The classification of the 2022 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix was going to have strong emotions in front of an audience devoted to its local hero, Sergio Pérez, who was trying to score his second pole position of the season to continue fighting against Charles Leclerc for the world runner-up position , and is that his partner Max Verstappen already wore the golden helmet of world champion.
The support of the stands for Checo in the early stages of the final round was of no use, and it was the Dutchman who set the best time in Q3, ahead of some surprising Mercedes, despite the fact that Lewis Hamilton was canceled your record for exceeding the track limit. The Mexican from the energy drinks team, despite not being as fast as the other RB18, came third, leaving the Ferraris behind, although much to blame for this was the counter-steering suffered by both Carlos Sainz and Leclerc .
The surprise was Valtteri Bottas, who was fifth, above the Monegasque and Fernando Alonso, who was ahead of Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon, but with another attempt pending in the final minutes.
It was there that Max Verstappen took pole position on the Mexican track by beating the times of the Mercedes, with George Russell ahead of Lewis Hamilton and the Ferraris, who disappointed by being only fifth with Sainz and seventh with Leclerc. Among them was a surprising Valtteri Bottas, while Lando Norris overtook the Alpines, who closed the top ten positions, with Fernando Alonso beating Esteban Ocon.
Mexican GP 2022 F1 qualifying results
| Cla | Pilot | Chassis | laps | Weather | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
Red Bull | 16 | 1’17.775 | |
| 2 |  George Russell |
 |
Mercedes | 18 | 1’18.079 | 0.304 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
Mercedes | 19 | 1’18.084 | 0.309 |
| 4 |  Sergio Pérez |
 |
Red Bull | 18 | 1’18.128 | 0.353 |
| 5 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
ferrari | 17 | 1’18,351 | 0.576 |
| 6 |  Valtteri Bottas |
 |
Alfa Romeo | 18 | 1’18.401 | 0.626 |
| 7 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
Ferrari | 18 | 1’18.555 | 0.780 |
| 8 | Lando Norris |
 |
McLaren | 19 | 1’18.721 | 0.946 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
Alpine | 15 | 1’18.939 | 1.164 |
| 10 |  Esteban Ocon |
 |
Alpine | 18 | 1’19.010 | 1.235 |
| see results | ||||||
Photo de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Summary of the Q1 of the classification of the Mexican GP 2022 of F1
The qualifying session started with many doubts for the teams, because the FP2 dedicated to testing the Pirelli prototype tires for the 2023 season , together with the changing asphalt conditions of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, caused the drivers to be unclear about the configuration of their single-seaters.
Some were waiting for their moment in the garage in the first cut, but it was not the case of the favorites to fall, such as the Haas, Williams and Aston Martin, who would spend their new games before while the rest wanted to save a compound for Q2 . Aware of the evolution of the track, the fastest watched carefully the turns of the candidates to be eliminated, although with 14 minutes left to see the checkered flag the real fire began.
The first to set a record was Alexander Albon, a 1:29.644, but that was useless, since it was a warm-up lap. In this way, the Anglo-Thai saw how the others were beating his time, with the Haas at the top until Sergio Pérez made his audience jump for joy with a 1:20.408 that put him first, waiting for his teammate Max Verstappen, the Ferraris and the surprising Mercedes, who were running for pole position after topping FP3 with a one-two finish.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, everyone was already on the track, at which point the reigning world champion slightly lost control of his RB18 at the front, a very nervous car with which he was able to beat the duo Prancing Horse and Lewis Hamilton, who lost everything he won in the last sector.
Behind, after the first attempt of Q1, the best of the Alpines, Esteban Ocon’s man was placed seventh, immediately ahead of Fernando Alonso, but Valtteri Bottas’ record, which put him quite high, indicated that the evolution of the asphalt was very large, and it would not be known who would be eliminated at the first change.
At the moment, it was the two Haas, the Williams and Sebastian Vettel who were in danger, but they still had to mount a new set of softs for another time trial launched. With two minutes remaining, everyone realized that there could be close to a second difference from their previous attempt, so, except for Red Bull and Ferrari, they charged.
The excitement was palpable in the atmosphere, and when the checkered flag fell, but despite the evolution of the track, some were left without improving, so Nicholas Latifi, Alexander Albon, Lance Stroll, Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher were the first victims of Q1.
Above, Lewis Hamilton was the fastest and presented his credentials for pole position, ahead of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and another surprise, the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas, who did a good job to make the cut.
Mexican GP 2022 F1 Qualifying Q1 Results
| Cla | Pilot | Chassis | laps | Weather | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
Mercedes | 7 | 1’19.169 | |
| 2 | Max Verstappen |
 |
Red Bull | 4 | 1’19.222 | 0.053 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc |
 |
Ferrari | 6 | 1’19.505 | 0.336 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas |
 |
Alfa Romeo | 6 | 1’19.523 | 0.354 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
ferrari | 5 | 1’19,566 | 0.397 |
| 6 | George Russell |
|
Mercedes | 7 | 1’19.583 | 0.414 |
| 7 | Sergio Pérez |
|
Red Bull | 6 | 1’19.706 | 0.537 |
| 8 | Lando Norris |
 |
McLaren | 7 | 1’19.857 | 0.688 |
| 9 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
 |
Alpha Tauri | 7 | 1’19.907 | 0.738 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon |
 |
Alpine | 6 | 1’19.945 | 0.776 |
| see results | ||||||
Summary of the Q2 of the classification of the Mexican GP 2022 of F1
After meeting the first eliminated, those who passed took Q2 calmly, and it was only after a few minutes that Lewis Hamilton’s car ventured onto the asphalt, followed by the McLaren, Red Bull, AlphaTauri and others, and only the Alpine and Sainz remained in the garage. In the first flying lap, the Mercedes were scary with very similar times, and were well ahead of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez, who set their times with used soft tires.
It remained to be seen what the Ferraris would do, but the one that was really running was Valtteri Bottas’ Maranello engine, which was third, just over two tenths off the seven-time world champion’s record. Those of the Prancing Horse copied the Red Bull strategy with worn tires, so they were not faster than Brackley’s cars, but they were aware that the objective was to enter the top ten.
With five minutes to go, enough time to enter the pits to change tires and go for a lap, Yuki Tsunoda would be the first of those who were in the elimination zone, followed by the local Checo Pérez, Guanyu Zhou, Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen. The Mexican was the first to jump to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, and with the support of his fans he climbed to third place, but he had to take into account that the rest were yet to roll, with the exception of the Mercedes, who secured their pass to the Q3.
At the last moment, the Silver Arrows came out to test some used compound, just as the checkered flag fell and everything was up in the air. Sainz soon made it clear that he would be fighting for pole position, and although his teammate aborted his lap, they made the cut with flying colors, as did the Red Bull, Alpine, Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas.
In this way, Daniel Ricciardo, Guanyu Zhou, the AlphaTauri, with Yuki Tsunoda ahead of Pierre Gasly, and Kevin Magnussen were eliminated from this Q2 in which the grid is not definitively formed, since the sanction must be applied to the Danish for changing components of its power unit.
Mexican GP 2022 F1 Qualifying Q2 Results
| Cla | Pilot | Chassis | laps | Weather | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
Mercedes | 13 | 1’18.552 | |
| two | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
ferrari | eleven | 1’18,560 | 0.008 |
| 3 | George Russell |
|
Mercedes | 12 | 1’18.565 | 0.013 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen |
 |
Red Bull | 10 | 1’18.566 | 0.014 |
| 5 | Sergio Pérez |
 |
Red Bull | 12 | 1’18.615 | 0.063 |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas |
|
Alfa Romeo | 12 | 1’18.762 | 0.210 |
| 7 | Esteban Ocon |
 |
Alpine | 12 | 1’19.081 | 0.529 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc |
 |
Ferrari | 12 | 1’19.109 | 0.557 |
| 9 | Lando Norris |
 |
McLaren | 13 | 1’19.119 | 0.567 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso |
|
Alpine | 12 | 1’19.272 | 0.720 |
| see results | ||||||
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