Verstappen on pole in Mexico, big crash for Bottas at the end of Q3

The pilots of Formula 1 are definitely all the same. Take Max Verstappen. Listening to him on the evening of the first free practices on Friday, the Dutchman was not far from making people cry in the cottages by affirming that the Ferrari stuck a full second to the Red Bull in a straight line. Impossible to beat the SF90s in qualifying, the Batavian told us. 24 hours later: this devil of Verstappen emerged from his box to pocket the 2nd pole position of his career, the second this season after the one gleaned in Hungary at the beginning of August. 

The Mozart Orange is the only driver to dip under 15 minutes on a lap of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez at the end of a session which ended with a big crash for Valtteri Bottas. The Finn of Mercedes veered too wide in the last bend which controls the start/finish line, damaged his left front suspension in the safety barriers, slid along the protections and ended his race abruptly in a recess of the Tecpro guardrails. More fear than harm for the title contender, who will have to settle for 6th place on the grid on Sunday. Bottas still had to make a detour to the medical center after suffering an impact estimated at 17G.

On the front row, Verstappen will be accompanied by his great rival Charles Leclerc on Ferrari. The Monegasque, author of the best time in EL3, precedes his teammate Sebastian Vettel. The best Mercedes, that of Lewis Hamilton, is only 4th but the Briton showed in Q2 that the Flèche d'Argent was comfortable on mediums with the best time of the intermediate phase of qualifying on this compound.

Accident in Free Practice 2, Alexander albon reacted well with the 5th time, in front of the unfortunate Bottas. McLaren confirms its rank as 4th force in the field with the 7th and 8th times of Carlos Sainz et Lando Norris. In spirit since the first turns of the wheels, the Toro Rosso by Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly, physically diminished, complete the Top 10. 

Given the significant degradation of the soft tire in Mexico, the three top teams logically sent their drivers to mediums during Q2. Sainz and the Toro Rosso drivers attempted to do the same before deciding to take the red compound to access Q3. 

In these conditions, 11th place on the grid, and the freedom of choice of tires at the start of the GP that accompanies it, is undoubtedly more attractive than a position in the second half of the top 10. To the delight of the fans Mexicans, it is Sergio Pérez who obtains this privileged angle of attack for the race. 

The Racing Point driver is slightly ahead Renault who were unable to complete a single lap this morning in Free Practice 2. Nico Hulkenberg is 12th, ahead Daniel Ricciardo. Follow the Alfa Romeo by Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi, definitely looking for a new lease of life since the end of the summer break. 

Unsurprisingly, Q1 proves fatal to the drivers Haas et Williams. Author of the 18th time, Romain Grosjean fails a little less than two tenths behind his teammate Kevin Magnussen. 

Robert Kubica brings up the rear and takes a suitcase and is 1'356 behind George Russell (1'20''179 against 1'18''823). The Pole lost more than a full second in the second sector. The Haas-Williams quartet are accompanied in the first cart by the Racing Point of Lance stroll. 

Last observation on this qualifying session: Verstappen, provisional pole holder before the final attempts in Q3, managed to improve his mark while the yellow flags were waved in the last sectors following Bottas' accident. No investigation by the commissioners has been launched for the moment but the Dutchman openly admitted that he had not taken his foot off the gas. To be continued.