Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Takes Sixth Career Pole in Mexico City

Photo Credit: Damian Hall

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz will start today’s Mexican Grand Prix (October 27th) from pole position, securing the sixth pole of his career. The Spaniard set an electrifying time of 1:15.946, making him the only driver to break into the 1:15s. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, will start fourth, three-tenths off the pace, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris will line up second and third, respectively.

Reflecting on his stellar performance, Sainz admitted even he was caught off guard by how well things went: "Today, honestly, my two laps in Q3 were identical, almost perfect. I just put two solid laps together, enough for pole, so I’m very happy because that's not normally the case around Mexico with how tricky it is."

Leclerc, on the other hand, expressed disappointment with his performance: "I didn’t have a good feeling since FP2. P4 is the best we could do. I’m disappointed with the qualifying pace; to be three-tenths off Carlos is quite a bit, and I’m not satisfied with that."

Sharing the front row with Sainz will be championship leader Max Verstappen, who finished 0.225 seconds behind.  The Red Bull driver acknowledged the pressure he was under: "We are playing a lot of catch-up. FP3 was not very good, so I was already under a lot of pressure to have a good qualifying. Then, of course, my [first] lap got taken away, so that added a bit more pressure, but I’m very happy to be on the front row. I honestly didn’t expect that to be possible."

Verstappen’s first Q3 run was invalidated after he exceeded track limits by running wide at Turns 2 and 3, attempting to gain time by attacking the kerbs. With his first lap time deleted, he had only one final chance, which he converted successfully in the dying moments of the session.

Lando Norris, still in the hunt for the title and trailing by 57 points, impressed throughout the earlier stages of qualifying. The McLaren driver appeared more relaxed than his title rival, saying: 'I am pretty happy with third, honestly. I think I got to the limit of the car quite quickly, which made us look good earlier [in qualifying].

Starting from third offers Norris a strategic advantage, as the long run to Turn 1 presents an opportunity to slipstream the leaders and potentially take the lead into the first corner. 

However, both Red Bull and McLaren suffered unexpected setbacks, with their second drivers eliminated in Q1. Sergio Pérez, the home crowd’s hero, failed to make it out of the first part of qualifying and will start 18th, to the disappointment of his fans. His poor form continues to raise questions about his future at Red Bull.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri also had a challenging session and will start from 17th. Reflecting on his missed opportunity, Piastri explained: "The first lap I was doing was very positive, and then I went wide. We tried to go again, but I had zero grip because the tyres were too hot… so disappointing."

Meanwhile, Mercedes struggled in Mexico, with George Russell starting fifth and Sir Lewis Hamilton lining up sixth. Hamilton was puzzled by the car’s performance shift during qualifying: "The car felt good in P3, and then in qualifying, I didn’t change anything, but it completely turned on its head."

As the drivers prepare for the race, Sainz will be aiming to convert his pole into a win, while Verstappen and Norris continue their fight for the championship.