McLaren issued a statement regarding their performance before the Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying session at 10pm. Oscar Piastri led his teammate Lando Norris in a one-two for McLaren in Practice Three, with Max Verstappen finishing half a second behind their pace.
In the first representative session of the weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, McLaren took the lead with Piastri setting the fastest time ahead of Norris. Ferrari initially led the way but couldn’t match McLaren’s pace on fresh soft tires.
Verstappen struggled in fourth place, 0.511s behind McLaren, continuing his difficulties in Mexico. Despite switching to a different engine, he complained about the handling of his car during the session.
Chandhok from Sky Sports F1 noted McLaren’s strong performance and wondered if Ferrari and Red Bull could challenge them for the front row in qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth fastest, while George Russell recovered from a previous crash to finish eighth. Charles Leclerc was sixth on the qualifying simulations for Ferrari.
RB seemed to perform well in Mexico City, with both their cars in the top 10. Norris hopes to capitalize on Verstappen’s struggles to close the gap in the championship race.
RB also performed well in Mexico, with both cars in the top 10. Norris needs a strong performance to close the gap with Verstappen in the championship.
Will Norris take advantage of Verstappen’s struggles?
After a challenging race in Austin, Norris faces an uphill battle to challenge Verstappen for the championship. He needs to outscore Verstappen by a significant margin in the remaining races.
Mexico presents an opportunity for Norris to make up ground and begin his push towards challenging for the title.
