Sainz clinches sensational pole position ahead of Verstappen and Norris during dramatic qualifying session in Mexico

Carlos Sainz has taken a stunning pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver going fastest from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris during what had been a dramatic qualifying session featuring a red flag in Q2 and two shock exits in Q1.

While Verstappen initially looked to have sealed provisional pole in the first runs of Q3, the Dutchman’s time was deleted due to track limits which promoted Sainz up into the top slot. And when it came to the second runs, the Spaniard went even quicker by pumping in an impressive 1m 15.946s.

Verstappen claimed P2, the Red Bull man’s time 0.225s back from Sainz, while Norris took third after previously setting the pace in Q1 and Q2 for McLaren. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc followed in fourth, ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on the third row.

Kevin Magnussen was the best of the rest for Haas in P7, followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P8 and the Williams of Alex Albon in P9. The sister Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, meanwhile, rounded out the top 10.

Q2 was brought to a slightly premature end when Yuki Tsunoda suffered a crash at Turn 12 in the final moments, bringing out the red flags. This also meant that the Japanese driver’s RB team mate Liam Lawson did not have time to improve, leaving the pair in P11 and P12.

Another driver to miss out was Fernando Alonso during his 400th Grand Prix appearance weekend, the Spaniard ending the session in 13th ahead of fellow Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll. Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas was the final name eliminated in the segment in 15th.

There were two big shocks in Q1 when McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez both found themselves eliminated in 17th and 18th respectively, an especially tough blow for Perez in front of his adoring home fans.

Also exiting in the first part of qualifying were Franco Colapinto for Williams in P16, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in P19 and the Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu down in P20 to bring up the rear.

AS IT HAPPENED

Q1 – Norris fastest while Piastri and Perez make shock exits

After three varied practice sessions – all topped by a different driver – across Friday and Saturday, attentions turned to qualifying at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in order to decide the grid for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix.

It was a relatively quiet start as the lights went green for Q1 before several cars started to filter out on track, most sporting the soft tyre for their first runs while Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes bucked the trend by bolting on the medium compound. The crowd, meanwhile, were far from quiet when home favourite Perez joined the fray, cheering at every sighting of the Red Bull man.

While Perez’s first timed lap of 1m 18.530s was not necessarily something to shout about, Norris had set the early pace by pumping in a 1m 17.203s – but his McLaren team mate Piastri locked up during his effort, meaning that the Australian was some 1.3 seconds off the pace.

By the time all 20 drivers had put a time on the board, it was Verstappen who had slotted into P1 as the first driver to break into the 1m 16s in the session, putting him 0.205s clear of Norris with Sainz in third. Further back, Zhou, Piastri, Gasly, Perez and Ocon were the names in the drop zone.

As the track rapidly ramped up, Hulkenberg caught the eye by going second fastest before being displaced by Gasly in the Alpine. The evolution resulted in many trying to improve in order to avoid being at risk – and while Norris put himself back on top, Piastri saw his lap time deleted due to track limits, dropping him down to P19.

With the clock ticking into the final minutes, the Australian could only improve to P14 while Perez also just scraped through in P15. This did not last for long, though – as Leclerc and Magnussen hauled themselves up into the top five, both Piastri and Perez were shockingly pushed into the elimination zone.

Ocon, meanwhile, was trying to escape being knocked out of the session but could not do enough. The same applied for Colapinto, the Williams driver just missing out in P16.

While Norris remained on top with a 1m 16.505s, ahead of Sainz and Verstappen, the big talking point was the exits of Piastri and Perez in 17th and 18th respectively, with Colapinto, Ocon and Zhou also eliminated in 16th, 19th and 20th.

Knocked out: Colapinto, Piastri, Perez, Ocon, Zhou

Q2 – P1 again for Norris while Tsunoda crash sparks red flags

As the dust settled on an eventful Q1, focus switched to Q2 and Verstappen was the first to set a benchmark of 1m 16.629s on the soft tyre, while Leclerc suffered a slide during his initial effort and subsequently had his time deleted.

It did not take long for Norris to again snatch P1 from his title rival, going faster by three-tenths, and the Mercedes pair of Russell and Hamilton followed Verstappen in third and fourth respectively.

Heading into the final five minutes, Leclerc had still yet to set a timed lap which left him down in P15, while the other drivers in the drop zone were Magnussen, Stroll, Hulkenberg and Bottas.

Albon slotted into an impressive fifth place before finding himself pushed down further as Leclerc moved up into third, the Ferrari man then being demoted to fourth when team mate Sainz took P3.

Just as several drivers looked set to improve, the session was brought to a premature end when Tsunoda suffered a crash at Turn 12 to trigger the red flags. Fortunately the Japanese driver was unhurt, but the downside was that both he and RB team mate Lawson were then unable to progress, leaving them in P11 and P12 respectively.

Also prevented from bettering their previous efforts were the Aston Martin duo of Alonso and Stroll in 13th and 14th, along with Kick Sauber’s Bottas in 15th.

Knocked out: Tsunoda, Lawson, Alonso, Stroll, Bottas

Q3 – Sainz surges to pole ahead of Verstappen

Amidst all the drama of Q1 and Q2, it was now time for the all-important top-10 shootout. The Haas duo were the first to head out, but the rest of the pack were quick to join them as all eyes turned to who would clinch pole position.

Verstappen initially looked to have sealed a provisional P1 during the opening runs before another shock when his time was deleted for track limits, dropping him down to P10. Sainz was the man to hold the top slot on a time of 1m 16.055s ahead of Ferrari team mate Leclerc, while Russell, Hamilton and Norris completed the top five.

Attentions then switched to the final flying laps, with Sainz and Leclerc both looking strong – but the former was ultimately the quicker, going faster on a 1m 15.946s, while Leclerc suffered a small slide.

While Verstappen tried to topple the Spaniard with his second attempt, the Dutchman missed out by 0.225s to claim P2, with Norris also unable to beat his former team mate as the McLaren driver took third.

Leclerc’s moment left him in fourth, while Russell was fifth ahead of Hamilton in sixth after the latter also experienced a slide. Magnussen was a solid seventh for Haas, ahead of Gasly in eighth and Albon in ninth.

Another name to have a bit of a moment on their final run was Hulkenberg, the German driver subsequently ending the session in 10th place.

Key quote

"[I'm] very happy," said pole-sitter Sainz. "A great couple of laps. A lot of times around Mexico you always have the feeling like you cannot put a lap together and it’s extremely difficult with how much sliding there is, but today honestly my two laps of Q3 were pretty much identical, almost perfect. I just put two really solid laps in Q3, enough for pole, and I’m very happy because that’s not normally the case around Mexico with how tricky it is."

What's next

The 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix is set to begin at 1400 local time on Sunday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action from the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.