Ferrari claimed a qualifying one-two for the Mexico City Grand Prix in a stunning boilover, with Charles Leclerc claiming pole position for the second weekend running after a bizarre qualifying session.
Ferrari had not led a single session throughout the weekend and were expected to struggle in qualifying after difficulties in practice.
Asked afterwards if he believed his care had the pace to claim pole, a stunned Leclerc replied: “Absolutely not”.
“To be honest I did not expect to be on pole position today because we were lacking quite a bit after (practice).”
It echoed what he said on team radio after taking pole, saying: “Good job guys. That was a surprise! I feel like every pole we do it’s a surprise.
“A good surprise. Lets do it tomorrow.”
Teammate Carlos Sainz said of his session after finishing second: “It was a very strange one.”
The bemused star said: “I just struggle to understand where we can find half a second then go half a second slower the next lap!”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was equally surprised at Ferrari’s pace, saying: “What you see is the margins are so fine. The Ferraris came out of nowhere… The Ferraris jumped massively from Q2 to Q3.”
Max Verstappen qualified third in his Red Bull but is under investigation for blocking the pit lane exit, while Daniel Ricciardo put his AlphaTauri into an impressive fourth position.
Verstappen was nevertheless confident, especially given the track features the longest straight before the first corner of any circuit on the calendar.
He said: “I am confident for tomorrow. Of course I would like to start first but we will have a good slipstream down to Turn 1!”
Sergio Perez was fifth ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, the latter also under investigation for failing to slow appropriately when yellow flags were flying. His team claimed the Brit did not see the yellows.
Oscar Piastri was seventh, while his teammate Lando Norris will start a dismal 19th.
It was a dramatic qualifying day, including Yuki Tsunoda hitting a tyre jack on his way out of the pits in Q2 before having his final flying lap time deleted for exceeding track limits – which saw him just miss out on Q3.
TOP TEN
1) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
4) Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri
5) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
6) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
7) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
8) George Russell, Mercedes
9) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
10) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
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