Max Verstappen storms to pole in Mexico
General
Max Verstappen storms his way to pole in Mexico as Russell and Hamilton fail to capitalise on their promising pace. Charle Leclerc, usually so strong in qualifying was unable to get his car into the right window and could only manage P7.
As the weekend rolled into qualifying in Mexico the talk of the town was all about Mercedes. Topping the time charts in FP3 with both drivers, Mercedes looked the favourites to throw up a surprise.
How it unfolded
With the usual order casually making their way through Q1, in Q2 the real potential of the cars started to flourish. George Russell complaining with oversteer issues sat top of the pile with teammate Lewis Hamilton the only man on track to better his time. But as Q2 dragged on, everyone sat in wait to see if Red Bull and Ferrari could step up to the challenge.
In the closing stages of the second session, the times continued to tumble with the top four separated by 0.014's but no one could better Hamilton's time. Setting up a thrilling climax to qualifying in the Mexcian sunshine.
As Q3 began it was home favourite Sergio Perez who was out first on track. Roared on by his adoring crowd he sat down a 1:18.5 as a banker. But as the times came in, his teammate Max Verstappen blew Perez out of the water as he became the first driver into the 1:17s. Both Russell and Hamilton couldn't go faster but with one run remaining they both looked the most likely to challenge Verstappen for pole.
Heading onto the track for the final time, there was so much uncertainty as to who could take pole. Ferrari looked off it but could they find some pace from somewhere. Perez lost time on his lap to stay third after Hamilton had his lap time deleted. Verstappen crossed the line to improve fractionally and that was enough to take another pole for Red Bull this season. Try as they might Mercedes were unable to snatch pole.
Both Charle Leclerc and Carlos Sainz struggled to gain traction on the top 4, ending the session P7 and P5 respectively. But for the first time in Mexico, Max Verstappen took pole to continue his dominance this season and give himself the best chance of victory tomorrow.