Verstappen secures Red Bull’s 80th pole position, Alonso reaches Q3 in Mexico for the first time and Bottas records his team’s best-ever qualifying result at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix!
VERSTAPPEN ON POLE
Max Verstappen took pole position for the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix, securing the 19th pole position of his career. His latest pole sees him overtake Mario Andretti, Rene Arnoux, Kimi Raikkonen and Charles Leclerc for 16th in the all-time list of most pole positions.
Verstappen is the 11th consecutive different polesitter in Mexico. No driver has taken more than one pole in Mexico since the event returned to the calendar in 2015. However, this was the second time Verstappen has been fastest in qualifying in Mexico. He set the fastest lap time in 2019 before picking up a grid penalty.
Verstappen secured Red Bull’s 80th pole position in Formula 1. They are the sixth team to reach the milestone – after Ferrari, Lotus, Williams, McLaren and Mercedes.
This was Red Bull’s second pole position in Mexico, becoming the sixth team to record multiple pole positions at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Verstappen took pole by 0.304 seconds – the largest pole margin seen at the circuit since 1989.
IN THE TOP 10
George Russell qualified second and will line up on the front row of the grid for the fifth time in his career. This was the first time Russell has out-qualified team-mate Lewis Hamilton since he took pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
With Russell second and Lewis Hamilton third, this was the first time both Mercedes drivers qualified in the top three since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
With fourth place, Sergio Perez equalled his best Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying result. He also qualified fourth for his home race last year.
Carlos Sainz’s unusual qualifying record continued in Mexico. Qualifying fifth, he has qualified one position better than on his previous appearance on every visit to the Mexico City Grand Prix.
With Carlos Sainz fifth and Charles Leclerc seventh, this was the first time in 2022 that neither Ferrari driver qualified in the top four. This is the second year in a row that neither Ferrari driver has qualified in the top four in Mexico.
Valtteri Bottas qualified in sixth place, recording his best qualifying result since setting the fifth fastest time in qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix. This was the first time Bottas has reached Q3 at consecutive races since the Emilia Romagna, Miami and Spanish Grands Prix.
Bottas recorded his team’s best-ever qualifying result in Mexico. The team had only reached Q3 in Mexico once previously, when both Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson qualified in the top ten in 2018.
With eighth place, Lando Norris equalled his best Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying result. He also qualified eighth here in 2019.
Fernando Alonso reached Q3 in Mexico City for the first time in his career. He qualified in ninth place, beating his previous best result of 11th at the circuit, recorded in 2016.
Esteban Ocon qualified in tenth place, reaching Q3 in Mexico for the first time since 2017. He was out-qualified by his team-mate in Mexico for the first time since 2016.
This was the first time that the Enstone team appeared in Q3 in Mexico since 2018.
OUT IN Q2
Qualifying in 11th, Daniel Ricciardo failed to reach Q3 in Mexico for only the second time. He was also out in Q2 in 2019.
Ricciardo’s 11th place made this the first time a McLaren driver did not reach Q3 in Mexico since 2018.
With both Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda out in Q2, this was the first time the Red Bull junior team did not reach Q3 in Mexico since 2018. Both cars reached Q3 in the last two Mexico races.
Pierre Gasly failed to reach Q3 in Mexico for the first time since 2018.
For the first time in their history, Haas progressed into Q2 at the Mexico City Grand Prix. That was thanks to Kevin Magnussen, who set the 15th fastest time in Q1. He also set the 15th fastest time in Q2.
OUT IN Q1
Mick Schumacher recorded Q1 exits at consecutive races for the first time this season.
With both Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll out in Q1, Aston Martin recorded their eighth double Q1 elimination of the season. This was the first time that the Silverstone-based team has seen both of their cars eliminated in Q1 in Mexico.
This was Vettel’s first Q1 exit since the Italian Grand Prix. It was the first time Vettel has failed to reach Q2 in Mexico.
Stroll recorded his 60th Q1 exit, overtaking Timo Glock as the driver to have recorded the second-most Q1 exits in Formula 1. Marcus Ericsson is the only other driver who has been out in Q1 on 60 occasions.
Stroll has been eliminated in Q1 on half of his 120 Formula 1 qualifying appearances.
Stroll was out in Q1 for a fourth consecutive visit to Mexico. 2017 remains the only time that the Canadian has made it through to Q2 in Mexico.
Recording his fourth Q1 exit in Mexico, Stroll equals Romain Grosjean as the driver to have recorded the most Q1 eliminations at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
For the third time in the last four races in Mexico, Williams set the two slowest times in qualifying.
Nicholas Latifi qualified in last place for the fourth race in a row. Alex Albon qualified on the back row for the fourth time this year.