FMax Verstappen, the leader of ormel-1, suffered an unexpected setback while chasing his first title. In the exciting qualification for the Mexican Grand Prix, it was clear that the favored Red Bull driver had to settle for third place on Saturday. Surprisingly, Finn Valtteri Bottas placed his Mercedes in pole position, while Verstappen’s rival Lewis Hamilton ranked second. “The third place is not good, but there will still be a big battle,” Verstappen said.
The Silver Arrows themselves were a little surprised, and after being clearly behind in practice, they suddenly occupied the front row of the grid. “Valtery did a great job and I am proud of him,” Hamilton said.Before the fifth match of the season on Sunday (8pm CET) FAZ Formula One Real-time Quotes (And Sky) is 12 points behind Verstappen in the overall standings-now we can hope to close this gap. “We worked very hard. The defending champion Hamilton said: “We think we have no speed this weekend. “
In fact, at an altitude of more than 2,200 meters above sea level, the Mercedes engine is considered weaker than the Red Bull Honda engine. But this wild season has yet another surprise. “It feels great to drive a car,” Bottas said enthusiastically.
After a year of mandatory corona breaks, tens of thousands of fans once again lined up on the route of the former Olympic venue. Over 350,000 tickets were sold on three Grand Prix days. Passing through the converted baseball field shortly before the home straight, providing spectacular images. Especially Sergio Perez (Sergio Perez) is the exciting focus this weekend. The Mexican has never won his Formula One home game.
But the qualifiers were disappointing for him and his Red Bull team. On Friday, Verstappen created a clear best time in training, and on Saturday morning he and Perez also left the Mercedes duo far behind. But when it counts, there is a problem with the favorites. “It looks like we are a little out of balance,” Verstappen explained. To make matters worse, the brakes of Yuki Tsunoda and Perez interrupted Verstappen’s time chase on the last lap. He briefly released the accelerator without a chance to set the fastest time. Perez finished fourth.
Sebastian Vettel’s teammate Lance Stroll caused the first excitement in the qualifying round. Shortly before the end of the lap, the Canadian hit the dirty part of the tarmac, lost control of his Aston Martin, and slammed into the border. The meeting was interrupted immediately. The stroll was safe and sound. It was clear in advance that the 23-year-old will be far behind the game. He received a starting penalty for replacing engine parts.
McLaren driver Lando Norris, Alpine driver Esteban Okon, Alpha Taurus Japanese Kakuda and Williams’ George Russell will also enter the bottom of the race on Sunday. The frequency of installing new parts in their cars is also beyond the allowable range, so they are subject to regular penalties. Aston Martin driver Vettel finished 11th in qualifying, but he will benefit from the penalty kick. Mick Schumacher drove his Haas to 18th place.
