Final starting grid Mexican GP | Verstappen with Mercedes in his wake
- GPblog.com
After a very exciting qualifying session, Max Verstappen took his first official pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix. He will have to look carefully in his mirrors ahead of the first corner, as two eager Mercedes drivers start right behind him.
Verstappen has George Russell next to him on the front row of the grid, behind him is Lewis Hamilton alongside local hero Sergio Perez. The entire top four are extremely motivated to have a shot at victory and the differences so far have been small, so who will end up on the top step of the podium is hard to predict.
The Ferrari drivers disappointed: Carlos Sainz had to settle for fifth on the grid, while Charles Leclerc has to start from P7. In contrast, Valtteri Bottas was in excellent shape and the Finn managed to put his Alfa Romeo car between the two Ferraris in sixth place.
At the back of the field, things have changed since qualifying. As we know, Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll both receive grid penalties. Magnussen got five places for changing to his sixth ICE of the year, while Stroll was moved back three places for the crash with Fernando Alonso he caused during the US GP. Due to the nature of his offence, Stroll had to give way to the Haas driver when handing out the penalties.