Unexpected outcome in Mexico City: after a weekend dominated by Red Bull, Mercedes monopolized the front row of the 18th round of the season. Valtteri Bottas incredibly takes pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with Max Verstappen only third, three and a half tenths from the Finn. Hierarchies totally upset unexpected in view of tomorrow’s race, with the Dutchman forced to chase after having an advantage of over six tenths of a second to his British rival in P3. Fourth time for Sergio Perez, who had the best time in the last free practice sessions, then followed by Pierre Gasly and the first Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Fourth row, however, for Charles Leclerc, behind Daniel Ricciardo.
Very aggressive in their strategy AlphaTauri and McLaren, who did everything to send Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda (penalized for using the fourth power unit of the season) to Q3 and give a good tow to their teammates. In particular, the Japanese rookie qualified with Soft rubber and will therefore be forced to start with this compound tomorrow in the race. Out in Q2 instead Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, George Russell and Antonio Giovinazzi.
The elimination of Fernando Alonso in Q1 was sensational and was put out of action by his team-mate Esteban Ocon (who will start from the back of the grid due to the replacement of the engine). The Spaniard preceded Nicholas Latifi and the two Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
F1 | Mexico City GP 2021, the final starting grid:
| 1st Row | 1. Valtteri Bottas (M) 1:15.875 Red Bull | |
| 2. Lewis Hamilton (M) 1:16.020 Mercedes | ||
| 2nd Row | 3. Max Verstappen (M)1:16.225 Red Bull | |
| 4. Sergio Perez (M) 1:16.342 Red Bull | ||
| 3rd Row | 5. Pierre Gasly (M) 1:16.456 AlphaTauri | |
| 6. Carlos Sainz (M) 1:16.761 Ferrari | ||
| 4th Row | 7. Daniel Ricciardo (M) 1:16.763 McLaren | |
| 8. Charles Leclerc (M) 1:16.837 Ferrari | ||
| 5th Row | 9. Sebastian Vettel 1:17.746 Aston Martin | |
| 10. Kimi Raikkonen 1:17.958 Alfa Romeo | ||
| 6th Row | 11. Antonio Giovinazzi 1:18.377 Alfa Romeo | |
| 12. Fernando Alonso 1:18.452 Alpine | ||
| 7th Row | 13. Nicholas Latifi 1:18.756 Williams | |
| 14. Mick Schumacher 1:18.858 Haas | ||
| 8th Row | 15. Nikita Mazepin 1:19.303 Haas | |
| 16. George Russell* 1:18.172 Williams | ||
| 9th Row | 17. Yuki Tsunoda** (S) 1:17.158 AlphaTauri | |
| 18. Lando Norris** (M) 1:36.830 McLaren | ||
| 10th Row | 19. Esteban Ocon** 1:18.549 Alpine | |
| 20. Lance Stroll** 1:20.873 Aston Martin |
* five-place grid penalty for the replacement of the gearbox
** relegated to the bottom of the grid for the use of the fourth power unit
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