Drivers struggled to grip the track for the first two days of the Mexico City Grand Prix. Only Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who took pole, seemed to be able to cope.

But even the two-time world champion Verstappen does not have it easy in the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. In the training sessions, he also regularly slipped out of the corner. Only in the last session of qualifying did things go well for him.

The race track in Mexico is more than 2,000 meters above sea level. The air is thin and the asphalt remains slippery for a long time.

“It was quite difficult to get into my rhythm,” said Verstappen shortly after qualifying. “Every session got a little bit better. I also had little grip: it’s very difficult to set a perfect lap here. Luckily the last one went well.”

His teammate Sergio Pérez did not fare as well. The Mexican, cheered on by a frenzied crowd of fans, will start from P4 behind Hamilton and Russell on Sunday night.

He was very disappointed, as it turned out when speaking briefly to ViaPlay. “I’m not happy at all. I didn’t get any information because of a technical problem. So I drove around ‘blind’. But I hope I can beat Mercedes on Sunday.”

Strong Mercedes, weak Ferrari

This will most likely not work. Mercedes is the strongest team of the weekend so far. Russell and Hamilton appear much less affected by the choppy conditions at the Mexico circuit.

Russell was very happy with his starting position. “Being P2 and P3 is very positive. We look competitive. Having Lewis behind me means we can try to attack Red Bull with different strategies.”

The Brit felt his team was doing well, even better than on Friday. “The car was great today. That’s very strange because we haven’t changed anything since yesterday.”

And yet things were going very well for him and Hamilton. The Mercedes cars have the fewest problems with the thin air in Mexico City. Everything went wrong at Ferrari. After the poor free practice, Carlos Sainz and Leclerc qualified on P5 and P7.

A lot happened in the first two days of the Mexico City Grand Prix. But in the end, the outstanding favorite Verstappen was just back on pole. Nothing seems to stand in the way of his fourteenth GP win of the season, a record in Formula 1.

“After today I have the feeling that we set the car up well and that it should work,” said Verstappen. “On the other hand: I’ve often won here without pole position, so P1 is definitely not sacred here.”