Lando Norris will start the Mexico City Grand Prix on pole position, leaving his Formula 1 title rivals Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen far behind on the grid.
The Brit always looked in contention throughout the session, and confirmed his pace with a mega final lap in Q3 to take pole by almost three tenths from Charles Leclerc.
It was a good day for Ferrari, with Lewis Hamilton taking third on the grid, but it was a tough one for Max Verstappen, who will start fifth.
However, it was a nightmare for Oscar Piastri, who laboured to eighth place, but will start seventh and on the clean side of the race track due to Carlos Sainz’s five-place grid penalty.
In Q1, Norris set the early benchmark with a 1:17.147s, with Russell and Leclerc not far behind.
Bearman, noted for his Saturday pace, eclipsed Norris’ time by four hundredths of a second. Norris and Leclerc then went faster still, with Tsunoda and Hulkenberg the bigger names in the danger zone.
Albon, who complained of power unit trouble in FP3, moved up to 14th, with Antonelli now in the danger zone. At the top, Hadjar set a 1:16.733s to go quickest. The second Racing Bulls of Lawson went third, with now a scramble for those at the bottom to get themselves into the second part of qualifying.
Ocon jumped up into third, with Tsunoda following suit to go 11th. Hulkenberg freed himself also, tucking in behind Tsunoda into 12th.
Albon was now in the elimination zone, with Antonelli one place above. The Williams could not better his time, rendering him to an unenviable start.
Franco Colapinto made a mistake on his last run to confirm his exit, with Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly and Gabriel Bortoleto following him out.
Piastri survives Q2 exit scare
Q2 began with Hadjar getting in a banker, but Norris blitzed the Frenchman’s earlier time by six tenths. Hadjar was still high up in fourth, however, one place ahead of Verstappen, with Antonelli appearing to be unable to extricate himself from the danger zone again.
But then, the Italian jumped up into seventh, with Piastri now firmly in danger with just under a minute left to go.
Lawson and Fernando Alonso were also in danger, with Sainz rocketing up to fifth, with Bearman eighth.
Piastri managed to get seventh at the very end, the Australian breathing a huge sigh of relief. It knocked out Tsunoda, with Ocon and Hulkenberg joining Lawson and Alonso. Norris ended Q2 top, two tenths ahead of Hamilton.
Norris leaves title rivals behind with brilliant late lap
Q3 began with Verstappen out of the blocks and on the ragged edge, setting a 1:16.455s, but Norris went faster by three tenths. Piastri went third, but was bumped down to fourth as Hamilton went second.
Leclerc then took provisional pole with a 1:15.991s, with Verstappen knocking Piastri down to fifth.
With fresh sets of rubber now bolted on, it was a mad dash to set one final lap. Piastri was the first to cross the line, and improved but not enough – third.
Sainz improved too and, with Verstappen, knocked Piastri down to fifth. Norris then blitzed everyone with a 1:15.586s, to take pole position and put himself in a monumentally strong place for the race, with Verstappen only fifth, and Piastri bumped all the way down to eighth, but will start seventh due to Sainz’s five-place grid penalty.
Hamilton looked set for a front row start, but Leclerc managed second, with Russell taking fourth. Antonelli was sixth, with Hadjar and Bearman rounding up the top 10.
The session would have undoubtedly left Piastri feeling stunned by his meagre grid start, leaving him in the grips of pressure as his team-mate and other title rival starting ahead of him.
READ MORE – F1 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix – Qualifying Results
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