F1 News: Max Verstappen claims Pole Position in Mexico
Max Verstappen secured another Pole Position in Mexico, putting together a very strong lap that put him comfortably ahead of the Mercedes duo in second and third.
Mercedes will be pleased with their progress this weekend, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton putting themselves within touching distance of Max Verstappen and well-positioned to attack the Dutchman into turn one.
The Ferrari pairing of Leclerc and Sainz will be frustrated and – most likely – confused with their drop in performance, with the F1-75 proving to be a handful for both drivers throughout the lap.
Leclerc’s session was also impacted by issues with the engine, preventing the Monegasque from putting together a clean lap. He will hope that Ferrari can address the issue for the race, especially considering the reliability issues possible in Mexico.
Valtteri Bottas was the surprise package from qualifying, demonstrating impressive performance in his C42 machine. He ended qualifying in P6, ahead of Leclerc’s Ferrari and in the unofficial best of the rest position for tomorrow’s GP.
The Alpine duo will start from relatively average starting positions in P9 and P10, with Lando Norris putting his McLaren machine ahead of the Woking squad’s rivals.
Daniel Ricciardo starts in a reasonable P11, so the battle for fourth will undoubtedly continue going into round twenty of the season.