Posted on 1st November 2015
In the final practice session in Mexico today, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg claimed his twentieth Pole Position ahead of in a session where the two Mercedes drivers were pushing each other straight from the beginning of qualifying.
It was announced before qualifying that Jenson Button would not be taking part due to signal problems with his Honda engine; alongside the Honda engine misfiring. This is a great shame for Button who hasn’t had much running on the track either.
Also Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen will receive a five place grid penalty for changing his engine and also his gearbox that will be applied after the session has ended. But Q2, Kimi Raikkonen spins his car at Turn 1 bizarrely and manages to regain control of the car and carry on.
However on team radio, Raikkonen states that he cannot not take any further part in qualifying due to problems with his brakes and also with the transmission on his Ferrari that will need to be investigated further by the team before the race tomorrow on Sunday.
Towards the end of Q2, we see spots of rain hitting the circuit especially around the final corner which could spice things up in Q3 and the battle for the Pole Position shootout. And it didn't disappoint as Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton battled hard on the track to claim Pole Position. However on his final run, Hamilton went wide during the Stadium section which may have cost him Pole.
But we did also see a battle between Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas with Hulkenberg's engineer on his last lap of the session stating to his driver via the team radio; “You’re pushing, you’re pushing! Do not [let Bottas past], you’re on a timed lap now Nico. Shut up, I’ll tell you where the traffic is, you’re on a push lap.”
But it was Nico Rosberg who claimed his fourth consecutive Pole Position for the Mexican GP with a lap time of 1.21.083 ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton in second place who was 0.188 seconds behind him but was ahead of Sebastian Vettel who finished in third place who was 0.370 seconds behind the Mercedes of Rosberg.
Daniil Kvyat qualified in fourth place ahead of his team mate Daniel Ricciardo in fifth place, Valtteri Bottas in sixth place and his team mate Felipe Massa in seventh place. Max Verstappen ended the session in eighth place ahead of local driver Sergio Perez in ninth place and Nico Hulkenberg who rounds off the top ten finishers.
Carlos Sainz Jr qualified for the Mexican GP in eleventh place ahead of Romain Grosjean in twelfth place, Pastor Maldonado in thirteenth place, Marcus Ericsson in fourteenth place and ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in fifteenth place. As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Fernando Alonso finished in sixteenth place ahead of Felipe Nasr in seventeenth place, Alexander Rossi in eighteenth place and Will Stevens in nineteenth place. Jenson Button did not take part in qualifying.
The classification of Qualifying for the Mexican GP is as follows:-
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1.19.480
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 0.188s
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.370s
4. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Renault, 0.918s
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, 0.919s
6. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 0.968s
7. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 1.087s
8. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1.230s
9. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1.236s
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 1.308s
11. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1.20.942
12. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes, 1.21.038
13. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, 1.21.261
14. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.21.544
15. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1.22.294*
16. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 1.21.779
17. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.21.788
18. Alexander Rossi, Manor, 1.24.136
19. Will Stevens, Manor, 1.24.386
[Jenson Button did not take part in qualifying]
[*- Kimi Raikkonen will receive a five place grid penalty for changing his engine and gearbox]
[NB. Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso will also take grid penalties for changing their engines over the course of the weekend]
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
