Ferrari become the first team to see both drivers take pole position in 2024, Piastri ends a 20-race streak of Q3 appearances and Perez records a Q1 exit at home for the first time. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix.
SAINZ ON POLE FOR THE 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX
Carlos Sainz secured pole position for the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, taking the sixth pole of his Formula 1 career. This was Sainz’s first pole since the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.
Sainz became the 12th different driver to take pole position in the last 13 races at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
This was Sainz’s first front row qualification since the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
Sainz continued his record of qualifying in a better position than on his previous outing on all nine Mexico City Grand Prix appearances to date.
This was Ferrari’s fourth pole position in Mexico. Ferrari became the first team to see both drivers to secure a pole position in the 2024 season.
IN THE TOP 10
Max Verstappen qualified in second place for the third consecutive race weekend.
Despite being fastest in Q2, Lando Norris failed to take pole position for the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix. This is the ninth consecutive Mexican race in which the fastest driver in Q2 has not taken pole position.
Norris reached Q3 for the 100th time in his career, becoming the 16th driver to record 100 Q3 appearances since the current qualifying system was introduced in 2006.
This was the first time Norris qualified in the top seven for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Norris is the first McLaren driver to qualify in the top three in Mexico since Ayrton Senna qualified third for the 1991 Mexican Grand Prix.
With Sergio Perez out in Q1, Mercedes are now the only team to see both cars qualify in the top ten on every appearance in Mexico since 2015.
Prior to the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix weekend, Haas had never seen one of their cars reach Q3 in Mexico. That changed in 2024, as both Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg qualified in the top ten.
After reaching Q3 for the first time this season last weekend, Kevin Magnussen qualified seventh for the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix. This was Magnussen’s best qualifying result since qualifying sixth for the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.
This is the first time Magnussen has qualified in the top ten for two races in a row since the 2022 Austrian and French Grands Prix.
Nico Hulkenberg reached Q3 in Mexico for the first time since 2018.
This was Haas’ first double Q3 appearance since the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.
Pierre Gasly qualified eighth, reaching Q3 for a second consecutive race. This was the first time he reached Q3 at successive races since the end of the 2023 season.
Gasly’s eighth place was the Enstone team’s best qualifying result in Mexico since 2018.
Alex Albon became the first Williams driver to qualify in the top ten at the Mexico City Grand Prix since both drivers reached Q3 in 2016. This was Albon’s seventh Q3 appearance of the 2024 season.
This was Albon’s first Q3 appearance in Mexico since 2019.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen qualified in the top ten in Mexico for the ninth time, equalling Jack Brabham as the drivers who have recorded the most top ten qualifications in Mexico City. Hamilton, Verstappen and Charles Leclerc all maintained their 100% Q3 appearance rates at the track.
OUT IN Q2
Q2 came to a slightly early end due to a crash for Yuki Tsunoda, which caused a red flag. Tsunoda’s red flag meant that both he and RB team-mate Liam Lawson were out in Q2.
This was the second race in a row at which both RB drivers were eliminated in Q2.
Fernando Alonso recorded his fifth Q2 exit in Mexico City, extending his record for the most Q2 eliminations at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
This was only the second time in the last nine races that Alonso qualified outside of the top ten. 2022 remains the only time that Alonso has reached Q3 in Mexico.
Lance Stroll continued his record of having never reached Q3 in Mexico. His 14th place in qualifying for the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix was his best qualifying result in Mexico since qualifying 12th on his first appearance at the track in 2017. It was also the first time since then that he was not out in Q1.
Valtteri Bottas reached Q2 at the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, marking the first time a Sauber driver reached Q2 since the Belgian Grand Prix.
Bottas qualified in 15th place. It was the first time that the Finn has failed to reach Q3 at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
PEREZ AND PIASTRI OUT IN Q1
Sergio Perez recorded a disappointing Q1 exit at his home race, qualifying only 18th. This was the first time a Red Bull driver failed to reach Q3 at the Mexico City Grand Prix and the first time that the team has had a driver qualifying outside of the top seven for the Mexico City race.
This was Perez’s fifth Q1 elimination of the season.
Oscar Piastri was out in Q1, recording the sixth Q1 elimination of his career. It was his first since the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, ending a streak of 20 consecutive top ten qualifications. It left Verstappen as the only driver to have reached Q3 at every Grand Prix to date in 2024.
This was the second year in a row that a McLaren driver was out in Q1 and qualified 17th for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
For the sixth time in the last seven races, Zhou Guanyu set the slowest lap time of the drivers who competed in qualifying.
Franco Colapinto was eliminated in Q1 at successive races for the first time in his career.
Esteban Ocon qualified on the back row for the fourth time this season.