Ferrari left fans, rivals and even its own drivers in awe as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz secured the front row of the grid in Mexico.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull’s home-town hero, expressed his disbelief to DAZN: “It’s incredible what they did in those last laps. We did not expect it.” His sentiments were echoed by Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s wily mastermind, who admitted, “According to our calculations, (Alex) Albon and (Lando) Norris were our strongest opponents here.”
Marko pointed to the unique challenges posed by the venue’s altitude, adding a layer of unpredictability to the mix: “At this altitude, there are a lot of different and interesting reactions. I still think we’ll look better in the race. Ferrari can’t keep going at that speed.”
Despite a less than perfect qualifying session, leaving world champion Max Verstappen in P3, Marko remains optimistic: “We are surprised, especially when you look at Q2. Ferrari went all-out on engine performance. But that’s definitely not possible over the race distance. You can overtake here, so we are still positive about the race.”
MARKO: FERRARI WAS BLUFFING
Verstappen’s two messy final laps in Q3 were noted, but Marko suspects there’s more than meets the eye: “Max had a little problem in turns 13 and 14, but Ferrari was bluffing in all the practice sessions. It’s a surprise that they turned out so strong.”
Even the pole-sitter, Leclerc, admitted to being taken aback by their own performance, while his teammate Sainz remains similarly perplexed: “It’s strange, really. I don’t know where we found almost a second. We both found it out of nowhere on fresh soft tyres, which is not normal.”
The Spanish driver knows that Ferrari’s real battle lies ahead: “Everyone knows we are not as fast in the race as Red Bull. It will be about keeping the tyres alive.”
