29 October 2023 , 01:09
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Max Verstappen may be even more frustrated about going only third fastest in Mexico Grand Prix qualifying after the Ferrari drivers who beat him admitted they had no idea how they did it.
Verstappen put his Red Bull on provisional pole with his first flying lap in Q3. But his time was soon beaten by Carlos Sainz before his team-mate Charles Leclerc managed to put in an even better lap.
None of them improved on their final runs and so that was how the order stayed. Not that either of the Ferrari drivers knew quite how they had managed to get the better of the Dutchman.
"It was a very strange one," said Sainz. "Honestly, the whole weekend I've struggled to put a lap together and the first lap that I put together was Q3 run one. Suddenly it was P1 at the time, and then Charles pipped me by half a tenth.
"But I just struggle to understand where suddenly we can find half a second and then go half a second slower in the next lap. It's very tricky with the tyres, and the feeling with the car is very strange around the circuit. But we managed to put a good lap when it counted. And it puts us in a good position for [the race]."
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Leclerc was none the wiser. "Absolutely not!" was his response when asked if he felt his car had enough pace for pole in Mexico, before adding: "It's been two weekends in a row where we say that, so then people will start not believing us anymore.
"To be honest, I did not expect to be on pole position. Today, we thought we were lacking quite a bit after FP3. But for some reason, once we put everything together, it went well [and with] the new tyres, we gained a lot.
"But I'm already focusing on tomorrow's race, because after many pole positions, now we need to convert it into a win tomorrow. And of course, it's going to be very difficult."
Even their boss Frederic Vasseur was chuckling as he told Sky Sports he was not expecting such a good result. "I was quite optimistic, but not like this," said the Frenchman.
Vasseur knows, though, that race pace his team's car will not likely have the race pace to hold off Verstappen. He added: "We will have to manage the race. We know that it's a really long run to Turn 1 and the slipstream is important, but I prefer to start from the pole."