If the 19th pole of the Dutchman's career is not a surprise, the 2nd and 3rd place of the Mercedes are one: Verstappen will have on his heels Sunday the British George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on the circuit of the Rodríguez brothers in Mexico.

In front of a crowd won over to his cause, the local of the stage, Sergio Pérez, set the 4th time for him.

Carried by the "Checo! Checo!"

of his unleashed supporters, especially in the bubbling Foro Sol stadium, the second Red Bull driver will have to work on Sunday if he wants, as he announced, to win his national Grand Prix.

The big loser this Saturday is Ferrari.

The Scuderia, however dominant in the qualifying exercise (12 pole positions against now seven at Red Bull), placed its drivers in 5th place with Carlos Sainz and 7th with Charles Leclerc.

Once again, it is Verstappen who will therefore be the favorite on Sunday.

Even if he will have to be wary of Mercedes and in particular of his former rival last year, Hamilton, who will leave in his exhausts.

Verstappen and Hamilton chasing records

The one who became double world champion in Japan does not intend to stop in such a good way: as soon as he runs, he wants to win.

And on this circuit where he has already won three times, more than any other driver, "Super Max" made the thunder speak.

Twice, the Dutchman fell under the minute and 18 seconds.

He is the only one to have crossed this threshold.

In the first two parts of qualifying, Hamilton had taken the best time.

But in the third, the one that counts for the pole, Verstappen released the heavy artillery and the seven-time champion could not reply.

British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) at the Mexico City circuit on October 29, 2022. ALFREDO ESTRELLA AFP

Still empty-handed this season, there are only three chances left for Hamilton to save the honor, to win his 104th victory and to glean a famous record: winning 16 seasons in a row.

Can he do it in Mexico City?

For that he will have to beat Verstappen who, too, is aiming for another record, yet another: 14 wins in one season, which no other driver has achieved before him.

Even if the world titles are already played, some 350,000 fans will have attended the Mexican GP from Friday to Sunday, which has ensured its presence on the calendar until 2025. All this without counting the few VIPs including the singer of the Black Eyed Peas, Will .i.am, or the French footballer André Pierre Gignac, prolific scorer for the Tigres de Monterrey.

Sanction deemed too "weak" against Red Bull

Beyond the sportsman, the sanction imposed on Red Bull for having exceeded the 2021 budget ceiling, announced on Friday, continued to stir the microcosm of the paddock on Saturday.

For exceeding the cap by 1.6%, which came into force in 2021 and was then set at $145 million, Red Bull got away with a seven million dollar fine and a 10% reduction in development time. in a wind tunnel for a year.

Too little for its rivals...

"If we want the FIA ​​to be as effective as possible (...) the sanctions must be much stronger in the future", reacted the CEO of McLaren, the American Zak Brown.

Ferrari, through the voice of its sporting director Laurent Mekies, spoke of a "weak" sanction, which "does not compensate for excessive spending" by Red Bull.

Mercedes-Williams team boss Toto Wolff during the third qualifying session for the United States Grand Prix on October 22, 2022 in Austin.

SUZANNE CORDEIRO AFP

Toto Wolff, boss of the Mercedes team, or even Frédéric Vasseur at Alfa Roméo, have themselves emphasized the negative impact on the image of Red Bull: "the current damage to their reputation is probably the more important", estimated the first, when the second assured that admitting to having exceeded the budget was "not good in terms of image, for the sponsors".

© 2022 AFP