Mexico Grand Prix: FINAL grid after ALL driver penalties

Carlos Sainz seized pole position for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix with a consummate performance for Ferrari in Saturday’s qualifying session, outpacing Red Bull’s defending champion Max Verstappen.

The Spaniard, who leaves the team at the end of the season, clocked one minute and 15.946 seconds to beat series leader and three time champion Verstappen, whose first and fastest lap in the top 10 shoot-out was deleted, by 0.225 seconds.

This left McLaren’s Lando Norris, who is 57 points behind Verstappen in the drivers’ title race, to take third ahead of Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari and the Williams of George Russell and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.

It was Sainz’s sixth career pole and completed a run of qualifying fourth, third and second in the last three Mexican events.

Verstappen, who had an engine change on his car following problems on Friday, said: “I felt under pressure and I was playing catch-up especially after losing my first lap time.

“That just gave more pressure and I am very happy to be on the front row. I didn’t think it was possible. This is one of the hardest tracks to get things right.”

Kevin Magnussen was seventh for Haas, the team’s best qualifying result in Mexico, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Williams’ Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg in the second Haas.

The lights will go out at 22:00 (SA time).

As a reminder, the 2023 Mexico Grand Prix was won by Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in second.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished third.

MEXICO GRAND PRIX GRID

Front row

1. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ferrari

Max Verstappen (NED) Red Bull

2nd row

Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren

Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari

3rd row

George Russell (GBR) Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes

4th row

Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Haas

Pierre Gasly (FRA) Alpine

5th row

Alexander Albon (THA) Williams

Nico Hülkenberg (GER) Haas

6th row

Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) RB

Liam Lawson (NZL) RB

7th row

Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin

Lance Stroll (CAN) Aston Martin

8th row

Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Sauber

Franco Colapinto (ARG) Williams

9th row

Oscar Piastri (AUS) McLaren

Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull

10th row

Esteban Ocon (FRA) Alpine

Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)

Standings ahead of the Mexico Grand Prix

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points
1	Max Verstappen	354
2	Lando Norris	297
3	Charles Leclerc	275
4	Oscar Piastri	247
5	Carlos Sainz	215
6	Lewis Hamilton	177
7	George Russell	167
8	Sergio Perez	150
9	Fernando Alonso	62
10	Nico Hulkenberg	29
11	Lance Stroll	24
12	Yuki Tsunoda	22
13	Alexander Albon	12
14	Daniel Ricciardo	12
15	Kevin Magnussen	8
16	Pierre Gasly	8
17	Oliver Bearman	7
18	Franco Colapinto	5
19	Esteban Ocon	5
20	Liam Lawson	2
21	Zhou Guanyu	0
22	Logan Sargeant	0
23	Valtteri Bottas	0

Constructors

Rank	Constructor	Points
1	McLaren	544
2	Red Bull	504
3	Ferrari	496
4	Mercedes	344
5	Aston Martin	86
6	Haas	38
7	RB	36
8	Williams	17
9	Alpine	13
10	Sauber	0

Who will win this season’s Formula One title?

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