Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell start sixth and eighth respectively, pending the stewards’ investigation after qualifying, with an 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 01:22
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George Russell describes pit lane jam as a ‘complete mess’ while Lewis Hamilton thinks he will ‘work out fine’ after failing to slow down under Q1 yellow
George Russell describes pit lane jam as a ‘complete mess’ while Lewis Hamilton thinks he will ‘work out fine’ after failing to slow down under Q1 yellow
Lewis Hamilton has described Mercedes’ car as “a bit of a nightmare to drive” at the Mexico City GP, with hopes of a repeat of their impressive form from last week in the US failing to materialize so far this weekend.
Hamilton and Russell qualified sixth and eighth respectively – although that is pending the outcome of a host of post-qualifying stewards’ investigations, with both involved for various alleged infringements – for Sunday’s race, amid a highly competitive and unpredictable qualifying hour in Mexico, which saw Ferrari unexpectedly exclude the front row.
Hamilton said his W14 felt better than it did on Friday, describing it as “night and day” different from last weekend’s Circuit of the Americas, where he fought for victory before being disqualified on technical grounds, but that the its handling remained unpredictable.
“I’ve been struggling with this car all weekend. The car was a bit of a nightmare to drive. It just doesn’t like this track,” said Hamilton. 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 didn’t look too bad. Q2, the second lap was great, but the car is just very peaky – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and I just couldn’t get much more out of it in the end
“In a perfect world I could have been fifth, but that’s it.”
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Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says the Ferraris came out of nowhere after suffering a one-two shock to Max Verstappen at the Mexico City GP
Despite the challenges, Hamilton’s final lap of Q3, in which he passed Russell to qualify as the leading Mercedes, was actually just 0.288 seconds clear of surprise polesitter Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari.
In many venues such a deficit would comfortably result in a top four finish, but here Mercedes was surpassed by three teams: Ferrari, Red Bull and, perhaps the biggest surprise of the session, AlphaTauri, thanks to an excellent performance from fourth place. -fastest Daniel Ricciardo.
Speak with Sky F1 After Ferrari finished sixth and ninth in Q2 and first and second in Q3, team boss Toto Wolff said: “What you see is that the margins are so nice. The Ferraris came out of nowhere.
“It’s about getting the outlaps right. Two or three seconds slower or faster and suddenly you have a decent lap time.
“It’s almost inconceivable. The tires are so fragile and those who take it to the core are just fast.
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Charles Leclerc claimed pole position in a hectic GP qualifying in Mexico City, with Lando Norris failing to make it into Q1
“The Ferraris jumped massively from Q2 to Q3. They both had a fantastic sector because they got the outlaps right.
“We were maybe a little bit too slow, a little bit cold and that’s why the times didn’t match. But we’re talking about fine margins, it’s two tenths.”
Can Mercedes be more competitive in Sunday’s race to get back on Ferrari’s heels?
The former champions are locked in a tight battle with Ferrari for second place in this year’s Constructors’ Championship and have a 22-point lead over them heading into race day in Mexico.
The Scuderia’s front row exclusion certainly gives them a great opportunity to make up that deficit, although the Mercedes car has often been faster in the race this season.
“The race pace was very strong – I think we were one of the fastest,” said Russell, reflecting on the W14’s longer-term performance on higher fuel consumption during practice.
“But we said our single lap was also one of the fastest after FP3, and it really was. During qualifying it just went completely out of our sight.
“So it’s going to be difficult. It’s a very difficult circuit to overtake here. The brakes will overheat, the engines will overheat. It’s going to be a long afternoon, I think, but we’ll do our best to try and beat those Ferraris.”
Hamilton admitted: “It will be a real challenge with that car.
“We’re overheating. The brakes are overheating. It’s going to be very difficult for us to compete, for sure. I don’t know what kind of race we’re going to have, but it’s going to be razor-sharp.”
When can you only watch the Mexico City GP live on Sky Sports F1?
Sunday
6:30 PM: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8 p.m.: The GRAND PRIZE OF MEXICO CITY (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10 p.m.: Checkered flag: Mexico City GP
F1 is in Mexico for the middle leg of the US triple header. Watch the entire Mexico City Grand Prix weekend live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW