Rosberg drives to pole position in Mexico

F1 Grand Prix, GP Mexico, Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez

Rosberg dragged his good form from free practice right through qualifying. He qualified in front of Hamilton and Vettel. Red Bull dropped slightly back in form to finish in 4th and 5th position.

Q1 had most of cars starting immediately on the medium tyres. Only Ferrari, Red Bull and Jenson Button, who did not participate in qualifying, staid in their respective pit boxes; Mercedes led convincingly early on the medium tyres. Around half way the first session, Ferrari finished repairs on Raikkonen's car and got him out together with Sebastian Vettel, alongside the Red Bull cars, all on soft tyres for one run.

In the final part, the midfield teams also went outside on the soft tyres, surprisingly along with Rosberg who did not felt comfortable enough with his medium tyre run. The first session did not yield any surprises with both the McLaren’s and Marussia's out, alongside Filip Nasr.

Q2 started off with everybody on soft tyres. Forecast predicted a small but reasonable chance on rain hitting the track, so everybody was eager to set a time. Hamilton was early pace setter, being the first driver this weekend tip beneath the 1m20s, pouncing Rosberg with 0.2s in the first part of the second session, followed by the 2 Red Bull cars with a much bigger deficit. Meanwhile, Raikkonen spun around in turn 1. It first looked like an airflow reattachment issue due DRS, which has been a prominent problem throughout the weekend, but he later complained on the radio he had brake issues. It would the last we heard of Raikkonen as he never set any reasonable time anymore and would end 15th. His team mate however did much better, who went marginally faster than Rosberg at the end of the session to settle for second place. Rain in the meanwhile reached the track, but in such small quantities it did not influence conditions at all. In the closing stages, Max Verstappen and Filipe Massa improved to push Romain Grosjean and Carlos Sainz Jr. out of the top 10.

Q3 started in somewhat damp condition on the pit exit, but it did withheld most drivers to line up and wait for the signal, with Mercedes ahead, eager to get a time in case if conditions worsened. Rosberg set the best time of the weekend in the first bound, with Hamilton locking up several times on his first attempt and being beaten by an improved Rosberg on the second attempt. Vettel fought valiantly to stay in touch, but had to give up 4 tenths to Rosberg.

Nobody improved in the final attempt, except Force India who did not set a time yet and Ricciardo who did not set a good time in the first attempt. Rosberg took pole in front of Hamilton and Vettel.