Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRace weekend

LIVE: Mexican Grand Prix - qualifying

40

Follow live coverage of qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez with F1i.

The first F1 qualifying session for 23 years at the Mexico City circuit is set to be a tight affair, with the top three teams covered by 0.211s in FP3. Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were just 0.014s apart at the top of the times.

There will only be 19 drivers taking part in the session, with Jenson Button missing qualifying due to reliability issues at McLaren. Button was only able to complete four laps in FP3 before he was confined to the garage and ruled out of this afternoons session.

Kimi Raikkonen will also be looking to make up for lost time after he stopped in FP3 with flames visible under the engine cover. Ferrari has been facing a race against time to get the Finn's car ready in time for qualifying, but he is expected to make it out in Q1.

Teams will also be keeping an eye on the skies, with a threat of thunderstorms around the circuit this afternoon.

Formula One returns to Mexico for the first time since 1992, with the refurbished circuit in Mexico City having previously hosted a round of the world championship from 1963-70 and 1986-92.

The teams will face a unique challenge at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with the circuit situated 2219 metres above sea level, with the altitude impacting on downforce. While the cars will run maximum downforce, the difference in air pressure means they are predicted to perform as if using Monza-specification low downforce levels.

You can follow all the live coverage on F1i's live page, which can be bookmarked as it will provide commentary on every session of the 2015 F1 season.

LIVE: Mexican Grand Prix - Qualifying

FP2 REPORT: Rosberg edges Hamilton in tight FP3 in Mexico

Technical analysis: United States

Click here for the F1 drivers' girlfriends gallery

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.