Formula 1: Max Verstappen takes pole for 2019 Mexican Grand Prix

Max Verstappen took his second career Formula 1 pole position and his second of the 2019 season for the Mexican Grand Prix at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen began the 2019 Formula 1 season on a scintillating pace, at one point stringing together a top five finish streak of over a year, but he had cooled off quite a bit following the summer break and has now gone almost three months without a victory.

But for the Mexican Grand Prix, a race he hasn’t failed to win since 2016, at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the 22-year-old Dutchman took the pole position, his second pole position of the season and of his Formula 1 career.

Verstappen took the pole position for this 71-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.674-mile (4.303-kilometer) Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in Mexico City, Mexico by recording a track record lap time of 74.758 seconds (128.767 miles per hour).

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He has led 138 of the 142 laps at the track over the last two years after starting in second place in both years.

This pole position is the first position by a non-Scuderia Ferrari driver since the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring at the beginning of August, for which Verstappen also took the pole position.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took four consecutive pole positions after that race, and teammate Sebastian Vettel took the next one. Leclerc is set to start alongside Verstappen on the front row in second place, marking his sixth consecutive front row start. Vettel is set to start in third alongside Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton in fourth on the second row.

Red Bull Racing rookie Alexander Albon qualified in fifth place and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas qualified in sixth, but Bottas will likely receive some kind of grid penalty after crashing at the end of the qualifying session, destroying his car.

McLaren teammates Carlos Sainz Jr. and rookie Lando Norris are set to share the fourth row after qualifying in seventh and eighth place, respectively, and Scuderia Toro Rosso teammates Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly are set to share the fifth row after qualifying in ninth and 10th, respectively.

SportPesa Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, Renault teammates Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo and Alfa Romeo Racing teammates Kimi Raikkonen and rookie Antonio Giovinazzi were eliminated following the second round of qualifying for the race after qualifying in 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th place, respectively.

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, Haas teammates Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean and ROKiT Williams teammates George Russell, a rookie, and Robert Kubica were eliminated following the first round of qualifying for the race after qualifying in 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th, respectively.

Here are the full qualifying results for the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Qualifying Results
1st – Max Verstappen
2nd – Charles Leclerc
3rd – Sebastian Vettel
4th – Lewis Hamilton
5th – Alexander Albon
6th – Valtteri Bottas
7th – Carlos Sainz Jr.
8th – Lando Norris
9th – Daniil Kvyat
10th – Pierre Gasly
11th – Sergio Perez
12th – Nico Hulkenberg
13th – Daniel Ricciardo
14th – Kimi Raikkonen
15th – Antonio Giovinazzi
16th – Lance Stroll
17th – Kevin Magnussen
18th – Romain Grosjean
19th – George Russell
20th – Robert Kubica

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The Mexican Grand Prix, the 18th of 21 races on the 2019 Formula 1 schedule, is set to be broadcast live on ABC from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez beginning at 3:05 p.m. ET tomorrow afternoon.

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