Valtteri Bottas leads the provisional grid for the 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix.
| Row 1 | 1. Valtteri Bottas 1’15.875 Mercedes | |
| 2. Lewis Hamilton 1’16.020 Mercedes | ||
| Row 2 | 3. Max Verstappen 1’16.225 Red Bull | |
| 4. Sergio Perez 1’16.342 Red Bull | ||
| Row 3 | 5. Pierre Gasly 1’16.456 AlphaTauri | |
| 6. Carlos Sainz Jnr 1’16.761 Ferrari | ||
| Row 4 | 7. Daniel Ricciardo 1’16.763 McLaren | |
| 8. Charles Leclerc 1’16.837 Ferrari | ||
| Row 5 | 9. Sebastian Vettel 1’17.746 Aston Martin | |
| 10. Kimi Raikkonen 1’17.958 Alfa Romeo | ||
| Row 6 | 11. Antonio Giovinazzi 1’18.290 Alfa Romeo | |
| 12. Fernando Alonso 1’18.452 Alpine | ||
| Row 7 | 13. Nicholas Latifi 1’18.756 Williams | |
| 14. Mick Schumacher 1’18.858 Haas | ||
| Row 8 | 15. Nikita Mazepin 1’19.303 Haas | |
| 16. George Russell 1’18.172 Williams | ||
| Row 9 | 17. Yuki Tsunoda 1’17.158 AlphaTauri | |
| 18. Lando Norris 1’36.830 McLaren | ||
| Row 10 | 19. Esteban Ocon 1’18.405 Alpine | |
| 20. Lance Stroll 1’20.873 Aston Martin |
Penalties
Esteban Ocon – Start at back of grid due to exceeding maximum number of power unit components
Lando Norris – Start at back of grid due to exceeding maximum number of power unit components
Lance Stroll – Start at back of grid due to exceeding maximum number of power unit components
Yuki Tsunoda – Start at back of grid due to exceeding maximum number of power unit components
George Russell – Five-place grid penalty for gearbox change
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Benny
6th November 2021, 21:35
Shocking from RedBull. Should have been an easy 1-2 but they managed to make a mess of it. Hopefully we get a good race tomorrow.
Emma
6th November 2021, 21:35
The biggest irony is the two Bulls got derailed by Tsunoda whose only reason for being in Q3 was to pull Gasly up the order.
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
7th November 2021, 7:11
Looked to me like Perez derailed them. Tsunoda jumped out of the way?
neiana
7th November 2021, 9:19
@ryanoceros Tsunoda mucked up which caused Perez to muck up which caused Max to muck up.
Problem is Tsunoda was not at all in the way, Perez just got too into himself.
Problem is, neither Tsunoda or Perez were in the way, Max just got too into himself.
Problem is, Hamilton failed to take pole against a team-order Bottas.
All of those problems will make for a very, very interesting turn 1.
erikje
6th November 2021, 21:35
So they dumped the sandbags just in time.
Surprise performance by valteri.
Tsunoda did great until he screwed up the lap for both per and ver
Swifty (@theswift)
6th November 2021, 21:41
I think it’s more a case RB messed up, but you’re blind to it. Considering the age of HAM’s engine – I’m happy.
Davethechicken
6th November 2021, 21:45
Lol erijke. Tsunoda was a tenth behind the Red bulls. Hardly a world beater just yet, young Yuku. If he is that close it proves No Merc sand bagging just huge underperformance by Max and Sergio. Even Max says he should have had pole….
Keep the delusional mantra though.
Davethechicken
6th November 2021, 21:47
Gasly not yuki
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th November 2021, 23:49
Have to agree (which is very rare), verstappen usually has far more than 1 tenth on perez, who is NOT great at home, the opposite, and gasly was too close too for the car difference.
Jere (@jerejj)
6th November 2021, 21:35
What was Tsunoda doing? His adventure proved costly for both RBR drivers, LOL.
Patrick (@anunaki)
6th November 2021, 21:35
Bottas obviously runs a higher engine setting as expected. The bulls underperformed the 1st run and Yuki blew their 2nd one. But I’m kind of happy Max isnt in P2 on this dusty track.
Game on tomorrow
Alex
6th November 2021, 21:46
Yep. Guarantee he’ll need another new engine before the end of the season. That thing must have been cranked up to 11.
DaveW (@dmw)
7th November 2021, 1:15
Even set on 10, his whole rig is basically box fresh while Hamilton has to worry about his non icu components making it 5 more races.
BlueChris (@bluechris)
6th November 2021, 21:36
Who could tell really? again the underdogs did it. Im surprised again :)
LB (@burden93)
6th November 2021, 21:36
It should be a great race tomorrow. Red Bull failing to deliver today but will be coming back strong in the race! Expecting drama at turn 1!
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
6th November 2021, 21:36
Good lord, Perez’s performances on Saturdays is becoming a liability. Also, this pathetic attempt at slipstreaming just ruined it for Red Bull. So annoyed they couldn’t convert what seemed to be a good car advantage into actual good positions.
Let’s see how it pans out tomorrow…
TFLB (@tflb)
6th November 2021, 21:43
@pmccarthy_is_a_legend Perez was really doing pretty well until Tsunoda wrecked his lap. More or less neck-and-neck with Verstappen. Not sure how that counts as being a liability.
Sam (@undercut677)
6th November 2021, 21:46
Watch Perez’ onboard. All you can see is Tsunoda going off with dust behind him and you cant tell if he is coming back on the track. In their first laps Perez was 0.1 behind Max with no tow. I don’t see how you can call him a liability based on this performance.
Jockey Ewing
6th November 2021, 22:14
At the second runs, the RBs have been within 0.1s to Bottas’ sector time (IIRC Perez was only 0.06s off), that is not bad, even if likely not enough for pole. Although the second, twistier sector (or the likes of those) are used to be be RB’s, but Tsunoda’s action happened there.
Our local pundits said that Perez was too far ahead of Verstappen to give a big tow, they are good pundits with relevant motorsport results and connections, so I am lucky to have them as a son of a small country. Based on what I have seen, I agree with them in this. I do not know why they have not tried to give a bigger tow after seeing the first runs of Mercedes.
Jockey Ewing
6th November 2021, 22:28
I would say, that with a big tow, and without Tsunoda’s incident at Sector2, it could have been very close qualy (within 0.1s imo), even if a likely Mercedes pole based on the gap at the first runs, as that was excellent from both Mercedes cars.
Likely Mercedes moved towards a better direction with setup since yesterday, while RB not managed to do so.
It is crazy how they were riding these sausage curbs. Have not I seen that, I would not ever consider to do so :) Another somewhat ridiculous looking effect of letting them going outside of the white lines. Riding sausage curbs with a formula car like that.
Sam (@undercut677)
6th November 2021, 21:37
RB would have been 3 and 4 even without those sector 2 shenanigans.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th November 2021, 23:51
Probably verstappen 2nd, but he himself isn’t sure that would’ve been better for the start.
Learon
6th November 2021, 21:38
There is a very long straight at the start and we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I doubt the grid will be the same past turn 1.
Benny
6th November 2021, 21:38
If you look at it logically you have to consider the fact this is a power sensitive circuit and Bottas has had 3 new engines this year. It’s also only the 4th time this year he’s out qualified Hamilton. So to say thrashed is very dramatic. You sound upset, was it because they beat RedBull?
Fantomius (@liko41)
6th November 2021, 21:39
ROTFL, what page of the book of excuses is this one from?
Benny
6th November 2021, 21:43
It an excuse at all. Bottas did a great job and is a top driver. Sadly he doesn’t get the credit but he’s quick, especially over one lap. Engines wear over time and Hamilton has only taken one extra engine. Bottas took the whole power unit and two more engines. My point is that logically speaking his power unit will likely be in better condition. Does that make 0.1 over a lap on a very power sensitive circuit? I don’t know, but it’s very basic to just ignore that fact.
Fantomius (@liko41)
6th November 2021, 21:44
Oh bennyboy, so it’s Bottas Hamilton should be compared to!
At least we might agree Verstappen is definitely on another league!
Benny
6th November 2021, 21:48
You literally just compared Hamilton to Bottas in your original comment… are you ok?
Again, logically speaking we can only really compare team mates as the different teams tend to use different cars in Formula 1.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th November 2021, 23:44
Bottas a top driver? How many here would agree with it, 5%? Maybe even that is optimistic?
Swifty (@theswift)
6th November 2021, 21:40
He’s hurting.
Fantomius (@liko41)
6th November 2021, 21:41
Hamilton is for sure
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
7th November 2021, 0:47
I think Bottas got the car to work faster, he’s much more aggresive than Ham.
Swifty
6th November 2021, 21:39
Your comments are sadly predictable.
Fantomius (@liko41)
6th November 2021, 21:40
Hamilton’s humiliating defeats from his teammate are, either.
John H (@john-h)
6th November 2021, 21:45
Sad.
Swifty (@theswift)
6th November 2021, 21:52
Sorry, not stopping to your level. Let’s race tomorrow.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
6th November 2021, 21:39
That is mightily impressive from Mercedes and particularly Valtteri Bottas, who did not have a tow for his fast lap. Yet again in this fantastic 2021 season, the team most expected to be the underdogs going into a session end up getting on pole. At Austin, I was convinced Hamilton would take pole and victory, and instead it was Verstappen. Here, I was convinced Verstappen would win, and so far it is advantage Mercedes. This championship looks more and more like it is going to the wire after every race. What a season!
John H (@john-h)
6th November 2021, 21:40
I think it’s 14-4 in qualifying @liko41, but don’t let the facts get in the way of your narrative.
Anyway great pole from Bottas. Tsunoda will be the scapegoat, but I think Red Bull didn’t have the pace in the end for whatever reason, maybe tyre temps. If Merc really did sandbag that much then fair play, I highly doubt it. Something happened with the track temps would be my guess and getting the tyres switched on.
Fantomius (@liko41)
6th November 2021, 21:41
@john-h
What’s the score between Verstappen and Perez?
Indeed.
John H (@john-h)
6th November 2021, 21:44
Wow that’s desperate @liko41. What have Red Bull got to do with it?
Anyway, for what it’s worth Max has been awesome this year in qualifying. Nobody was talking about Red Bull though, I think you have a problem.
Benny
6th November 2021, 21:45
Oh so you are a Verstappen fan… what a surprise.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
6th November 2021, 21:40
Red Bull’s pace seemed to abandon them in Q2. By the time we got to Q3 they seemed slow. As for Perez, seems he got distracted by Tsunoda binning it all by himself and both of them rejoining ruined Verstappen’s.
Glad to see Bottas finding his pace but he’ll probably dive out of the way and won’t finish lap 1 in the lead and spend the rest of the race stopping Verstappen – if Red Bull find the pace they forgot. Otherwise it’ll probably be an easy victory for Hamilton tbh.
Mlepnos
7th November 2021, 3:26
Being told to move aside isnt “binning it”
Mashiat (@mashiat)
6th November 2021, 21:43
I’m going to predict a coming together between Max and Hamilton at Turn 1/2 tomorrow and Bottas to romp away to victory.
Plossl (@)
6th November 2021, 21:46
Lewis trashed once again.
What a surprise
Ive fixed it for ya…
Plossl (@)
6th November 2021, 21:49
Lewis trashed ‘Red Bull’ once again.
What a surprise
Ive fixed the fix that I didnt quite fix before….
faulty (@faulty)
7th November 2021, 0:35
your fix to the fix might need fixing.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
6th November 2021, 21:59
Certainly an unexpected result but not an unwelcome one! This should set up an interesting strategic race with implications for the championship. Red Bull obviously has the pace to challenge for the win despite their scruffy Q3 run. It’ll be crucial for Lewis to get through turn 1 cleanly but starting P2 on the dusty side is not ideal. I expect Max to be ahead into turn 1 but we’ll see what Bottas can do. Looking forward to this one!
paulguitar (@paulguitar)
6th November 2021, 22:33
This used to be a website where the comments tended to be a cut above many others.
There is one person here who dramatically lowers both tone and knowledge on display. It’s very disappointing.
Oh, for the sake of clarity, it is @liko41 to whom I refer.
János
6th November 2021, 23:24
I’m impressed by Gasly’s consistency.
He’s flying – or rather driving – under the radar so much it’s ridiculous. Beating the Ferraris and the McLarens on such a regular basis is remarkable!
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
7th November 2021, 7:15
I still expect a redbull 1-2. Very interested to see how Gasly does as well.
Slimmie205
7th November 2021, 10:47
Wow. As a RB and Max fan this is a hard one to take.. Didn’t expect this. Even with the massive turned up engine of Bottas I thought RB had this one easily. MB their strategic 6th engine penalty for Bottas in Austin has payed off for now. We will see what’s about tot happen at the start. I think Bottas isn’t allowed going for his own succes. He’s just there blocking Verstappen and let Hamilton by.