26/10/2024
NEWS STORY
Ahead of Q1 the air temperature is 22 degrees C, while the track temperature is 44 degrees. It is warm and sunny.
Having struggled yesterday, this morning was a complete turnaround for McLaren, with Piastri and Norris leaving the opposition for dust.
Though Sainz was 0.3s off the pace, fourth place Verstappen was 0.5s behind pace-setter Piastri.
Over the break the work has been fast and furious at Mercedes and Red Bull and even Ferrari have been changing set-up in a bid to close the gap following a session in which Hamilton admitted to being impressed by the pace of the McLarens.
As for the midfield, Tsunoda and Lawson appear to be spurring one another on, while the Haas and Williams duos are also looking strong.
We've seen crashes and incidents this weekend so let's not rule out the odd spanner being thrown in the works, while traffic is always an issue here.
The lights go green and Bottas leads the way, followed by Zhou, Ocon, Stroll and Gasly.
Much to the crowd's delight Perez is one of the early risers.
Most are on softs though the Ferraris and Mercedes duos opt for mediums.
Bottas posts a benchmark 18.507, while his teammate can only manage a 19.664.
Stroll raises the bar with an 18.173.
Alonso crosses the line at 18.129, but Leclerc responds with a 17.887 and Sainz a 17.444.
Despite the partisan crowd, Perez can only manage seventh (18.530).
Norris (mediums) goes top with a 17.203, while Hamilton goes third and Russell fifth.
Piastri goes eighth with an 18.302 as Verstappen goes quickest in S1.
Colapinto goes third with a 17.834 but is demoted hen his teammate stops the clock at 17.563.
Quickest in all three sectors, Verstappen crosses the line at 16.998, albeit on the softs.
Alonso goes third with a 17.307, just 0.309s of Verstappen's pace.
Magnussen goes eighth as Sainz improves to third with a 17.241, only to be demoted by Tsunoda (17.239).
The track is continually changing, with Hulkenberg going second with a 17.186. Moments later Gasly posts a 17.149.
Lawson goes eighth and Bottas eleventh.
With just over six minutes remaining, Perez has dropped to last, Russell, Ocon, Zhou and Piastri joining him in the danger zone.
Russell improves to fourth with a 17.194 as Hamilton goes eighth (17.306).
The McLaren pair trade fastest sectors, however a poor final sector sees Piastri go thirteenth, only to have his time deleted after running wide in Turn 12. Teammate Norris goes top with a 16.505.
Rather than pit for fresh rubber, Piastri stays out. However his opening sector is well off the pace.
In 15th, Leclerc goes purple in S1 as Perez posts PBs in the first two sectors.
Piastri goes 14th but is it enough, while Perez can only manage 16th.
Leclerc goes third, Tsunoda sixth and Magnussen fourth, which means curtains for Piastri.
"I just went off in Turn 12, just got beached on the kerb there and that was it," says Australian. "Very frustrated to make that mistake, I lost about a second so yeah, painful. It's a tricky circuit, but today wasn't down to it being tricky, I just made one mistake and that was it."
"I just couldn't get on top of it," adds Perez, "I couldn't stop the car soon enough, too much energy through the tyres and braking. it was very similar to the rest of the weekend, I cannot stop the car similar to Austin, so I cannot attack the corners under braking. Tomorrow it is important to try and maximise the day, to score points will be a tremendous effort."
Albon goes ninth and Lawson 13th and Bottas 14th.
A late charge sees Stroll go 15th which means Colapinto misses the cut.
Ocon fails to improve on 19th, allowing Stroll to breath a huge sigh of relief.
Quickest is Norris, ahead of Sainz, Verstappen, Leclerc, Magnussen, Gasly, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Albon and Russell.
We lose Colapinto, Piastri, Perez, Ocon and Zhou.
"It's a close field out there," says James Vowles, "and with Franco it was just a tiny lock-up into Turn 4, and he lost two tenths."
Albon is first out for Q2, the Thai driver followed by Verstappen, Leclerc and Sainz.
Albon crosses the line at 17.090 but moments later Verstappen stops the clock at 16.629.
Leclerc can only manage 17.631, while his Ferrari teammate goes second with a 17.027.
Leclerc has his time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 2.
Magnussen goes fourth with a 17.181 as his teammate posts a 17.485 to go fifth, ahead of Bottas.
Tsunoda goes fourth with a 17.129 but Gasly posts a 17.048 to go third.
Norris goes quickest in S1, as Alonso goes sixth overall. Norris maintains the pace in S2, finally crossing the line at 16.301, 0.328s up on Verstappen.
Russell goes third and Hamilton fourth, both around 0.6s off the pace.
Ahead of the final assault, Magnussen, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Bottas and Leclerc comprise the danger zone.
Verstappen heads out followed by Albon, Leclerc and Sainz, pretty much as it was at the beginning of this phase.
Albon goes fifth with a 16.988, while a 16.514 sees Verstappen close to within 0.213s of Norris.
Leclerc goes third with a 16.641 but he is demoted by his teammate (16.515).
Magnussen goes eighth with a 17.003 as the session is red-flagged after Tsunoda goes off into the barriers at Turn 12, which is a disaster for his teammate, Alonso, Stroll and Bottas who are unable to complete their flying laps.
Replay shows the Japanese made a mistake entering the corner and subsequently losing the rear.
Quickest is Norris, ahead of Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Albon, Hulkenberg, Magnussen and Gasly.
We lose Tsunoda, Lawson, Alonso, Stroll and Bottas.
The start of Q3 is slightly delayed as the barrier at Turn 12 is checked.
Unfortunately since the start of qualifying the tyre information has been tardy - to put it mildly - and as a result there is general confusion as to how many fresh sets of rubber each driver has.
Magnussen is first out for Q3, the Dane followed by his teammate, Verstappen, Norris and Albon. Last to emerge are the Mercedes pair.
Verstappen has the edge on Norris in S1, as Magnussen crosses the line at 18.104. Hulkenberg responds with a 17.581.
Verstappen posts 16.368 and Norris can only manage 16.937, 0.569s off the pace.
Albon goes third (17.338), only to be demoted by Gasly (17.269).
As Leclerc goes second, Verstappen has his time deleted and Sainz posts a 16.055 to go top, both Ferrari drivers benefitting from tows.
Russell goes third and Hamilton fourth, the even-time world champion feeling his car feels different to FP3.
The final assault gets underway, with Magnussen at the helm, followed by his Haas teammate.
"It's going to be too tight on time isn't it," asks a worried Norris as his team holds him back. The Briton is currently fifth.
Last out is Verstappen who has yet to post a time.
Magnussen goes fifth with 16.886, while his teammate can only manage ninth (17.365).
Quickest in the first two sectors, Sainz crosses the line at 15.946, while Leclerc remains second (16.265).
Verstappen splits the Ferraris with a 16.171, while Norris goes third with a 16.260.
Russell goes fifth, while his teammate remains sixth.
So, Sainz has pole and will start ahead of Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Magnussen, Gasly, Albon and Hulkenberg.
Tsunoda will start eleventh, ahead of Lawson, Alonso, Stroll, Bottas, Colapinto, Piastri, Perez, Ocon and Zhou.
"I'm pretty happy with third," says Norris, "I couldn't get a lot more out of it in the last two laps. Carlos has looked quick all weekend."
"Yesterday I barely did any laps," adds Verstappen, "so we are playing catch up and FP3 wasn't good.
"I was already under a lot of pressure and then my lap time got taken away so that added more pressure. but I really didn't expect the front row. It's one of the hardest tracks to get right."
"I did two great laps in Q3 and they were enough for pole, which was great as normally in Mexico it is tricky," says pole-man Sainz. "Definitely we have done a step up, it seems like we are going in the right direction and looking forward to finishing the job tomorrow.
"If you win, those extra points are important for the team in the constructors', hopefully our race pace is good enough to win it."