F1: Mexican Grand Prix Has Nico Rosberg On The Pole

$RACE

Nico Rosberg beat Mercedes AMG team mate Lewis Hamilton to Pole position for the 4th race running Saturday in the 1st Formula One qualifying held in Mexico since Y 1992.

Mr. Rosberg sees Sunday’s race resulting in a victory.

Lewis Hamilton will again start alongside his team mate on the front row, and surely he has every intention of winning in front of a huge and lively crowd in Mexico City.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel said jokenly, “Can you make sure you take both of you out so I can go through?.” Mr. Vettel, who qualified 3rd, would like the Mercedes to make enough contact in turn 1 Sunday to let him run out in front.

The Ferrari driver is 2nd in the championship, after winning 3 races this season, but is just 4 points ahead of Mr. Rosberg.

“In the end they were just a sniff too quick, but who knows what happens tomorrow?,” said Mr. Vettel.

Mr. Hamilton, who has failed to qualify fastest in his last 5 races after previously racking up 11 out of 12 hoped to take his 50th career Pole, but some minor mistakes when it mattered limited him.

Mr. Hamilton is also gunning to equal Mr. Vettel’s record of 13 wins in a season, having won 10 to date.

Formula One drivers Carlos Sainz Jr. of Spain, left, and Daniel Ricciardo of Australia, greet spectators during an F1 exhibition in Mexico City’s main plaza, the Zocalo, Saturday, June 27, 2015. Mexico last held an F1 race in 1992 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, the venue for the November 1 race. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The Mexican fans will be reserving their biggest cheers for Sergio Perez who will start his country’s 1st Grand Prix since Y 1992 in 9th place for Force India hoping for a chance to score points.

Russian Daniil Kvyat joins Mr. Vettel on the 2nd row for Red Bull, with Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo 5th and Finland’s Valtteri Bottas 6th in a Williams.

Dutch rookie Max Verstappen qualified 8th for Toro Rosso.

At the back, McLaren’s Jenson Button failed to take part in qualifying due to engine problems that are likely to increase his already meaningless 50-place penalty on a grid of just 20 cars.

Team mate Fernando Alonso will join him at the back of the grid after qualifying 16th but having a 10-place penalty. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen has a 5 place drop from 15th.

The clocks fall back by an hour this weekend as America returns to Standard Time. This signals lighter mornings and an extra hour in bed. Set your watches back a 2:00a Sunday morning.

Tomorrow’s Race schedule:

Sunday, 1 November