Carlos Sainz seized pole position for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix with a consummate performance for Ferrari in Saturday’s qualifying session, outpacing Red Bull’s defending champion Max Verstappen.
The Spaniard, who leaves the team at the end of the season, clocked one minute and 15.946 seconds to beat series leader and three time champion Verstappen, whose first and fastest lap in the top 10 shoot-out was deleted, by 0.225 seconds.
This left McLaren’s Lando Norris, who is 57 points behind Verstappen in the drivers’ title race, to take third ahead of Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari and the Williams of George Russell and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
It was Sainz’s sixth career pole and completed a run of qualifying fourth, third and second in the last three Mexican events.
Verstappen, who had an engine change on his car following problems on Friday, said: “I felt under pressure and I was playing catch-up especially after losing my first lap time.
“That just gave more pressure and I am very happy to be on the front row. I didn’t think it was possible. This is one of the hardest tracks to get things right.”
Kevin Magnussen was seventh for Haas, the team’s best qualifying result in Mexico, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Williams’ Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg in the second Haas.
The lights will go out at 22:00 (SA time).
As a reminder, the 2023 Mexico Grand Prix was won by Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in second.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished third.
MEXICO GRAND PRIX GRID
Front row
1. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ferrari
Max Verstappen (NED) Red Bull
2nd row
Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren
Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari
3rd row
George Russell (GBR) Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes
4th row
Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Haas
Pierre Gasly (FRA) Alpine
5th row
Alexander Albon (THA) Williams
Nico Hülkenberg (GER) Haas
6th row
Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) RB
Liam Lawson (NZL) RB
7th row
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin
Lance Stroll (CAN) Aston Martin
8th row
Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Sauber
Franco Colapinto (ARG) Williams
9th row
Oscar Piastri (AUS) McLaren
Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull
10th row
Esteban Ocon (FRA) Alpine
Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)
Standings ahead of the Mexico Grand Prix
Drivers
| Rank | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | 354 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | 297 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | 275 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | 247 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | 215 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | 177 |
| 7 | George Russell | 167 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | 150 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | 62 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | 29 |
| 11 | Lance Stroll | 24 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | 22 |
| 13 | Alexander Albon | 12 |
| 14 | Daniel Ricciardo | 12 |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | 8 |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | 8 |
| 17 | Oliver Bearman | 7 |
| 18 | Franco Colapinto | 5 |
| 19 | Esteban Ocon | 5 |
| 20 | Liam Lawson | 2 |
| 21 | Zhou Guanyu | 0 |
| 22 | Logan Sargeant | 0 |
| 23 | Valtteri Bottas | 0 |
| Rank | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | McLaren | 544 |
| 2 | Red Bull | 504 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 496 |
| 4 | Mercedes | 344 |
| 5 | Aston Martin | 86 |
| 6 | Haas | 38 |
| 7 | RB | 36 |
| 8 | Williams | 17 |
| 9 | Alpine | 13 |
| 10 | Sauber | 0 |
Who will win this season’s Formula One title?
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