Carlos Sainz took a surprising pole position at the Mexico City Grand Prix, beating title contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
Sainz took his first pole for more than a year with two laps good for pole, as Verstappen saved him in qualifying after the first lap of Q3 was deleted due to track restrictions.
The Dutchman is 0.225 seconds behind Sainz but will be relieved to start ahead of Norris, who is 57 points behind the Drivers’ Championship.
McLaren came through qualifying as favourites, but Norris was unable to find more pace when it mattered most and will be hoping to leapfrog Verstappen into Turn 1 in the long run.
Charles Leclerc was left frustrated by a poor final lap as the track developed and ended up starting fourth ahead of the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
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Yuki Tsunoda’s crash into the barrier at the end of the second quarter meant that both RB drivers failed to advance to the third quarter.
Dramatic qualifying from start to finish saw home hero Sergio Perez eliminated in Q1 along with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. So they will have a huge task ahead of them when the lights go out at 8pm. Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event.
Sainz was denied the title contender’s pole after Verstappen’s thunderous lap.
Ferrari looked strong throughout practice on Friday, but McLaren went 1-2 in final practice ahead of qualifying.
However, similar to Mexico City last year, Ferrari was quick as the track developed and conditions cooled slightly, with Sainz making the most of this after Q3 was delayed due to Yuki Tsunoda’s crash at the end of Q2.
The Spaniard, who is leaving Ferrari to join Williams next year, was originally faster than Verstappen after his first Q3 run and reached cement pole even quicker in his second run.
However, there was drama for Verstappen as the first lap of Q3 was eliminated for a stop at Turn Two, putting him under a lot of pressure.
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Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took the lead in Mexico City ahead of Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and team-mate Charles Leclerc.
He showed why he has won the last three world titles with a superb lap to improve on his illicit efforts, crucially keeping the car within track limits to beat Norris by 0.089 seconds and move into the front row.
Norris recovered to third despite a poor first quarter effort and will be looking to take advantage of the wake effect heading into turn one.
But none of the title contenders could come close to Sainz, who took his first pole since the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.
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Watch Carlos Sainz take pole position at the Mexico City GP from the plane.
Sainz said: “I’m very happy and have had a few great laps. In Mexico you always feel like you can’t put the laps together and it’s extremely difficult because there’s so much slipping.”
“But honestly, my two laps in Q3 were pretty much identical, almost perfect. I had two really solid laps in Q3, which was good enough for pole, and I’m very happy because of how undemanding those laps are in Mexico in general.”
Leclerc had to settle for fourth as he messed up two laps in the final stretch of qualifying, but with Piatri and Perez out of Q1, Ferrari still have a chance of closing in on the 48-point gap behind McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship.
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Russell finished fifth in the yet-to-be-developed Mercedes after suffering a heavy crash in second practice.
The British driver’s car is a Miami-spec Mercedes that has been on sale since May. This was because the team was short of spare parts and had to replace the chassis overnight.
He still managed to outscore Hamilton, who made a mistake on the last lap of qualifying, despite putting a new layer on his car.
Perez and Piastri were eliminated early.
Perez was under pressure after admitting he had had a “terrible” season and the home crowd expected him to perform at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
However, it all went wrong in the first part of qualifying when all three of his laps were simply uncompetitive and led to his fifth Q1 exit of 2024.
The Mexican will start 18th behind Piastri, who made a costly mistake in the first quarter as he lacked confidence in attacking corners.
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Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri had shocking first quarter exits from the Mexico City GP.
“It’s a very difficult thing, it’s a very difficult thing to stop the car, I just couldn’t get above that,” said Perez, who faces pressure to retain his Red Bull seat despite signing a contract for 2025. Sky Sports F1.
“I couldn’t stop the car soon enough and I was putting too much energy into braking the tires. That was the biggest problem for me.
“It was very similar to the rest of the weekend. You can’t stop the car and have a lot of trouble going in at low speeds. It’s a bit like Austin where you can’t attack. Brake in the corners. There’s a lot of that in here. .
“It’s very important to try to make the most of the day (Sunday). If we can get a good score it will be a huge effort, but it will be very difficult in the position we are in.”
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Sergio Perez explains the difficulty of stopping Red Bull after being eliminated in Q1 qualifying.
Piatri locked up in turn 4 on his first qualifying lap and deleted a lap to run wide in turn 12. However, that lap was still not good enough to make it to Q2, but the mistake cost me about a second on the lap. hour.
Now on older soft rubber, Piastri lacks the tire life to keep him out of the bottom five and, like Perez and Verstappen, is unlikely to play a role in helping Norris in the title battle.
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McLaren’s Oscar Piastri explains how a mistake at turn 12 left him out of Q1 qualifying.
“I just took off on Route 12, got to the curb and that was it.” Piastri said. Sky Sports F1.
“I’m so frustrated that I made that mistake when my knee would have easily been good enough. I lost about a second. It’s painful.”
“It’s just a tricky circuit, but I don’t think qualifying is difficult. I just made a very poor mistake and that was it.
“We’re in a similar position with Lando last year, so we’ll do our homework on how he navigated the field and try to do the same.”
Live Mexico City GP schedule on Sky Sports F1
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Take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments from the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Sunday, October 27
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP strengthened*
8 p.m.: Mexico City Grand Prix*
10pm: Checkered flag: Mexico City GP reaction
*Also shown live on Sky Sports Main Event (race build-up from 7.30pm on Sunday).
Formula 1’s Americas triple-header continues on Sunday at the lights-out Mexico City Grand Prix at 8pm, broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month membership. There is no contract and you can cancel at any time.
