A very interesting quali. I, like everyone else expected RBR (Max to get pole), though I expected Perez to get P3 or P4 at best. I don't understand why so many people legitimately expected Perez to get pole. He isn't going to suddenly be faster than Max because of geography. Since every team is running maximum downforce, it shows how much more power the Mercedes still has over the Red Bull. Of course the Mercedes have the trick suspension that collapses better than other teams for a good drag reduction at high speed, but their car was still 12 kph faster than Red Bull. 347-349 vs 335-337 (no tows). That's insane and that leads me to the race predictions. Max starting P3 should be MUCH better than P2 with perhaps the dirtiest track of the season. I expect Lewis to struggle at the start, though Bottas has had many terrible starts, so who knows what happens there. Bottas for sure will race to protect Lewis. If Max somehow stays in the tow behind Bottas, I expect Lewis to push Max right off the track. The potential for a T1 incident is extremely high, and i wouldn't be surprised to see one of the championship leaders DNF immediately. If by some miracle they get through cleanly, then Red Bull will have to win on strategy, if the car is even fast enough. Mercedes have such a straight line advantage that even if they get ahead, unless they can pull a big gap, I can't see them keeping the Mercedes behind, or ever getting close enough to make a pass. Even if RBR have the fastest car in outright laptime, I think Mercedes have to be the clear favorites to win. Ferrari had a stressful day. Carlos had a lot of things go wrong for him, but he put it together in Q3. Leclerc we know when he is on, he is a top 3 driver easily, but he tends to make mistakes and that seems to have cost him a bit, who knows how much. I expect his race to go much better. A little worried with both Ferrari's starting on the dirty side, but at least McLaren are already on the back foot a bit. Expecting an exciting battle between AlphaTauri, Ferrari, and McLaren.
Can't Mex City find at least ONE street sweeper to clean up that track? All the oil from that other event made the whole Saturday a mess. Not to mention all the dust on Friday. In the end, Merc hit their "FIA sanctioned party mode" button and left the field behind, again. The whole process is becoming a farce.