By Robert Haile
There are three races left and Red Bull and Max Verstappen have tied up the Constructors and Drivers Championship but there is still plenty to drive for.
In claiming his seventh pole position of the season Max Verstappen has taken a step towards breaking Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel’s record of thirteen wins in a season.
Pole sitter Verstappen said: “To be on pole here is amazing. It was a tricky start to qualifying as the track was a bit warmer than FP3, I didn’t expect to be on pole here.
“Around this track it’s hard to nail a lap and we’ve been struggling to find a good balance in the car. After practice we made quite a few adjustments and we got into a better rhythm.
“Looking ahead to tomorrow, it’s a long run into to turn one so we need a good start, I think we have a quick car and that’s what is most important.
“It’s incredible to see the passion of all the fans here, it will be good to have Checo up there with me tomorrow, I hope we can have a fun race with a lot of action.”
Two teams went out in the first session with Williams’ Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi occupying nineteenth and twentieth and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll in seventeenth and eighteenth.
Stroll will start at the back in twentieth after getting a three place penalty for causing the crash between himself and Alonso.
The final driver not making it to the next session was Mick Schumacher.
In the second session McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo missed out in eleventh by 0.05 seconds with Zhou Guanyu in twelfth missing out by 0.2 seconds.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly could not be split with the pair in thirteenth and fourteenth with Kevin Magnussen the other driver going out in fifteenth, but will start in nineteenth after taking additional power unit components.
Verstappen will be joined by the Mercedes duo as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton who both had lap times deleted in the third qualifying session.
Home favourite Mexican Sergio Perez didn’t manage Pole but will start fourth as Carlos Sainz was fifth and Valtteri Bottas enjoyed one of his best qualifying sessions of the season to finish fifth.
Charles Leclerc will start sixth as the battle between Alpine and McLaren continues with Lando Norris beating Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon in the final qualifying session.
Mexico Grand Prix Qualifying
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- Vallteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
- Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
- Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
- Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
- Mick Schumacher (Haas)
- Sebastian Vettel (Aston Marin)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Alex Albon (Williams)
- Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
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