Norris dominates qualifying, Piastri struggles
Lando Norris took an important step in the world championship by taking pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix. He was well ahead of the rest in Q3. Max Verstappen qualified only fifth. Reigning points leader Oscar Piastri did not come close to his teammate and finished eighth.
What did Piastri run into?
Piastri seemed to lack confidence. The McLaren did not feel sharp in the fast stretches. Even through the slower corners, he could not get the car to work properly. As a result, he could not keep up with the pace of Norris and the other front-runners.
How did the rest of the summit go?
Norris was already about two tenths faster than the rest in Q2. In Q3, he eventually laid down 0.262 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton finished third and was within a tenth of Leclerc. George Russell finished just ahead of Verstappen, limiting Verstappen's starting position to the third row.
Kimi Antonelli ensured Mercedes got two cars inside the top six. Carlos Sainz qualified seventh, but he has to serve a five-place grid penalty due to a collision in the US. This moves Piastri up to at least seventh on the starting grid.
Other notable cases
- Isack Hadjar was fastest in Q1 for Racing Bulls.
- Ollie Bearman provided a top-10 result for Haas.
- Both Bearman and Antonelli seemed in danger of dropping out for a while in Q2, but found the speed in time.
- Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson finished in places 11-15.
- Gabriel Bortoleto, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll and Franco Colapinto died in Q1.
Results qualification
- 1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m15.586s
- 2 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.262s
- 3 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.352s
- 4 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.448s
- 5 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.484s
- 6 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.532s
- 7 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.586s (takes a five-place grid penalty)
- 8 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.588s
- 9 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +0.666s
- 10 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +0.874s
- 11 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) 1m16.816s
- 12 Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1m16.837s
- 13 Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber) 1m17.016s
- 14 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 1m17.103s
- 15 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 1m18.072s
- 16 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) 1m17.412s
- 17 Alex Albon (Williams) 1m17.490s
- 18 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1m17.546s
- 19 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1m17.606s
- 20 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 1m17.670s
Summary: Norris was fastest and stood the rest back with power. Verstappen had to be content with the third row of the grid. Piastri will have to close the gap to his rival Norris in the race, although Sainz's penalty may give him an extra spot on the grid.
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