did very well in both the first and second qualifying sessions. However, he had to settle for third place in the end. This was because the Ferraris unexpectedly performed excellently and jumped to the top of the ranking.

During Q3, Leclerc managed to complete his first run by recording a time of 1 minute and 17.166 seconds. This put him in the lead, surpassing Sainz by 0.067 seconds. Although both Ferrari drivers didn't improve on their second run, Verstappen's last lap wasn't fast enough to join the front row.

Verstappen had to wait for almost three hours to confirm his position on the grid as third place. The stewards looked into his actions during the tense Q1 concluding moments and probed him for potentially blocking the pit-lane exit. Ultimately, no further action was taken against him.

Daniel Ricciardo from AlphaTauri made a comeback in Formula 1 and had his shining moment by winning against Sergio Perez of Red Bull. He grabbed fourth place in the race, which took place in Perez's hometown of Mexico, and this statement win was the highlight of Ricciardo's return to the sport.

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During the first qualifying session of the Mexico City Grand Prix, Max Verstappen and George Russell were looked into for creating a congestion in the pit lane when they made a stop.

After Q1, Lewis Hamilton's sixth place finish was put on hold due to an investigation about not slowing down under yellow flags. He had to patiently wait for the results to be confirmed.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri secured seventh place, however, the team was greatly let down as a result of inadequate implementation, which led to Lando Norris being unexpectedly eliminated in Q1.

George Russell secured the eighth spot in the rankings, and there was an investigation on whether he blocked the end of the pit lane in Q1, but he was cleared of any fault. In the competition, he surpassed Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, both from Alfa Romeo.

Once again, Leclerc claimed his fourth pole position of the season and secured his second consecutive victory in the qualifying round during the United States Grand Prix over the weekend. However, he needs to turn his 10 previous front row starts into actual victories.

The outcome of the qualifying round of the Mexico City Grand Prix has been determined.

Here are ten Formula One drivers who are currently competing in the sport: 1. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc 2. Another Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz 3. Max Verstappen, who drives for Red Bull 4. Daniel Ricciardo, racing for AlphaTauri 5. Sergio Perez, who also races for Red Bull 6. Lewis Hamilton, who is currently driving for Mercedes 7. Oscar Piastri, who races for McLaren 8. George Russell, another Mercedes driver 9. Valtteri Bottas, who is currently driving for Alfa Romeo 10. Zhou Guanyu, who is also racing for Alfa Romeo.

"Surprising Ferraris Stun Verstappen"

Before the qualifying round, nobody was certain about Ferrari's speed due to their previous practice runs being disrupted by heavy traffic. However, even when the last 12 minutes of the qualifying session were approaching, no one had a clear idea of how well they would perform.

Sainz barely made it to Q3, landing in P9 by a hair's breadth. Meanwhile, Leclerc wrapped up Q2 in sixth place, trailing Hamilton's Q2-leading time by just three tenths of a second.

At the same time, Verstappen was the fastest in all three practice sessions, which seemed like a threatening difficulty for his opponents. He was fortunate enough to park his car in the garage after Q2 due to his excellent timing in the first attempt, which was satisfactory enough to qualify for the next round.

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City. The unexpected achievement by Ferrari put them ahead of their rivals and gave them a promising position for the upcoming race. Ferrari caused a stir by securing the top two spots in the qualifying round in Mexico City. Charles Leclerc was positioned in the first place while Carlos Sainz followed closely in second place. This surprising turn of events gave Ferrari a significant advantage over their opponents and a favorable outlook for the upcoming race.

In the Q3 round, Verstappen was the first to take the track and seemed to have achieved a good lap time, leaving Ricciardo and Perez behind. However, the Ferraris quickly followed suit, with Sainz surpassing the Red Bull's lap time and Leclerc surpassing Sainz's time.

The final runs began with the Ferraris taking the lead, but they didn't manage to improve their times, which gave Verstappen the chance to overtake them. However, his small improvement wasn't sufficient to secure the win.

Hamilton was the final car to complete a flying lap and managed to make some progress, but it was only sufficient enough to secure sixth position. This might not have been the outcome Mercedes was hoping for as they had set their sights on giving Red Bull a run for their money during the weekend.

Leclerc said that he was surprised to be on pole position today. He explained that in the previous practice session, FP3, they felt like they were falling behind.

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According to Toto Wolff, who is in charge of the Mercedes team, the Ferraris surprisingly captured the top two places ahead of Verstappen during the Mexico GP. He expressed his surprise at the team's sudden appearance.

However, for some unknown reason, when we assembled all the components, everything went smoothly and we were able to make significant progress with the new tires.

The unexpected outcomes can be partly clarified by the exceptional circumstances at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. This race track is located at a great height, leading to uncommon effects on different parts of the vehicle, particularly the tires.

Regrettably, Ferrari might face some setbacks on Sunday due to the very factor that benefitted them during the qualifying round. It is predicted that the Italian team will experience more extensive damage to their tyres as compared to their opponents over the course of the entire race.

This implies that Verstappen is expected to win easily and achieve his 16th victory of the season. He is currently making history in the sport by securing his third consecutive drivers' title.

What Led To Investigation Of Verstappen And Mercedes Pair?

Prior to Ferrari's impressive performance in Q3, the session got off to a chaotic start due to excessive numbers of vehicles gathering towards the end of the pit lane.

Towards the end of the first quarter, some cars tried to exit the pit lane but were prevented by Verstappen, Russell, and Fernando Alonso. They were staying at the exit point, waiting for the right time to leave the pit lane so they don't break the rule that prohibits them from driving too slowly on their out-laps.

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The first quarter ended in complete turmoil when Fernando Alonso's spin led to a yellow flag, resulting in Norris being eliminated and being forced to start at the back of the grid.

The stewards accepted that breaking the rules against impeding on the pit lane exit and going over the time limit for non-flying laps contradicts each other. They also recognized that violating the rule against impeding is less risky than having cars moving at significantly different speeds on the track. As a result, they cleared all three offences.

The studies have found out that it would be advantageous to have an improved alternative for the pit lane departure, but at present, it is still uncertain what that alternative would be.

When the group reached the start of their flying laps, Alonso spun out at Turn 3. This caused yellow flags to come out in the first sector and affected many cars behind him.

The person who experienced the greatest loss was Norris because of his poor decision not to set a time during his first Q1 run using medium tyres and failing to execute his first attempt at a quick lap on soft tyres. This error left him vulnerable and exposed.

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Russell stated that the pit-lane congestion was a chaotic situation, whereas Lewis Hamilton expressed his assurance that everything would turn out well despite the accusations of not reducing speed under yellow flags.

Despite attempting another lap on the soft tyres, he wasn't able to make substantial improvements and was unable to advance in the race due to Alonso's spin.

Hamilton was one of the vehicles following behind Alonso. The stewards spoke to him about supposedly not decreasing his speed when the yellow flags were up. However, he was later found not guilty.

Out of all the drivers, Logan Sargeant of the Williams team was the only one who received punishment for breaking a rule. He was penalized for passing Yuki Tsunoda from the AlphaTauri team while the yellow flags were displayed.

Sargeant has been penalized with a drop of 10 places on the starting grid, but this will not make a difference since he was already in last place during qualifying. However, the penalty becomes more notable as it involves two points being added to his FIA super license.

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More mayhem ensues on the pit-lane as yet another line forms towards the conclusion of Q2, and Yuki Tsunoda accidentally drives over a rear jack.

During Q2, there was also some chaotic action in the pit lane when Tsunoda accidentally hit a Williams rear jack while exiting the garage. As a result, the team received a fine for leaving the area unattended.

In the last practice session, Alex Albon performed remarkably well and secured the second spot. However, his impressive run came to an end when he was disqualified from the Q3 for violating the track limits at Turn 2.

The stewards decided not to give Zhou and Norris a penalty even though they went over the maximum lap-time allowed during qualifying. This has happened many times since the rule started in September's Italian Grand Prix.

Qualifying Timesheet For Mexico City Grand Prix

Sky Sports F1: Watch Live Mexico City GP!

Sunday at 6:30pm, get ready for the Mexico City GP build-up on both Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports. At 8pm, don't miss out on the main event - the MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX, airing on both Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports. Then at 10pm, tune in for the Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP on Sky Sports.

F1 has arrived in Mexico for the second leg of the Americas triple header. You can catch all the weekend action of the Mexico City Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1, including the main race on Sunday at 8pm. Get access to F1 on Sky Sports via NOW streaming.