Lando Norris took pole position at the Mexico City Grand Prix, while championship leader Oscar Piastri only qualified in 8th place.
Norris performed under pressure in a dramatic climax to qualifying, beating Charles Leclerc by 0.252 seconds and giving him a big chance of cutting into the 14-point gap over McLaren team-mate Piastri in the title race, which ends at lights out at 8pm on Sunday and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event.
Lewis Hamilton took a season-best third place and the two Ferraris could give Norris a headache on the long run to Turn 1 – a year on from the Scuderia’s last win.
Since retiring from the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, Norris has had good results at Piastri in the past four races and is on the rise with five races remaining.
“I’m happy to be back on pole position. It’s been quite a long time actually, so it feels good,” said Norris.
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Watch Lando Norris seal the title with his qualifying performance, achieve STUNS, and see both Ferraris narrowly miss out on pole position in Mexico City.
“It was a lap where I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t feel bad, but when I saw the time I was very pleasantly surprised.
“I felt good all weekend, especially today. I was a little nervous about the Ferrari at the end, but I was able to give it my all in the important places and I’m very happy. I haven’t been sleeping well lately, so maybe that’s the key to everything?”
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Lewis Hamilton offers expert advice to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in F1 Drivers’ Championship battle between McLaren Drivers and Max Verstappen
Mercedes’ George Russell qualified fourth, but Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is 40 points behind Piastri in the drivers’ championship, struggled throughout the session and finished fifth.
But Verstappen did better than Piastri, who faces a tough battle in qualifying eighth behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Williams’ Carlos Sainz.
Sainz will start 12th after receiving a five-place grid penalty for hitting Antonelli in Austin last Sunday, while Piastri will move up one place to seventh.
Racing Bulls’ rookie Isaac Hajar and Haas’s Oliver Bearman finished in the top 10, while Yuki Tsunoda unfortunately missed out on qualifying for Q3 in 11th place.
Norris plays in thrilling third quarter
It was expected to be a close race across the field on Saturday, but Norris beat his marker by more than three-tenths in final practice and continued his blistering pace into qualifying.
Piastri avoided a big scare in Q2 to advance to the top-10 shootout, while Norris ran well through the session, but in Q3 Leclerc set a brilliant lap on his first run, giving Ferrari provisional pole.
However, Norris turned the tables on three purple sectors under great pressure, recording a time of 1 minute 15.586 seconds, 0.262 seconds ahead of Leclerc and 0.352 seconds ahead of Hamilton.
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Lando Norris recorded the fastest lap in final practice by a huge margin!
“It was a beautifully controlled lap. The car never moved,” said Sky Sports F1’s Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 F1 world champion.
“He knew exactly where he wanted to put the car. He did everything he wanted to do. He also knows he has the best pace for the race. All he has to do is survive the first corner.”
All eyes are on Verstappen winning the title, but Norris is also gradually narrowing his points lead over Piastri. If Norris wins Sunday’s race and Piastri finishes outside of the top four, Norris will take the championship lead.
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Oscar Piastri qualified eighth in Mexico and says he’s frustrated by his car’s lack of pace
There is no certainty that Piastri will be able to move up the rankings. He has currently lacked pace overall for the second week in a row and could be stuck in traffic.
The Australian has lost time here and there compared to Norris in qualifying and will need to limit the damage as he continues to struggle of late.
“The lack of pace is a bit of a mystery,” Piastri told Sky Sports F1.
“We’ve had pretty much the same lead all weekend so we’ll see what went wrong. Obviously it’s a little frustrating.
“There hasn’t been much change in terms of how the car feels. The only time I felt like I wasn’t picking up the pace was this weekend and last weekend. I’m still not 100 per cent sure why, so we’ll look into it a bit more.”
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A look back at the most controversial moments between teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Verstappen, who won his third title and has won five times at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, will be aiming for a podium spot.
Red Bull introduced a new floor in Mexico, but it didn’t seem to have a positive effect on Verstappen’s performance, with him skiing in the high-speed middle sector throughout qualifying.
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Red Bull’s Max Verstappen very dissatisfied with car’s performance after finishing 4th in Mexico City qualifying
If this year’s lift and coast issues continue into Sunday, Leclerc and Hamilton are likely to sit back and watch, potentially leading to a big battle behind Norris.
Ferrari almost recreated their 2023 Mexico City GP qualifying when they suddenly found the pace from Q2 to Q3. This allowed the team to secure Saturday, their best traditional weekend of the season, and gave Hamilton a good chance of taking his first podium in red.
Sky Sports F1 Mexico City GP Schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Sunday, October 26th
6:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP Build-up*
8pm: Mexico City Grand Prix*
10pm: Checkered flag: Mexico City GP reaction
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
Heads of F1’s thrilling title race will continue at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix with lights out at 8pm on Sunday and broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
