The Dutchman takes pole, despite Russell and Hamilton’s great qualifying session
Mexico never leaves indifferent. The layout of the appointment with the nearest audience (the riders admit that they tremble as they ride through the Foro Sol, the stadium that roars every time Sergio Pérez passes) made it clear that it will be a Sunday to remember, especially if so continues the equality that was seen in this round. What was missing from this World Cup is an extra actor, even if it wasn’t when I expected and needed the show: Mercedes. The height, which promotes a very different performance for the single-seaters, has allowed other candidates to open their hands in the top part of the standings.
Pole went to Verstappen, in a session that even considered whether the record for the smallest difference between the top four could be achieved. Until this Sunday I was at the 1997 European Grand Prix when there were only 58 thousandths between Villeneuve, Schumacher, Frentzen and Hill. When only 14 were seen between Hamilton, Sainz, Russell and Verstappen, the record shook.
It was a session characterized not only by those small differences, but also by the course of the track. Q1 was even slower than the third free practice due to the temperature being noticeably higher, almost four tenths, although they were later lowered to the point where the battle for pole position was once again very even. This confirmed what was expected in the morning, when Russell and Hamilton doubled that raised a lot of suspicion.
It wasn’t until Q3’s second attempt that everything was decided. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton tried to beat a Verstappen who made it clear that he is not going to let anyone breathe. It’s his year and he has to prove himself, so in the moment of truth he showed that the great Saturday of the former league dominators is not enough to beat him. It’s your time.
The one who didn’t have his Saturday was Charles Leclerc. The Monegask, an expert on Saturday, had one to forget. Not only did he fail to finish first (which, on the other hand, has never been a guarantee of anything), but he also fell back to seventh on the grid. Whoever would become Ferrari’s leader gave in to his big rivals, including his team-mate Carlos Sainz who will start from an excellent fifth place but from the big surprise of the day: Valtteri Bottas. No one, including him, expected the Alfa Romeo Finn to be sixth on the grid this Sunday.
It will not be a comfortable weekend for Fernando Alonso. The suspense from the controversy that raged through Austin, from which he eventually emerged as the winner, wasn’t the best way to focus on a track as complex as the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez. What was missing was that the oversteer was not to his liking, something that he has always benefited from in his driving style.
In the process of moving to Aston Martin, the Spaniard still has a lot to say. The points achieved in the United States (already confirmed) confirm him with 71 in his locker, only 7 behind an Esteban Ocon who no longer says so loudly that he is the only teammate with Hamilton who has been able to do that with Alonso. Something that, on the other hand, is at the very least incorrect. Reaching this final stretch of the finish, the Spaniard is looking to reinvigorate himself, which Alpine is doing very well as a team, having managed to break away from McLaren to 11 points in the constructors’ standings.
The battle between Ocon and Alonso goes beyond the results. The fact that they were hovering around the danger zone this Saturday hasn’t stopped the Asturian from always taking the lead, until the midway point of Q2. The Frenchman seriously jeopardized Alonso’s dominance, although he had little or nothing of this partial victory.
And it is that in the moment of truth it was again Alonso who set the tone. The Asturian starts ninth with his team-mate and big enemy in tenth, which isn’t a great result but enough to be somewhat optimistic. It’s not a colossal win, but it’s one that could set the mood for the race.
The goal cannot be other than to finish in the points zone. The paltry difference between the still teammates is minimal but enough for both to have an increasingly less healthy bite (although they respect each other quite a bit on the track). Neither one nor the other owe each other respect, as they become rivals from January 1, 2023, when Alonso’s arrival at his new home is consumed. Aston Martin was also kidding itself in this classification: both Vettel and Stroll were eliminated in Q1, although the Canadian already received a three-place penalty.
Source: La Verdad
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