Norris charges to pole position in Mexico ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton
It was advantage Lando Norris in Qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix, the Briton clinching an impressive pole position.
Lando Norris surged to a stunning pole position in Qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix, the Briton leading the way from the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton while McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri ended the session back in eighth.
After setting the pace in Q2, it looked like Norris had a challenge on his hands in the top 10 shootout when Leclerc grabbed provisional pole during the opening runs. But the 25-year-old was in commanding form for his second lap, pumping in a 1m 15.586s to go 0.262s quicker than Leclerc’s final effort.
Hamilton added to a solid outing for Ferrari by taking P3, followed by Mercedes’ George Russell in P4 and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in P5. The other Silver Arrows machine of Kimi Antonelli, meanwhile, claimed P6 from Williams’ Carlos Sainz, though the Spaniard will take a five-place grid drop following a penalty last time out in Austin.
It looked to be another tricky session for Piastri, with the Australian nearly eight-tenths adrift of his team mate in eighth place, while Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Haas’ Ollie Bearman completed the top 10.
Qualifying results on F1.com
Yuki Tsunoda just missed the cut for Q3 by 0.014s, putting the Red Bull driver out of the session in P11. Also eliminated in the second segment were Haas’ Esteban Ocon in P12 and the Kick Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg in P13.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso followed in 14th, while Liam Lawson failed to set a representative time for Racing Bulls, leaving him in 15th.
Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was pushed out of Q1 in P16, followed by the Williams of Alex Albon in P17 and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P18.
Lance Stroll claimed 19th for Aston Martin after aborting his final effort, while the other Alpine of Franco Colapinto rounded out the order in 20th place.
KEY QUOTE
“I’m happy to be back on pole, it’s actually been quite a long time,” said Norris. “A good feeling. The lap? I don’t know. It was one of those laps where you don’t really know what happened, it felt decent but when I crossed the line and saw 1m 15.5s, I was very pleasantly surprised.
“I’ve been feeling good all weekend, especially from today, FP3, Q1, Q2, Q3. I got a little bit nervous of the Ferraris in Q3 at the end, but I pulled it out when it mattered and I’m happy because of that.”