Oscar Piastri – Sergio Perez, what a disaster: out in Mexico Q1, and Ferrari says thank you. Immediate twists in Mexico GP qualifying as Oscar Piastri and Sergio Perez are out in Q1.

Negative surprise
The Mexican Grand Prix qualifying begins with a big twist. In Q1, Oscar Piastri and Sergio Perez shockingly exited early, leaving McLaren and Red Bull, respectively, with only one car for the crucial Saturday sessions and, most importantly, allowing Ferrari to start the GP with a ‘numerical advantage’ tomorrow.

The two major drivers recorded only 17th (Oscar Piastri) and 18th (Sergio Perez) fastest times, failing to qualify for the next phase. For the Mexican driver – aside from the embarrassment of elimination in front of his home crowd – an early qualifying exit is unfortunately not new, but the real shock concerns Oscar Piastri. The Australian repeated his disastrous qualifying performance from Baku.

Ferrari benefits
This surprising Q1 result potentially – though there’s still an entire GP to run – impacts the Constructors’ standings: Scuderia Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, now has a real chance to outperform Red Bull and significantly close the gap on McLaren in the standings. Oscar Piastri’s absence from the front rows at the start is also a setback for Lando Norris in his duel with Max Verstappen, as the Dutchman will have one less competitor to contend with.