2024 F1 Round 20 Mexico City GP qualifying — Sainz takes pole by 0.225s, Tsunoda crashes late in Q2, Piastri and Pérez out in Q1

Qualifying for the 2024 Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix, round 20 of the season, took place at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the early hours of 27 October, Beijing time. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz claimed the sixth pole position of his career with a 1:15.946, a commanding 0.225 seconds clear of the field. Max Verstappen was second and Lando Norris third, while RB’s Yuki Tsunoda ended qualifying 11th after crashing late in Q2.

Sainz went fastest on his first run in Q3 and improved again on his final lap to secure pole by the substantial margin of 0.225 seconds. Verstappen initially held second, but his time was deleted for putting all four wheels beyond the track limits through the Turn 2 chicane. Forced to attack again from a difficult position, he still beat Norris by 0.089 seconds to secure the other front-row spot. Charles Leclerc, who had been second after the opening runs, failed to improve on his final attempt and finished fourth. Ferrari therefore missed out on a front-row lockout, leaving title rivals Verstappen and Norris to fight their own battles in the race.

Tsunoda, who had shown top-ten pace throughout the weekend, suffered a major setback in Q2. After the first runs he was eighth, with team-mate Liam Lawson just 0.033 seconds behind. On his final flying lap, however, he braked too hard and locked his left-front tyre at Turn 12, the entrance to the stadium section, sending the left side of his car into the barriers. The red flag came out with 10 seconds remaining, cutting short the flying laps of Lawson, the improving Fernando Alonso and others. The order was frozen, with Tsunoda 11th and Lawson 12th. The team’s greatest concerns were damage to the gearbox and to what was believed to be its only set of the new floor.

The bigger surprises came from McLaren and Red Bull. Oscar Piastri, fastest in FP3, had a lap deleted for track limits and could not recover on his final attempt, finishing 17th for his first Q1 exit of the season. Home driver Sergio Pérez also fell in Q1, in 18th. George Russell, who had crashed in FP2, qualified fifth after Mercedes used a curfew exemption to repair his car overnight and replace the chassis. His power unit and gearbox had fortunately escaped major damage. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton was sixth. Kevin Magnussen in seventh, Pierre Gasly in eighth, Alex Albon in ninth and Nico Hülkenberg in tenth took the remaining Q3 places. The 71-lap race was scheduled for the early hours of 28 October, Beijing time.