Hola, MiniFans! Sunny Mexico city has welcomed the big circus with bright sun and a very exciting atmosphere in the track. The title contenders seem to have taken to the track easily, save for Piastri, who hasn’t looked like he has clicked with the circuit so far. This could get him in trouble regarding the race and, eventually, the title fight, as both his teammate and Verstappen have been doing very well.
Q1 kicked off with just the Aston Martin leaving the pits, barely joined by a handful of those who would struggle to make it through. The track was to improve quite a bit, so going out too early wasn’t exactly desirable for the top teams, who would need to save two sets of fresh softs for the fight for pole. It was the backmarkers setting the first times on the tower, enjoying their names up top until the favourites made an appearance. Norris easily went fastest, but Piastri could barely be third before he was pushed down to eighth, seven whole tenths slower than his teammate. Meanwhile, Verstappen clinched third despite skidding on track, exactly two tenths away from Norris.
The track improvement was very quickly seen, with Bearman dethroning Norris. The last stint was predicted to be mayhem, with a handful of drivers either close to the elimination zone or fully in it that, seeing their pace over the weekend, shouldn’t be there. Hadjar was the first to escape, shooting up to first, while Lawson helped him to get Norris in a Racing Bulls sandwich. Verstappen was holding out with an old soft, one tenth behind Lawson, but still firmly in front of Piastri. Russell was the first to cross the finish line, leading the charge. His second place was beaten by Hamilton, while neither could lower Hadjar’s time, who would remain as the session’s fastest time as he saw some of the drivers he used to fight with not be able to go through. The eliminated drivers in Q1 were Bortoleto (P16), Albon (P17), Gasly (P18), Stroll (P19) and Colapinto (P20).
Q2 prompted teams to let their drivers out earlier to check out the track, only with older tyres in order not to waste the few precious fresh sets left. Leclerc was the first one to climb up before Norris erored him. Piastri was starting to be worrying, as he was a whole second behind his teammate, but the fact that it was a used set did help to understand. Verstappen didn’t exactly show too much promise with his first set, but Sainz did. His time was less than a tenth faster than the Red Bull, but the Williams driver had just seen his teammate eliminated in the previous session and setting a time that clinched third and could get him in Q3 meant he could hope to be in the last session.
A radio message allowed a tidbit of information to be made public: Piastri had felt something weird in his power unit, which could explain his lack of speed compared to his teammate. Meanwhile, the second and last stint kicked off, with a queue of cars lining up in the pitlane waiting for their turn. Both Ferrari were up there, but it was Hamilton following Norris’s footsetps and climbing up to second, while Leclerc kept seeing more cars lining up between them. Piastri managed a decent time which was enough to help him through, but it didn’t fare well for the fight for the priviledged position on track. The eliminated drivers in Q2 were Tsunoda (P11), Ocon (P12), Hulkenberg (P13), Alonso (P14) and Lawson (P15).
The green light signalling the start of Q3 wasn’t obeyed by anyone. Taking their time, the drivers slowly made their way out. Verstappen set the first guides, keeping the foot on the gas even when overtaking a slow Russell or fighting a car that behaved more like a rampant horse. Norris was still a bit in front, whereas Piastri had finally locked in, only a handful of thousandths behind the Red Bull. Hamilton kept his line, splitting Norris and Verstappen, but Leclerc came out of nowhere and pushed Norris aside unceremoniusly after having disappeared for most of the weekend, leaving everyone speechless as he brought the first stint to an end.
The second and last stint had Piastri going first, closely followed by Verstappen. They did improve their own laps, with Verstappen climbing up to right behind Leclerc before the rest came through. Sainz managed to split Verstappen and Piastri, but eyes had to be on Hamilton and Leclerc. The Ferrari managed to be second and third, with the Monegasque joining Norris on the first row, as he had lowered the best time once again. However, these weren’t the only ones splitting the papayas, as both Mercedes managed to get in between as well, digging Piastri in an even deeper hole.
The weekend wasn’t looking too well for Piastri before qualifying and the sensastions didn’t get better for the championship leader, as eight was the best he could do. Adding to his poor performance is the increased speed from both Ferrari, who have easily outpaced him and set even more cars between him and his teammate. Norris seems to have met with fate to put a stop to the bleeding of points in favour of Verstappen, but the Red Bull driver can never be counted out, as he’s proven in many occasions before, but such a thing can’t be so easily said about Piastri, who’s forced to limit the damages.
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