Valtteri Bottas beat all expectations to take pole position for Mercedes at the 2021 Mexican Grand Prix, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton in second and over three tenths faster than F1 Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen in third.
Red Bull were strong favourites for a front row lockout, but home favourite Sergio Perez could only qualify in fourth after being forced to avoid the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda on his final hot lap, impacting Verstappen’s last shot at pole and handing the advantage to the team’s title rivals for tomorrow’s race.
Below is a full breakdown of the qualifying results for the Mexican GP.
Full 2021 F1 Mexican GP Qualifying Results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Q3 Lap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:15.875 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.145 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.350 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.467 |
| 5 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | +0.581 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | +0.886 |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | +0.888 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.962 |
| 9 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +1.283 |
| 10 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +20.955 |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | Eliminated Q2 |
| 12 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | Eliminated Q2 |
| 13 | George Russell | Williams | Eliminated Q2 |
| 14 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | Eliminated Q2 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | Eliminated Q2 |
| 16 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | Eliminated Q1 |
| 17 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | Eliminated Q1 |
| 18 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | Eliminated Q1 |
| 19 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | Eliminated Q1 |
| 20 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | Eliminated Q1 |
