James Galloway
Senior Sports Journalist
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to start only sixth and eighth respectively with inconsistent W14 on the wrong side of small gaps in Mexico; watch Sunday’s race live on Sky Sports F1 at 8pm, build up from 6:30pm
Last Updated: 29/10/23 7:56am
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George Russell describes the pit-lane jam as a ‘complete mess’ while Lewis Hamilton believes he will ‘be fine’ after failing to slow under Q1 yellow
George Russell describes the pit-lane jam as a ‘complete mess’ while Lewis Hamilton believes he will ‘be fine’ after failing to slow under Q1 yellow
Lewis Hamilton has described Mercedes’ car as being “a bit of a nightmare to drive” at the Mexico City GP with their hopes of repeating their impressive form from last week in the USA hitherto failing to materialise.
Hamilton and Russell qualified sixth and eighth respectively for Sunday’s race amid a highly competitive and unpredictable Mexico qualifying hour which saw Ferrari unexpectedly lock out the front row.
Hamilton said his W14 did feel better than was the case on Friday, when he described it as being “night and day” different compared to the Circuit of the Americas last weekend where he fought for victory before disqualification on technical grounds, but that its handling remained unpredictable.
“I have been struggling all weekend with this car. The car has been a bit of a nightmare to drive. It just doesn’t like this track,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
Qualifying report: Charles Leclerc on pole as Ferrari come from out of the blue to front rowWhen to watch Mexico City GP live on Sky Sports this weekendStream every F1 race and more on NOW | Get Sky Sports F1
“We made some good changes going into qualifying. I was much happier with the car. I wish we had done it in the morning.
“Q1 and Q2 wasn’t looking too bad. Q2, the second lap was great but the car is just really peaky – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and I just wasn’t able to extract much more from it in the end
“In a perfect world, I could have been fifth but that’s about it.”
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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the Ferraris came out of nowhere after they took a shock one-two ahead of Max Verstappen at the Mexico City GP
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the Ferraris came out of nowhere after they took a shock one-two ahead of Max Verstappen at the Mexico City GP
Despite the challenges, Hamilton’s final lap of Q3, which saw him leapfrog Russell to qualify as the lead Mercedes, was actually only 0.288s away from surprise pole-sitter Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari.
On many weekends that kind of deficit would still comfortably result in a top-four grid placing, but here Mercedes were outqualified by three teams – Ferrari, Red Bull and, in perhaps the biggest surprise of the session, AlphaTauri thanks to a superb performance from fourth-quickest Daniel Ricciardo.
Speaking to Sky F1 after Ferrari turned sixth and ninth in Q2 into first and second in Q3, team principal Toto Wolff said: “What you see is the margins are so fine. The Ferraris came out of nowhere.
“It’s about getting the out-laps right. Two or three seconds slower or faster and suddenly you have a decent lap time.
“It’s almost incalculable. The tyres are so fragile and the ones that bring it to the point are just quick.
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Charles Leclerc claimed pole position in a hectic Mexico City GP qualifying, with Lando Norris failing to make it out of Q1
Charles Leclerc claimed pole position in a hectic Mexico City GP qualifying, with Lando Norris failing to make it out of Q1
“The Ferraris jumped massively from Q2 to Q3. Both of them had a fantastic sector one because they got the out-laps right.
“We were maybe a tiny bit too slow, a little bit cold and that’s why the times didn’t come together. But we are talking fine margins, it’s two tenths.”
Can Mercedes be more competitive in Sunday’s race to get back on Ferrari’s tail?
The former champions are in a tight battle with Ferrari for second place in this year’s Constructors’ Championship and hold a 22-point advantage over them heading into race day in Mexico.
The Scuderia’s front-row lockout certainly gives them a big chance to eat into that deficit, although Mercedes’ car has often been quicker in race trim this season thanks to superior tyre management.
“The race pace was really strong – I think we were one of the quickest,” said Russell reflecting on the W14’s longer-run performance on higher fuel through the three practice sessions which took place ahead of qualifying.
“But we were saying our single lap was one of the quickest as well after FP3, and it truly was. It just totally went away from us in qualifying.
“So it’s going to be difficult. It’s a very difficult track to overtake here. Brakes are going to be overheating, engines are going to be overheating. It’s going to be a long afternoon I think, but we’ll be doing our best to try and beat those Ferraris.”
Hamilton conceded: “It’s going to be a real challenge with that car.
“We are overheating. Brakes overheating. It’s going to be very hard for us to battle, for sure. I don’t know what kind of race we are going to have but it’s going to be on the knife-edge.”
When to watch the Mexico City GP live only on Sky Sports F1
Sunday
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP
F1 is in Mexico for the middle leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the whole Mexico City Grand Prix weekend live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW
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