Formula 1: Leclerc was left with a pole dyed red

The Monegasque pilot Charles Leclercof Ferrariachieved pole position this Saturday for the Mexican Grand Prix of Formula 1which will be run on Sunday at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Leclerc earned the right to start first by recording his best qualifying lap with 1.17.166.

For Leclerc this is the fourth pole position of the season and number 22 in his career in the top category of motorsport; It is also the second achieved in Mexico after the one achieved in 2019.

Second place on the starting grid will be for the Spaniard Carlos Sainzalso from Ferrari (+.067), and third position was held by the brand new three-time world champion Max Verstappen (+.097), Dutch runner Red Bullwho was subject to investigation for causing a traffic jam at the beginning of the first classification.

The Mexican Sergio Perezfrom Red Bull, was fifth and will start the race from the third starting line.

Qualifying took place on a sunny afternoon. At the beginning of the session, the thermometer showed a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius in the environment and 46 degrees on the track.

The Danish Kevin Magnussen set the first reference time of the first qualifying round with 1:19.730, which was soon surpassed by the Spanish Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin (1:19.604).

Then the dizzying Red Bull cars appeared. The Mexican Sergio Pérez lowered the time to 1:18.553 and Max Verstappen left it at 1:18.099.

The three-time champion, who dominated the three practice sessions, came out determined to seek the position of honor, but his intention was tainted by an apparent pause in the pit lane that hindered the runners.

In the first qualifying segment, the Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine), the Danish Kevin Magnussen (Haas), the Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), the American Logan Sargeant (Williams) and the British Lando Norris (McLaren) were left out.

The second qualifying round began with a time of 1:18.124 by ‘Checo’ Pérez that was soon surpassed by the speed of Verstappen (1:17.625).

In both the first ‘qualy’ and the second, the Australian Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri) and the Austrian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) hinted at their intentions to be in the first two starting lines.

In 2018, Ricciardo won pole position in Mexico while Pastri just got to know the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in this 2023 season.

And suddenly the silver arrows of Mercedes Benz appeared, which went almost unnoticed in the rehearsals, and went 1-3 in this ‘qualy’: Lewis Hamilton clocked 1:17.571 and George Russell 1:17.673.

In this second eliminatory set, the Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine), the German Nico Hülkenberg (Haas), the Spanish Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), the Thai Alexander Albon (Williams) and the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) were left out.

The third and decisive classification began with a reference time of 1:17.788 by Sergio Pérez, who on Sunday will seek his first victory in his country.

Afterwards, the record dropped to 1:17.286 thanks to Verstappen who will try to set the record for most victories in a Formula 1 season on Sunday, with 16.

Then he wore the ‘Prancing Horse’ shield with a memorable closing by Leclerc and Sainz. The Monegasque won with less than a tenth of an advantage over his two immediate pursuers.

The race will take place on Sunday starting at 2:00 p.m. local (20:00 GMT) with 71 laps on the 4.304 kilometer circuit for a total distance of 305.354 kilometers.