Qualifying in Mexico saw Lando Norris win the head-to-head battle with Piastri and Verstappen. The only driver who managed to challenge his pole position was Leclerc. The Monegasque finished second, closely followed by Hamilton, who posted his best qualifying result of the year. Verstappen couldn't get higher than fifth. Mercedes, on the other hand, fared poorly, finishing fifth with Russell and sixth with Antonelli. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, finished only eighth.
Qualifying in Mexico begins with a very close Q1
The Aston Martins are the first to take to the track. Qualifying in Mexico follows the exact same script as the opening stages of the FP3. Evidently, this is a real strategy implemented by Alonso and Stroll. Their times on red tyres, however, were not very fast. Alonso was immediately overtaken by Bearman and Hulkenberg, while Stroll climbs penultimate between the Alpines of Colapinto and Gasly. Qualifying begins in Mexico for McLaren as well. Norris set the fastest time, while Piastri did no better than fourth place. Ferrari also appears on the track: good lap by Leclerc who places himself behind the Englishman from McLaren. Hamilton, however, makes a slight mistake entering the baseball stadium. He thus ruins his lap. The same fate also befalls Gabriel Bortoleto in his Sauber.
Small imperfection for Verstappen too, who oversteered slightly on his flying lap while taking Turn 9. He only managed fourth fastest time. Oliver Bearman then surprised everyone by taking the lead in his Haas with seven minutes to go. His primacy, however, does not last long, because Norris and Leclerc reclaim first and second place. Piastri and Hamilton, who had meanwhile moved up the order, rejoined the safety of Piastri and Hamilton. With three minutes to go in Q1, the two Racing Bulls take the lead: Hadjar takes first place, while Lawson takes third. The track is improving now, as are all the riders on the track.
As a result, no one is safe. Max Verstappen, currently ninth, also returns to the track. The Dutchman, however, could not do better than fifth place. Norris and Leclerc also take to the track, to ensure they have a safety attempt in case things go badly. Antonelli encountered traffic on his final flying lap and climbed from 16th place to 11th, behind Hamilton. Russell did better, moving into second, while Ocon suddenly moved into third. In the end, the Italian driver narrowly escaped with a 14th-place finish. Bortoleto, Albon, Gasly, Stroll and Colapinto are eliminated.
A tight Q2 sees Piastri still in difficulty
Green light, and what will be a truly challenging and unpredictable Q2 begins. Hamilton and Hadjar immediately take to the track, the former on used red tyres, while the Frenchman is on a new set. Racing Bull appears to be aiming for a double spot in Q3, fully exploiting their potential in qualifying. Hadjar's time, however, is four tenths slower than his Q1 time. Meanwhile, Leclerc, Verstappen and the two McLarens also took to the track. There's still a significant gap between Norris and Piastri's driving. The Englishman takes the lead, while the Australian is only ninth, more than a second behind his teammate.Meanwhile, Antonelli is still struggling. His lap only earned him the 14th fastest time.
Things didn't go any better for Russell, who couldn't manage more than ninth place, causing Piastri to drop to tenth. The Australian, however, reported an engine problem over the radio at Turn 5, perhaps the cause of such a large gap from his teammate. In Mexico, qualifying is now the scene of a very close battle. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz takes third place, behind Norris and Leclerc. Hadjar he manages to improve by placing fourth. Now, however, the drivers all return to the track with four minutes to go to save themselves. Hamilton finished second, while Antonelli was sixth. Russell also got back into the mix with a third-place finish. Piastri managed to save himself with a seventh-place time at the very last second, knocking out Tsunoda's Red Bull. Eliminated along with him Ocon, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Lawson.
A key Q3 for the global fight
With Piastri in such trouble, Norris absolutely must build on all the good he has done in recent days. But watch out for Max Verstappen. Q3 will therefore be a key session in the fight for the drivers' championship. With the pit lane open, all the drivers take to the track for the first round of hot laps. Max Verstappen starts in the lead, who also manages to get a bit of a slipstream at the end of the main straight from Russell's Mercedes. The two McLarens are also ready behind him. Among the three, however, the winner is Lando Norris once again. According to Verstappen and third Piastri, who is trying to put aside everything that is currently useful in his hands. But Ferrari is also coming: Hamilton takes third place, while Leclerc snatches the temporary pole position from Lando Norris, distancing him by 179 thousandths
The Mercedes, under par, finished their first attempt in sixth place with Russell and Antonelli in seventh. Now, all the drivers return to the pits, ready, however, for the second round of attempts. This is exactly what happens with exactly three minutes to go in Q3. The first to leave is Bearman, followed by Oscar Piastri. The two Ferraris are the last to exit, while the two Mercedes remain in the pits. During his lap Piastri improves in the first sector, but is also overtaken by the time of Carlos SainzVerstappen does better, but still falls behind Leclerc. Norris, however, put in a perfect performance and took pole position with a great 1:15.586. The Monegasque Ferrari driver finishes on the first row, third, instead, Lewis HamiltonNumber 44 posted his best qualifying result this year.
Verstappen is only fifth, behind Russell and followed by Antonelli, Sainz and, only in eighth position, Oscar Piastri. The Australian, however, will already gain a position at the start because Sainz was given a five-place penalty for contact with Antonelli in Austin. Bearman and Hadjar close the top ten.
