Leclerc underlines importance of Mexican Grand Prix start after qualifying P2

After qualifying second for Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix, Ferrari star Charles Leclerc has underlined the importance of the start of the race, as the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is notoriously difficult to overtake at when the race settles down.

Ferrari saw their streak of five straight pole positions broken by Max Verstappen, who took the second pole of the season and of his career.

The Dutchman also won the previous two Mexican Grands Prix and he'll look to make it a hat-trick on Sunday, although he'll have the rapid Leclerc next to him. The two collided last time out in Japan, effectively ending both of their races.

"Red Bull was very quick," the Monegasque said on the grid after qualifying.

"Max was very quick.

"The start will be very important, the top speeds we have are very good so hopefully we can take that on."

The run up to T1 is very long in Mexico, meaning the reflexes of Verstappen and Leclerc when the lights go out could determine the outcome of the race.