For the first time in a few weeks, Qualifying returned to its normal Saturday slot as the teams and drivers looked to deal with the high altitudes at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Q1
In Qualifying 1; Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen, Lance Stroll, Lando Norris, and Logan Sargeant were the five slowest drivers. Esteban Ocon will be very disappointed with being knocked out in Q1 whilst Kevin Magnussen once again struggled for pace. Lance Stroll’s Qualifying issues also continued this weekend whilst Lando Norris had an absolute shocker for McLaren. Logan Sargeant was the slowest driver in Mexico City Qualifying after he failed to get a single (legal) lap time on the board. Max Verstappen topped Q1 by just under a tenth and a half over McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Q2
In Qualifying 2; Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, and Yuki Tsunoda all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout. Pierre Gasly proved that the Alpine car isn’t particularly suited to this track whilst Nico Hulkenberg pulled out a decent session to Qualify P12. Fernando Alonso didn’t have a particularly good day as he could only manage 13th whilst Alex Albon will be really disappointed with only P14. Yuki Tsunoda was the slowest man in Q2 as the Alpha Tauri driver didn’t get a lap on the board because he’s starting from the back anyway. Lewis Hamilton topped Q2 ahead of Max Verstappen by just over half a tenth.
Q3
In Qualifying 3, a 1:17.166 was enough for Charles Leclerc to take a shocking Pole Position for Ferrari. Leclerc’s lap was absolutely superb and Ferrari’s day was made even better by the fact that Carlos Sainz will join his teammate on the front row for today’s Grand Prix after being just 2/3 of a tenth off Pole himself. Max Verstappen will start P3 after a slightly disappointing final session whilst Daniel Ricciardo will start 4th for Alpha Tauri after one of the best Qualifying performances I’ve seen in a long time. Sergio Perez actually had an alright session, but he’ll still be disappointed with P5 whilst Lewis Hamilton could only manage 6th for Mercedes. Oscar Piastri will start P7 ahead of the other Mercedes of George Russell whilst Alfa Romeo did a good job to Qualify 9th and 10th with Valtteri Bottas just edging out Zhou Guanyu.
Starting Grid for the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix and My Qualifying Grades
Charles Leclerc: 10
Carlos Sainz: 9
Max Verstappen: 8
Daniel Ricciardo: 10
Sergio Perez: 6
Lewis Hamilton: 6
Oscar Piastri: 5
George Russell: 4
Valtteri Bottas: 8
Zhou Guanyu: 7
Pierre Gasly: 5
Nico Hulkenberg: 6
Fernando Alonso: 3
Alex Albon: 3
Esteban Ocon: 2
Kevin Magnussen: 2
Lance Stroll: 1
Lando Norris: 1
Yuki Tsunoda: -
Logan Sargeant: 1
My Predictions for the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix
Max Verstappen
Sergio Perez
Carlos Sainz
Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc