George Russell has a rather disappointing qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix. He has revealed that he and the team were trying something but were not able to accomplish the entire potential of the tires in time for the hot lap. But this did not stop Daniel Ricciardo from bagging 4th place on the grid.
“We tried something slightly different with the tires, and just under-hit it [on outlap],” George said after the qualifying. “It’s been so up and down like a yo-yo. I think there were only a few drivers… I think Daniel Ricciardo was the only consistent driver through qualifying.”
The grip during qualifying was not consistent for all the drivers. There were times when the drivers were quick, and there were times when the drivers were slow. Usually, the grip on the track increases as cars keep going around. But this was not the case during qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
George Russell: We tried something slightly different with the tyres, and just under hit it [on outlap]. It’s been so up and down like a yo-yo. I think there was only a few drivers… I think Daniel Ricciardo was the only consistent driver through qualifying.
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) October 28, 2023
During Q3, all the drivers put in their fast laps in their first run. While they tried to improve on their time with their second runs, none of them were able to improve their position. Daniel Ricciardo gave an exceptional performance and finished 4th place just behind Max Verstappen. Mercedes only managed to finish 6th and 8th.
This has come as bad news for Sergio Perez. For the past few months, there has been a lot of speculation that Ricciardo will replace Perez at Red Bull. This performance by Ricciardo only adds fuel to the fire. Perez will have to give a good performance during the race if he wishes to make a statement and prove to Red Bull that he is still a strong driver.
Daniel Ricciardo turns ‘Italian’ in chilling reaction to P4 in Mexico
After finishing P4 during qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo tried to control his excitement as he tried to speak from his Italian heritage to his race engineer.
Engineer: “P4, P4.”
Ricciardo: “Alright, alright. Cool.”
Engineer: “Enchanté!”
Ricciardo: “Enchanté mon ami! Makes me feel a bit better the last lap. I guess the track changed a little bit.”
Engineer: “P4, P4.”
Ricciardo: “Alright, alright. Cool.”
Engineer: “Enchanté!”
Ricciardo: “Enchanté mon ami! Makes me feel a bit better the last lap. I guess the track changed a little bit.”#F1 #MexicoGP
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) October 28, 2023
Starting P4, he only has the 2 Ferraris and Max Verstappen in front of him. To everyone’s surprise, the Ferraris were able to beat Max Verstappen for pole. Although the AlphaTuari had a strong qualifying pace, it is doubtful if that pace will carry on to the race. Throughout the season, AlphaTauri has been the slowest car on the grid.
However, this weekend, Daniel Ricciardo has been consistently putting his car in the top 10 in all of the sessions so far. His best result of the weekend came during qualifying with P4. The last time Ricciardo started a race in the top 5 was during the Italian Grand Prix in 2021. He went on to win the race then. Will he be able to do something similar this time around?
The last time Daniel Ricciardo qualified inside the top five he went on to win the race 🍾👟 pic.twitter.com/MBmvm7aHNw
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) October 28, 2023
So far, Max Verstappen has been very cautious this season. He has not taken any unnecessary risks as he knows that he has the pace to win every race. Due to this, any accidents occurring in the opening lap are pretty low. But if Ricciardo can get track position at the start, it will be difficult for cars to overtake due to the layout of the final sector of the track.
The final sector of the track is followed by a lot of low-speed corners that make it difficult for cars to follow each other. This sector is followed by the pit straight. So if the car is not able to stay close in the final sector, it reduces their chance to go for an overtake down the pit straight. It will be interesting to see how the start of the race plays off.