Pole position for Carlos Sainz in the Mexican F1 GP with an authentic recital in qualifying: golden opportunity

Carlos Sainz signs a stratospheric pole at the Mexican F1 GP. The Madrid driver won Max Verstappen (2nd at 0″225) and the big favourite, Lando Norris (3rd at 0″314), with Leclerc in fourth position (0″319). And he achieved it in a big way. Carlos Sainz’s first Q3 lap was so good that it was good enough for pole, but he managed to improve it even more in his last attempt, thus putting the finishing touch on a perfect classification.

In this way, with a Ferrari that is better every Sunday than Saturday simultaneously because of its better tire wear, its most lethal weapon, Carlos is running from pole as the great favorite to win the Mexican GP.

However, he will start against Verstappen on the front row and an injured Norris. With the Dutchman by his side, no matter how many problems he continued to have in the curves and in the slower corners, nothing could be taken for granted.. Of course, what no one can deny now is that Carlos is in front of him a magical opportunity to achieve his 4th F1 victory after what was achieved at the start of the season in Australia, after winning his 6th pole in F1.

Carlos has already won from pole in Great Britain 2022 (his first win) and in Singapore 2023, while he failed to do so in Italy 2023, United States 2023 and Belgium 2022. This time, unlike the last three occasions, there is is a great car to do it after in Austin it’s clear that Ferrari hit the nail on the head with fine-tuning and understanding how to maximize the performance of the new components that have arrived since the last Monza GP.

Carlos won at Silverstone 2022, Singapore 2023 and Australia 2024. He wants to add to that list with a Ferrari shield on his chest in Mexico.

He came injured from Austin

He came from Austin injured. There, a week ago, he was the fastest driver on the track on Sunday, but he did not get the reward he deserved when he was hurt at the start by an aggressive Verstappen. His best chance to achieve his main goal is gone: one more victory before leaving Ferrari. But far from pulling your hair out and wasting time in regrets, I am looking ahead and aiming for the next 5 Grands Prix.

His car suffers more in one lap, but in a good classification, with the finish line in the second row, in any race his good chance could appear thanks to the better tire wear of his Ferrari and the racing speed shown in Austin. If I had a chance, I wouldn’t waste it. And right now, in Mexico, things have come out that I never dreamed of.

It is necessary to see if the degradation is high in the race. If it is and the drivers have to manage the tires, that will work in Carlos’ favor. Otherwise, the battle can be exciting.

In a circuit where McLaren are the big favorites for pole, after Piastri was eliminated in Q1 and another mistake by Norris in the first attempt in Q1 put him under pressure, as Verstappen saw his first chance disqualified for overtaking career limits.

So Carlos Sainz put himself on temporary pole ahead of Leclerc, who put at least 0.360 on his teammate But there was one last bullet left. It will be decided on the last lap, in the last minute of qualifying.

In the first sector, he took the best time from Leclerc by several thousand. The battle was with his partner and Lando Norris. Carlos was flying with a record in the second sector and closed the lap improving his time by tenth. He doubled his bet. But Lando Norris is missing. The Briton beat his time in the second sector, but in the end, on a circuit where it was important for the tires not to heat up, he lost everything in the last sector and was unable to beat Carlos in the final part of the circuit. Pole went to Sainz. This Sunday he wants to win again in red.

Lando isn’t taking another chance

Norris had the best car on the grid a lap away but was unable to capitalize on pole position. Another failure in his long list of 2024. And so it was very difficult to beat a Max who, despite driving a car where it was more difficult for him to ride the curves, was able to overtake him at the decisive moment.

Norris is 57 points behind leader Max and in Mexico he has only 5 races left. The British man ran out of cartridgesnear ‘Game Over’. The Englishman is having a great time fighting for the title against someone who is already one of the best in history, a Max who makes up for his car’s weaknesses with his hands against a very fast McLaren.

Norris will have a chance to make changes this Sunday, starting from the start, where he will have to be more aggressive than usual to force Max. And in turn, Landau not only had to happen to him, but Verstappen lose some more positions. If not, the Dutchman will be able to leave Mexico with the title in mind.

Ferrari, a chance to get closer to the Constructors’ title

And in that match there will also be important points for the Constructors’ World Championship. Sainz, first, with Leclerc 4th, will try to tighten the fight even more. McLaren lead with 544 points, 40 more than Red Bull and 48 more than Ferrari. Norris and Pérez started far away and Ferrari has a perfect chance to overtake Red Bull and catch up with McLaren.

Alonso starts 13th in his 400th GP

Fernando Alonso celebrates his 400th Grand Prix in F1 todayan absolute record that will continue to grow in the coming seasons. However, they cannot do so by leaving the coveted Top-10 to dream of points. The Spaniard had no luck yesterday in qualifying.

In Q2 he applied as a contender for Q3 by achieving the 10th best time in his first attempt. But there is one left. The man from Oviedo, who used three new sets of tires in Q1, reserved another for the end of Q2. Several drivers improved their times and Alonso was going to try, but at that moment, an accident by Tsunoda caused a red flag that ended the session. He can’t even try. He would start 13th in a car that struggled more in the race than in a turn. It will be very complicated