F1 qualifying results: Max Verstappen takes Mexican GP pole

Verstappen will start ahead of the Mercedes cars of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Mexican Grand Prix qualifying results: Verstappen on pole from Russell

Cla	Driver		Chassis	Time	Gap	km/h
1	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	1'17.775		199.220
2	George Russell		Mercedes	1'18.079	0.304	198.445
3	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	1'18.084	0.309	198.432
4	Sergio Perez		Red Bull	1'18.128	0.353	198.320
5	Carlos Sainz		Ferrari	1'18.351	0.576	197.756
6	Valtteri Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1'18.401	0.626	197.630
7	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	1'18.555	0.780	197.242
8	Lando Norris		McLaren	1'18.721	0.946	196.826
9	Fernando Alonso		Alpine	1'18.939	1.164	196.283
10	Esteban Ocon		Alpine	1'19.010	1.235	196.106
11	Daniel Ricciardo		McLaren	1'19.325	1.550	195.328
12	Zhou Guanyu		Alfa Romeo	1'19.476	1.701	194.956
13	Yuki Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1'19.589	1.814	194.680
14	Pierre Gasly		AlphaTauri	1'19.672	1.897	194.477
15	Mick Schumacher		Haas	1'20.419	2.644	192.670
16	Sebastian Vettel		Aston Martin	1'20.419	2.644	192.670
17	Alex Albon		Williams	1'20.859	3.084	191.622
18	Nicholas Latifi		Williams	1'21.167	3.392	190.895
19	Kevin Magnussen		Haas	1'19.833	2.058	194.085
20	Lance Stroll		Aston Martin	1'20.520	2.745	192.429
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What happened in Mexican Grand Prix Q1?

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the early pace at 1m19.505s before Verstappen beat him by 0.283 seconds with 1m19.222s. Valtteri Bottas was next up for Alfa Romeo, 0.004s ahead of Hamilton.

Hamilton ran again and improved the quickest time to 1m19.169s, 0.053s faster than Verstappen.

Falling at the first hurdle were Mick Schumacher (Haas, who lost a top-six laptime due to exceeding track limits by chopping the apex kerb at Turn 2), the Aston Martins of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll (who has a three-place grid drop), and the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi.

Mexican Grand Prix Q1 results: Hamilton fastest from Verstappen

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'19.169			195.712
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1'19.222	0.053	0.053	195.582
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'19.505	0.336	0.283	194.885
4	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1'19.523	0.354	0.018	194.841
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1'19.566	0.397	0.043	194.736
6	George Russell	Mercedes	1'19.583	0.414	0.017	194.694
7	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1'19.706	0.537	0.123	194.394
8	Lando Norris	McLaren	1'19.857	0.688	0.151	194.026
9	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1'19.907	0.738	0.050	193.905
10	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1'19.945	0.776	0.038	193.813
11	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1'20.006	0.837	0.061	193.665
12	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1'20.256	1.087	0.250	193.062
13	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1'20.279	1.110	0.023	193.006
14	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	1'20.283	1.114	0.004	192.997
15	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1'20.293	1.124	0.010	192.973
16	Mick Schumacher	Haas	1'20.419	1.250	0.126	192.670
17	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1'20.419	1.250	0.000	192.670
18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1'20.520	1.351	0.101	192.429
19	Alex Albon	Williams	1'20.859	1.690	0.339	191.622
20	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1'21.167	1.998	0.308	190.895
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What happened in Mexican Grand Prix Q2?

Hamilton set the bar at 1m18.552s, with Russell just 0.013s behind as Mercedes went for it on new softs from the start of the session.

In the final runs, Sainz jumped to P2, 0.008s off Hamilton, with Verstappen behind Russell in fourth – the top quartet covered by just 0.014s.

Knocked out at this point were Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), the AlphaTauris of Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, and Kevin Magnussen (Haas, who has a five-place grid penalty).

Mexican Grand Prix Q2 results: Hamilton fastest from Sainz

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'18.552			197.250
2	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1'18.560	0.008	0.008	197.230
3	George Russell	Mercedes	1'18.565	0.013	0.005	197.217
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1'18.566	0.014	0.001	197.215
5	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1'18.615	0.063	0.049	197.092
6	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1'18.762	0.210	0.147	196.724
7	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1'19.081	0.529	0.319	195.930
8	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'19.109	0.557	0.028	195.861
9	Lando Norris	McLaren	1'19.119	0.567	0.010	195.836
10	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1'19.272	0.720	0.153	195.458
11	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1'19.325	0.773	0.053	195.328
12	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	1'19.476	0.924	0.151	194.956
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1'19.589	1.037	0.113	194.680
14	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1'19.672	1.120	0.083	194.477
15	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1'19.833	1.281	0.161	194.085
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What happened in Mexican Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Red Bull's Sergio Perez set the benchmark at 1m18.153s that was smashed by Verstappen on 1m17.947s, with Russell taking second, 0.132s in arrears, ahead of Hamilton – the latter then losing his lap time for exceeding track limits at the apex of Turn 3. Perez was two tenths down in fourth, with both Ferrari drivers having moments on their opening runs.

On the final runs, Verstappen went even faster with 1m17.775s to underline his pole position, three tenths clear of Russell – who went wide on the entrance to the Foro Sol. Hamilton salvaged third with a 1m18s-flat, just 0.005s off the front row, while Perez improved but could only manage fourth.

Sainz will start fifth, ahead of Bottas, Leclerc, Lando Norris (McLaren) and the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.

Mexican Grand Prix Q3 results: Verstappen takes pole from Mercedes duo

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1'17.775			199.220
2	George Russell	Mercedes	1'18.079	0.304	0.304	198.445
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'18.084	0.309	0.005	198.432
4	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1'18.128	0.353	0.044	198.320
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1'18.351	0.576	0.223	197.756
6	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1'18.401	0.626	0.050	197.630
7	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'18.555	0.780	0.154	197.242
8	Lando Norris	McLaren	1'18.721	0.946	0.166	196.826
9	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1'18.939	1.164	0.218	196.283
10	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1'19.010	1.235	0.071	196.106
View full results