Carlos Sainz took a sensational pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix by defeating title contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

Sainz took his first pole in over a year with two laps enough for pole as Verstappen saved his qualifying after his first lap in the third quarter was canceled due to track restrictions.

The Dutchman was 0.225 seconds behind Sainz but will be relieved to start ahead of Norris, who is 57 points behind him in the drivers’ standings.

McLaren went into qualifying as favorites but Norris couldn’t find more pace when it mattered most and will be hoping to gain a lead over Verstappen on the long stretch leading up to the first corner.

Charles Leclerc was frustrated with a poor final lap as the track developed and will therefore start fourth ahead of the Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

In a dramatic qualifying session from start to finish, local hero Sergio Perez also retired in the first quarter, along with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. So you’ll have a big task ahead of you when the lights go out at 8pm, live on Sky Sports F1 And Sky Sports Main Event.

Sainz denies the title contender pole after Verstappen’s great lap

Ferrari looked strong throughout Friday’s practice, but McLaren had a one-two finish in the final practice before qualifying.

But similar to last year in Mexico City, Ferrari were quick as the track developed and the conditions cooled slightly, Sainz making the most of this after Q3 was postponed due to Yuki Tsunoda’s crash at the end of Q2.

The Spaniard, who is leaving Ferrari to move to Williams next year, was initially faster than Verstappen after the first Q3 runs and then secured pole even faster in his second run.

However, there was drama for Verstappen when his first lap was canceled in the third quarter because he clipped turn two, putting him under enormous pressure.

However, he showed why he has won the last three world titles by setting an excellent lap to improve on his illegal performances and, crucially, keeping the car within the track limits to beat Norris by 0.089 seconds and into the to get to the first row.

Norris had a poor performance in Q3, but recovered to take third place and will look to take advantage of the slipstream effect until the first corner.

However, none of the title contenders could get close to Sainz, who took his first pole since the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.

“Very happy and a few great laps. In Mexico you often have the feeling that you can’t get a lap done and it’s extremely difficult to slide so much,” said Sainz.

“But to be honest, my two laps in Q3 were pretty much identical, almost perfect. I just did two really solid laps in Q3, enough for pole, and I’m very happy because that’s not usually the case in Mexico because it’s so difficult.”

Leclerc had two poor laps in the final part of qualifying and therefore had to settle for fourth place, but Ferrari still has the chance to make up for its 48-point deficit to McLaren in the constructors’ championship, as Piastri and Perez dropped out in the first quarter.

Russell qualified fifth in his underdeveloped Mercedes after his serious accident in second practice.

The British driver’s car is the Miami-Mercedes from May as the team did not have enough spare parts and was forced to change its chassis overnight.

Still, he managed to overtake Hamilton, who has the new ground in his car but made a mistake on his final lap in qualifying.

Perez and Piastri were eliminated early

Perez was a driver under pressure after self-admitting he had a “terrible” season and the home crowd expected him to perform at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

But everything went wrong in the first part of qualifying when all three of his laps were simply uncompetitive, leading to his fifth Q1 exit of 2024.

The Mexican clearly didn’t have the confidence to attack the corners and will therefore start 18th behind Piastri, who made a costly mistake in the first quarter.

“Very difficult, very difficult to stop the car. I just couldn’t figure it out,” said Perez, who is under pressure to keep his Red Bull seat despite having a contract for 2025 Sky Sports F1.

“I couldn’t stop the car quickly enough and just put too much energy into the tires when braking. That was the main problem for me.”

“It was very similar to the rest of the weekend. I just can’t stop the car and I’m having a lot of trouble with the part of the phase where I slow down. It’s a bit similar to Austin where I just can’t attack the corners until braking, and there’s a lot of that here.

“(On Sunday) it’s just really important to try to make the most of the day. If we are able to get some good points it will be a huge effort, but from the position we are in it will be very difficult.”

Piastri had a lock-up at turn four on his first lap of qualifying, then had a lap dropped for going wide at turn 12. However, that lap still wouldn’t have been good enough to reach Q2, but the mistake caused him to lose about a second of time on the lap.

Piastri, now on older, soft rubber tires, did not have the tire life needed to get out of the bottom five and is highly unlikely to help Norris in the title fight, just as Perez did with Verstappen.

“I just came off the track in turn 12, ended up stranded on the curb and that was it,” said Piastri Sky Sports F1.

“My lap would have easily been enough, so it’s very frustrating to have made this mistake. I lost about a second. A torture.”

“It’s just a tricky track, but I don’t think qualifying was because it was tricky, I just made a very bad mistake and that was it.”

“We’re in a similar position to Lando last year, so I’ll do my homework and try to do the same thing, I think.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Mexico City GP schedule

Sunday, October 27th
6:30 p.m.: Grand Prix Sunday: Preparation for the Mexico City GP*
8:00 p.m.: THE GRAND PRIX OF MEXICO CITY*
10 p.m.: Checkered flag: Reaction to the Mexico City GP

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event (race preparation on Sunday from 7:30 p.m.)

Formula 1’s triple-header in America continues with the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday at 8pm with lights out, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month membership – no contract, cancel anytime