06/11/2021
NEWS STORY
Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin qualified 18th and 19th, respectively, for the Mexico City Grand Prix, Round 18 of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. After a host of grid penalties are applied elsewhere post-qualifying, Schumacher is expected to take to the grid on Sunday in 14th with Mazepin 16th.
Schumacher and Mazepin had three sets of Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires at their disposal in Q1 - the opening round of knockout qualifying. Both drivers set their fastest lap on their third and final tour of the 4.304-kilometer (2.674-mile), 17-turn circuit. Schumacher banked a 1:18.858 with Mazepin's best a 1:19.303 - both exiting qualifying at the checkered with only the top 15 progressing.
Valtteri Bottas claimed pole position in Mexico in Q3 - the Mercedes driver edging his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, by .145 of a second with the fastest lap of 1:15.875.
Nikita Mazepin: "It was an OK qualifying session - I was happy with the gradual improvement I made. We knew we were missing pace compared to the others at the beginning of the weekend. I ran out wide on the last corner of my final lap which cost me a bit of time but apart from that, the lap was fine. I've had a very difficult FP1, FP2 and FP3 so I think we've recovered quite well to end up with a car that I'm more or less comfortable with - I tried to maximize what I had today."
Mick Schumacher: "Overall, not the best of performances from my side but I hope to make it up in the race. I was trying to do my best, but it was a bit of scrappy run and it's a track that is unforgiving. Hopefully tomorrow the track temperatures aren't too high, as that will make things a bit more difficult but we'll just try to do our best job to try and stay in the position we start tomorrow."
Guenther Steiner: "I'm happy with what we did today. We were very close to a Williams, and both drivers did a good job. Normally at this altitude, we thought we would be worse off than we are. I think that's mainly down to the drivers who adapted pretty quickly - they did simulator sessions before they came here so they were well prepared. Up until qualifying we've had a pretty event-less race weekend. Now, we just look forward to the race tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get into slightly better starting positions with all the penalties that are coming along and you never know what you can do, but we're pretty happy up to now."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Mexico City, here.