Mexico City Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Hulkenberg led the way in qualifying with the fastest of his two-timed runs in Q1 coming on his first set of Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires. A 1:18.969 was good for P14 and graduated the German into Q2 – the preserve of the top-15 drivers. An opening Q2 run on scrubbed softs netted a 1:19.348 before a fresh set of the compound was bolted onto his VF-23. Hulkenberg ran a 1:18.524 – initially good for P13 but promoted to P12 after the Williams of Alexander Albon had his fastest lap time deleted.

Kevin Magnussen went for a three-run strategy in Q1 – initially banking a 1:19.730 before bettering that on his second set of soft tires with a 1:19.163. Unable to improve on his third set, his second run held P17 as the checkered flag dropped at the end of the opening 18-minute knockout session.

Q3 delivered an all-Scuderia Ferrari front-row with Charles Leclerc claiming pole position (1:17.166) ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen third fastest in qualifying.

Kevin Magnussen:

“It’s so incredibly tight out there, basically one second between the whole field pretty much, and we’re at the trailing end of that. For us, this track is probably more difficult because of the thin air and ambient pressure not helping us in terms of cooling, so it’s pretty much what we expected. I’ve had about five laps before qualifying all in all here, so I can’t say too much about the long run, I haven’t had one. It’s been a tough weekend not doing FP1 and having an issue in FP3 as well, I haven’t really had the best of preparations.”   

 

Nico Hulkenberg:

“You’re always hoping for more. With the weekend that we’ve had, it’s been a real struggle and we’ve played a lot with the set-up, but I’m happy with the changes made going into qualifying again. It felt good, positive, and to be honest, if you told me P12 before the session, I would’ve definitely taken that. It’s tough, we’re not quick enough on merit so we’ll need outside circumstances to help us get a result, but we’ll hang in there and hopefully get something from it.”

 

Guenther Steiner:

“Starting P12 with Nico and P16 with Kevin is actually where we thought we were, pretty good. We got the best out of it and maybe got a little bit lucky to get into Q2, but we took it and squeezed everything out of what we could. Hopefully with those positions, let’s see what happens tomorrow because I was surprised today, and I hope I get another good surprise tomorrow.”

 

Today's Data:

Event: Qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix – Saturday October 28
Location: Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City
Layout: 4.304-kilometer (2.674-mile), 17-turn circuit
Weather: Partly Cloudy
Air Temps: 25.5 degrees Celsius (77.9 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 degrees Fahrenheit)
Team Result: Nico Hulkenberg qualified 12^th, Kevin Magnussen qualified 17^th
Notes: Magnussen starts 16^th due to Tsunoda grid penalty

 

Free Practice 3 (FP3) Rundown:

Hulkenberg: 16^th overall (1:19.320), 18 laps completed
Magnussen: 19^th overall (1:19.573), 8 laps completed
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:17.887)

 

Q1 Qualifying: 18-mins with all 20 Drivers – Top 15 Advance to Q2

 

Hulkenberg: 14^th overall (1:18.969) – Advanced to Q2
Magnussen: 17^th overall (1:19.163)
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:18.099)

 

Q2 Qualifying: 15-mins – Top 10 Advance to Q3

Hulkenberg: 12^th overall (1:18.524)
Fastest: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:17.571) 

 

Q3 Qualifying: 12-mins – Top 10 Drivers 

Pole Winner: Charles Leclerc of Scuderia Ferrari (1:17.166)