Max Verstappen described his Mexican Grand Prix pole as “amazing” after beating the two Mercedes drivers in qualifying.
The world champion had been struggling over a single lap for much of the weekend but delivered when it mattered most in Q3 with two excellent laps to claim his sixth pole of 2022 by 0.3s.
“It was a good qualifying, I think it was a close one,” Verstappen said in Parc Ferme.
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“I’m very happy, as around here, for me at least, it’s very hard to nail a lap. It’s always very low grip.
“There are a few kerbs you have to perfectly hit to actually gain time, so it’s definitely not the easiest of qualifyings.
“It’s the same with the tyre warm-up. But it seems like in Q3 we had it under control.”
Mercedes had been setting the pace beforehand with George Russell fastest in FP2 and FP3, while Lewis Hamilton was quickest in Q1 and Q2.
But Verstappen explained how he and Red Bull turned it around…
“I think after FP3 we made a few adjustments on the car and got into a better rhythm,” he said. “To be on pole here is of course amazing.”
Looking ahead to race day, Verstappen could break the record for most wins in a single season as he eyes his 14th victory in 2022.
However, the man who has started on pole in Mexico hasn’t even finished on the podium in each of the past three years.
“Of course, it’s a very long run to Turn 1 so we do need a good start,” Max acknowledged. “I think we have a quick car, and of course, that’s what is most important.
“I’m sure we have a quick race car so I hope it will be quite a fun race with a lot of action.
“Checo will be there tomorrow,” he added. “I think it will be close in the race.
“Normally they [Mercedes] have very good race pace as well, so it depends on what you can do with this strategy. We’ll look into that tonight.”
As for Sergio Perez, he had to settle for fourth on the grid at his home race, revealing his session was impacted by a technical problem.
“It was a big shame,” said the Mexican. “We had an electrical issue throughout quali, and with DRS we were struggling and so on.
“It was important to make sure we got everything right, but I was pretty much blind through quali. I had no reference lap time, I had no information on my brake balance or times, so it was just a mess.
“When I look back at my quali, I nearly got knocked out in Q1, and in Q2, so to be P4 is not the end of the world. But I really believe we could have fought for pole position.”