Qualifying Report - The 4 - 20

Nico Rosberg won his four straight pole and the 20th of his F1 career as he beat out Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes “ Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Red Bull Renault “ Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Williams Mercedes “ Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari “ Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren Honda “ Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Force India Mercedes “ Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Toro Rosso Renault “ Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Lotus Mercedes “ Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Marussia Ferrari “ Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi. Sauber “ Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

QUALIFYING 1

Button's car still had the engine problems from the morning, so he was out of action. Raikkonen's car needed a gearbox change.

3 minutes into the session, Nasr had set the time to shoot for “ 1:23.400.

4 minutes into the session, Hamilton beat that with a 1:21.397 while Rosberg clocked a 1:21.618.

6 minutes into the session, Rosberg went faster to clock a 1:21.140.

7 minutes into the session, Raikkonen was on track.

8 minutes into the session, Hamilton recorded a 1:20.095 followed by a 1:20.808.

With 6 minutes remaining in the session, the top four were Hamilton, Kvyat, Rosberg and Ricciardo.

With 5 minutes remaining in the session, Sainz was 15th and Alonso 16th and in danger of not making the cut to Q2.

With 3 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel jumped up front with a 1:20.503.

With 2 minutes remaining in the session, Rosberg retook the lead with a 1:20.436.

And so the top 10 at the end of Q1 were: Rosberg, Vettel, Hamilton, Bottas, Kvyat, Sainz, Perez, Verstappen, Ricciardo and Ericsson.

Missing the cut were: Alonso, Nasr, Rossi, Stevens and Button.

QUALIFYING 2

First out for the 15-minute Q2 was Verstappen who clocked a 1:21.184, but Hamilton then posted a 1:20.129 while Kvyat and Ricciardo slotted into second and third.

With 9 minutes remaining in the session, Rosberg's time of 1:20.053 put him second in the order.

And so after the first set of runs, the top six were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Bottas and Perez.

Massa was 10th and Verstappen was 11th and on the cutline.

In the closing staged Vettel climbed to second and Verstappen to ninth.

The top 10 at the end of Q2 were: Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Bottas, Kvyat, Massa, Perez, Ricciardo, Verstappen and Hulkenberg.

The five drivers eliminated at the end of Q2 were: Sainz, Grosjean, Maldonado, Ericsson and Raikkonen.

QUALIFYING 3

The 12-minute Q3 began with Hamilton being the first driver to head out. Perez and Hulkenberg did not go out however.

Hamilton set a time of 1:20.120, and Rosberg beat that with a 1:19.690. Then Hamilton went quicker and then Rosberg did a 1:19.480.

So at the end of the first runs the order was: Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Kvyat, Bottas, Massa, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Perez and Hulkenberg.

With 2 minutes remaining in the session, all 10 drivers were on track. Hamilton made a minor error and stayed second.

The top 10 qualifiers at the end of Q3 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Bottas, Massa, Verstappen, Perez and Hulkenberg.