Picture Credit: Twitter
Charles Leclerc claimed a sensational pole at the Mexican Grand Prix qualifying, his second in a row for Ferrari and in so doing, set a belter at 1:17:166 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
To those who’ve loved Max Verstappen winning pretty much everything this year, Leclerc’s pole would serve a great reminder that there are others on the grid, most notably a team the trollers call “Failrari,” that are still doing something right.
Even though that means having won just once this year all thanks to Carlos Sainz Jr. at Singapore.
However, the man they’d love to see set a red letter day in Mexico, if at all that can happen, will be Ferrari’s golden boy: the Monegasque called Charles Marc Herve Perceval Leclerc. And why not? You’d much rather convert a pole into a win than attempt to win having fallen back down the grid. Isn’t it?
It’s pretty much Leclerc’s race to lose. And he’d hate doing so having given himself a chance on different occasions this year to do so, most noticeably the most recent United States Formula 1 Grand Prix at COTA, where in the end, a disqualification only worsened Charles’s weekend at Texas.
In a refreshing sight of sorts, it’s the first time that the Mexican Grand Prix sees a Ferrari 1-2 at the start of the contest; Sainz, slightly surprised by how well the SF 23 held up on a taxing track, locked out the front row.
Max in Ferrari’s rear view mirrors
But the big question for Sunday is how much longer can the grid order remain that way?
None other than Max Verstappen, the man who makes the world orange, the man with three titles to his name, is third on the grid.
SportsTiger strongly feels that despite Leclerc’s swanky pole position, if there’s a clear threat in front of the two Ferraris, despite this force beginning from third on the grid, then it’s Max Verstappen of Red Bull.
He’s the very man who stood up, lest it is forgotten, to counter Lewis Hamilton’s era of dominance, winning his first ever title at Abu Dhabi 2021, an event which has since been marked in more controversy than jubilation. The only man from Red Bull as well as in the entirety of F1 to have won ten consecutive races, a feat never previously seen or heard in the sport, will definitely carry the confidence to win another. After all winning and Verstappen are pretty much the same thing, aren’t they Mr. Horner?
Regardless, SportsTiger is of the view that there are others on the grid in a particular order who’d be keen to spoil Ferrari and Red Bull’s party.
It doesn’t make you more intelligent than Mr. Brundle, nor will it make you spunkier than Eddie Jordan to suggest that McLaren and Mercedes will have their job to play in these 71 hopefully exciting and brilliant laps ahead.
May sound delusional.
Mc-Merc at Mexico?
Lewis Hamilton starts from sixth while Norris, in prime form, begins from seventh. They’ll, if all goes well, target and get the better of Alpha Tauri’s Ricciardo, who begins from fourth.
Quite possibly, it’s the best qualifying result besides Leclerc’s pole speaking of pure effort and sheer surprise factor.
Forza Daniel
But then we know Daniel, he wasn’t mincing any words when upon winning at Monza with McLaren, he declared, “I never left!” For had that been the case, he’d not have delivered AlphaTauri’s best qualifying result in the past half a decade maybe or maybe more?
The Australian’s P4 is emphatic and perhaps a signal that Ricciardo is here for a reason and that’s not only to appear like some harmless clown; his funny, natural image he carries off with the awareness that there’s more to him. They know it.
They’ve known it always. Can today yield be somehow the day where an AlphaTauri driver gets the best result since Gasly’s Monza triumph? Who knows?
This is F1…. never say never
Who knows what may ever happen in the unpredictable world of F1. A Hamilton didn’t know that his podium finish at Texas would minutes later become a DSQ, i.e., disqualification. This is F1. Madness and speed go hand in hand as do surprise results. Let’s hope we have a cracker of 71 laps ahead of us. And may the driver who keeps his cool and navigates the long straights and testing corners of challenging circuit at the Mexico City prevail.
Having said so, SportsTiger requests you to place your bets cautiously and wisely, and be mindful that gambling can be addictive and harmful in the end.