F1: Leclerc wins exciting pole for Mexico City GP (Update)

Logan Sargeant has had a 10-place grid penalty imposed and two points placed on his super license for overtaking Yuki Tsunoda under yellow flags in Q1

In a big surprise, it was a Ferrari 1-2 in qualifying for the 2023 Mexico City GP, with Charles Leclerc nipping Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Who says F1 is not exciting?

Charles Leclerc’s lap of 1m17.166s was good enough to beat his Ferrari teammate by just 0.067s and Max Verstappen by 0.097s in an exciting qualifying session.

To be honest, I did not expect to be on pole position today, I thought we were lacking in FP3″ said Leclerc.

We’ve had a pretty good pace all weekend, but I’m not sure if it will be enough to challenge for the win. First place here, I’m not sure, is the best starting place!

“It was a very strange one, the whole weekend I’ve struggled to put a lap together and the first lap I’ve put together is the first one in Q3,” said Sainz.

“I struggle to understand, but we managed to put together a good lap when it counted. We are not as strong in high fuel as in low fuel.”

“It’s very difficult, it’s very low grip around here because of the altitude,” said Verstappen who topped all three practice sessions but lost pole to the Ferraris when it counted..

“The last sector we were struggling a little bit more than we liked, but it is a long race, a lot of laps to be raced. I would have liked to start first, but we’ll have a good slipstream down to Turn 1.”

Daniel Ricciardo was an excellent 4th for Alpha Tauri as he makes a case to eventually drive for Red Bull again.

Mexican hero Sergio Perez rounded out the top-5 in his #11 Red Bull Honda.

Lewis Hamilton, who topped Q2, only managed P6 when it counted in his #44 Mercedes.

Oscar Piastri and George Russell are next up with Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou rounding out the top 10.

Several drivers were under investigation by the Stewards, so the lineup below might change.

2023 Mexico City GP Qualifying Result