Scuderia Ferrari locked out the front row of the grid for the Mexico City Grand Prix which gets underway tomorrow at 14.00 local time (21 CET) at the Hermanos Rodriguez Circuit. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz each put in an incredible lap on their first run in Q3, setting times that were out of reach of the rest of the field. The Scuderia has previous form for this in Mexico, also locking out the front row back in 2019 with Charles and Sebastian Vettel and this is Ferrari’s 248th pole, its 69th one-two in qualifying. For Leclerc this is his second pole in a row, his 22nd, which puts him one behind Niki Lauda in the Scuderia’s record books. Carlos has also taken two in a row this year in Monza and Singapore. There could not be a better way for Leclerc to start what will be his 100th Grand Prix with Ferrari.
Qualifying. Both drivers got through Q1 on Medium tyres, while in Q2, Carlos had a few worrying moments, getting through to the final phase in ninth spot having encountered traffic on his second run. Both of them then got to Q3 in great shape as they each had two sets of new Softs. Charles and Carlos went out as soon as the session started and got their tyres in the perfect operating window, posting times of 1’17”166 and 1’17”233 respectively. No one was able to go quicker on the second runs, to ensure that this was the Scuderia’s best Saturday of the season.
The race. Tyre management will again be an extremely important factor in tomorrow’s race. Over the three free practice sessions the SF-23’s behaviour on all three compounds was assessed and now the team is preparing for all possible scenarios. It’s a long 71 lap race but the Scuderia starts it from the two best places on the grid.
Charles Leclerc #16
I did not expect to take pole position today. After FP3, it seemed as though we were on the back foot but once we put it all together in Q3, it went well.
I'm already focusing on the race though, because we want to convert this pole into a win. Our pace has been good so far here this weekend, so let's see what we can do tomorrow.
Carlos Sainz #55
It was quite a strange qualifying session today, but a mega result for the team! It hasn’t been the cleanest of weekends for us but in Q3 we managed to put everything together and consolidate a front row lockout for the race. Traffic nearly put me out in Q2, but the lap in Q3 felt good and this is a fantastic boost for everyone in the team, especially during this long triple-header.
We need to stay focused, as tomorrow won’t be an easy race. Temperatures and tyre management will be key for us. However, we are in the best possible position to try to keep everybody behind. Let’s race!
Frédéric Vasseur - Team Principal
After FP3 I was convinced we could do well, but maybe not this well! Performance this afternoon was mainly driven by the tyres because there was the risk that if you pushed too hard at the start of the lap, you would have killed the tyres at the front or the rear towards the end of the lap. We managed things very well during Q1 and Q2 and we had the advantage of having two new sets of Softs for Q3 for both Charles and Carlos and the first flying laps proved to be the best.
Of course we will enjoy today’s result but we must not get carried away and we are already focused on how we can convert this performance to the best possible result tomorrow as we saw the field is very tight. It’s a very long run to turn 1 and the slipstream here is an important factor, but we still prefer to start from the front row. Having both drivers there separated by six hundredths shows the team is doing a good job.