Max Verstappen saw his golden opportunity to secure pole position at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez vanish after encountering heavy traffic in the final sector during Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying. The Red Bull Racing star was on course to challenge for the front spot before late-session congestion disrupted his flying lap.
Telemetry data showed the four-time world champion was nearly a tenth ahead of provisional polesitter Lewis Hamilton by the end of the second sector. Verstappen posted a purple opening sector and matched Hamilton's pace through the middle part of the lap, confirming a major recovery in grip and handling compared to his difficult practice sessions.
"I arrived to Turn 12 and I see a car slow in front of me, so that's already where you then lose time with the dirty air," Verstappen explained when recounting the incident. The situation escalated dramatically into Turn 13 as he had to navigate around slow-moving cars, including Lando Norris and Isack Hadjar.
"And then I see also the car parking on the right, which in that corner you don't want, because I arrive to Turn 13 already doing a bit of a different line, you lose your reference, because you always have your references where you brake, and there's a car, so you cannot see it," he added regarding the compromised braking point in the stadium section.
Deprived of his visual braking references and suffering from turbulent aerodynamic wake, Verstappen locked up his tyres in the tight Foro Sol left-hander and was forced to abort his run. Although his initial effort secured fourth place, a grid penalty from practice dropped him further down, setting up a challenging Sunday race from behind Kimi Antonelli.
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