Lando Norris set an unbelievable final lap in qualifying to secure pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix, while both Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri struggled.
Norris had been in a provisional second before setting a stunning 1m 15.586, to secure pole at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez by almost three-tenths of a second.
It was the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton who got closest to the McLaren driver, to claim second and third on the grid.
A late strong lap by George Russell boosted the Briton into fourth, demoting Verstappen to fifth and leaving the Dutchman with much work to do in the grand prix.
However, it is championship leader Piastri who suffered the worst qualifying of the title rivals after ending the session in a shocking eighth. While he qualified in eighth, the Australian will start from seventh.
Result Qualification - Mexican
Q3 - Norris sets Mexico stunner
Following the opening runs in Q3, it was Leclerc on provisional pole on a stunning 1m 15.991, having found a remarkable seven-tenths from Q2.
Norris sat in second but 0.179s adrift, with Hamilton in third. Crucially, after the opening hot laps, Verstappen and Piastri sat in fourth and fifth.
It put all the pressure on the McLarens and Verstappen to try and dethrone Leclerc, while Hamilton had a real shot at a front row start.
Piastri improved to go third; however, he was the first of the lead drivers to set his final lap. As each driver completed their final lap, Piastri found himself pushed further down the order.
He ended up in eighth, but moves into seventh due to a five-place grid penalty for Carlos Sainz. Norris somehow found six-tenths to set a 1m 15. to secure a vital pole.
The Ferrari drivers improved to go second and third, Leclerc ahead of Hamilton, while Russell pushed Verstappen to fifth.
Kimi Antonelli, Sainz, Piastri, Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman completed the top 10.
Q2 - Piastri on the bubble
In Q2, it was a poor first lap by Piastri, whose opening time was a full second slower than Norris at the top of the timesheets. However, Piastri's first lap was on a used set of softs.
Nevertheless, going into the final Q2 laps, Piastri was on the bubble in 10th – Antonelli was outside the top 10 in 14th and at risk of elimination.
Antonelli improved to progress into Q3, while Piastri found himself in 13th as he started his final lap. Thankfully, for the McLaren driver, his lap boosted him into seventh, but still nearly five-tenths behind his team-mate.
Piastri booking a place in Q3 came at the expense of Yuki Tsunoda, who suffered yet another qualifying elimination in 11th. He was joined in the drop zone by Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson.
Norris topped Q2 on a 1m 16.252, just over two-tenths ahead of Hamilton in second.
Q1 - Antonelli survives early exit scare
As qualifying got underway, all eyes were on Piastri after a poor final practice performance. It started badly for the championship leader, who reported a DRS issue after his first lap.
However, the Australian safely progressed through to Q2, once the problem had quickly been rectified. There was big pressure on Antonelli, who was in the drop zone ahead of his final lap.
Antonelli's lap saw him jump to 11th, although he quickly tumbled down the order as those below him improved. The Mercedes rookie slipped all the way to 15th but did just enough to make it into Q2.
The same could not be said for Gabriel Bortoleto, Alex Albon, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, who were eliminated in Q1.
Remarkably, Hadjar topped the first part of qualifying on a 1m 16.733, just 0.003s clear of Hamilton.
Most read
In this article
Join the conversation!