Mexico City, Ferrari in pole position with Carlos Sainz
Ferrari appears to be continuing its golden moment, with Carlos Sainz taking pole position at the Mexico City Grand Prix with 225 thousandths of an advantage over world champion Max Verstappen, with Red Bull. Third at 314 thousandths Lando Norris with the McLaren, fourth at 319 Charles Leclerc with the other Ferrari.
In Q1 Oscar Piastri with McLaren is seventeenth, with a lap canceled for having exceeded the limits of the oista, and is therefore eliminated, as is the undisputed local idol Sergio Perez, eighteenth with Red Bull. Also out are Franco Colapinto with Williams, Esteban Ocon with Alpine and Guanyu Zhou with Sauber.
10 seconds from the end of Q2 the red flag is shown and the mini-session ends early because Yuki Tsunoda crashes without consequences at the entrance to the baseball stadium area, which has long since replaced the legendary Peraltada curve.
With the Japanese, eleventh, eliminated, in order, are his Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson, the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso, making his 400th appearance in a race weekend, and Lance Stroll, and the Sauber of Valteri Bottas.
Q3 marks the sixth career pole for Sainz, the first of the season. Verstappen will start next to him, having had the time of his first attempt canceled for cutting a chicane. In the second row Norris and Leclerc.
In third the Mercedes of George Russell, fifth, and Lewis Hamilton, sixth, seventh and tenth Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg with the two Haas, eighth Pierre Gasly with the Alpine, ninth Alexander Albon with the Williams.
