Mexico City GP: Lando Norris takes pole position from Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri only eighth | F1 News

Lando Norris took a stunning pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix with championship leader Oscar Piastri only qualifying eighth.

Norris beat Charles Leclerc by 0.252s as he delivered under pressure in a dramatic climax to Qualifying and will have a huge opportunity to make big inroads into his 14-point deficit to McLaren team-mate Piastri in the title race when the lights go out at 8pm on Sunday, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event.

Lewis Hamilton took a season’s best third and the two Ferraris could give Norris a headache on the long run down to Turn 1 – one year on since the last win for the Scuderia.

Norris has made ground on Piastri in the last four rounds since his retirement from the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August and has momentum on his side with five races to go.

“I’m happy to be back on pole. It’s actually been quite a long time, so it’s a good feeling,” said Norris.

“The lap was one of those where you don’t really know what happened. It felt decent but when I saw the time I was very pleasantly surprised.

“I’ve been feeling good all weekend, especially today. I got a little bit nervous of the Ferrari at the end, but I pulled it out when it mattered and I’m very happy. I’ve not been sleeping well lately so maybe that’s the key to it all?”

Mercedes’ George Russell qualified fourth while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is 40 points behind Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship, struggled throughout the session in fifth.

Verstappen fared better than Piastri though, who faces an uphill battle after qualifying eighth behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Williams’ Carlos Sainz.

Sainz has a five-grid place penalty for hitting Antonelli last Sunday in Austin, so will start 12th which promotes Piastri up one spot to seventh.

Rookies Isack Hadjar for Racing Bulls and Haas’ Oliver Bearman rounded out the top 10, while Yuki Tsunoda narrowly missed out in Q3 in 11th.

Norris delivers in thrilling Q3

A close fight across the field was expected coming into Saturday but Norris put down a marker by topping final practice by over three tenths and continued that blistering pace into Qualifying.

While Piastri avoided a big scare in Q2 to simply reach the top 10 shootout, Norris was flying through the sessions although, from nowhere, Leclerc produced a spectacular lap on the first runs in Q3 to take provisional pole for Ferrari.

But, Norris turned the tables under huge pressure with three purple sectors on his way to a 1:15.586 to beat Leclerc by a whopping 0.262s and Hamilton by 0.352s.

“It was a beautiful, controlled lap. The car never moved,” said 1997 F1 world champion and Sky Sports F1’s Jacques Villeneuve.

“He knew exactly where he wanted to put the car. He did everything he wanted. He also knows he has the best pace for the race. All he has to do is survive that first corner.”

Although much of the attention has been on Verstappen’s title charge, Norris has also been chipping away at Piastri’s points lead. If Norris wins Sunday’s race, he will take the championship lead if Piastri finishes outside the top four.

It’s not a certainty Piastri will climb through the order as he’s lacked overall pace for two consecutive weekends now, so could get stuck in traffic.

The Australian lost time everywhere compared to Norris in Qualifying and will need to limit the damage as his recent struggles continue.

“There’s just no pace which is a bit of a mystery,” Piastri told Sky Sports F1.

“It’s been more or less the same gap all weekend, so we’ll have a look at where it was going wrong. Obviously it’s a bit frustrating.

“Not a huge amount has changed around how I’m feeling in the car. It’s just this weekend and last weekend it’s felt like the pace hasn’t come. I’m not 100 per cent sure why yet, so we’ll do some digging.”

The third title protagonist Verstappen has won five times at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez but will be aiming for the podium positions.

Red Bull brought a new floor to Mexico but it appears to have not positively impacted their performance, with Verstappen sliding in the high-speed middle sector throughout Qualifying.

It could be a big fight behind Norris with Leclerc and Hamilton likely to be looking over their shoulders, if their lift and coast issues during this year continue on Sunday.

Ferrari almost repeated their 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix Qualifying when they suddenly found pace from Q2 to Q3. It allowed the team to secure their best Saturday on a conventional weekend of the season and Hamilton now has a good chance to score his first podium in red.

Sky Sports F1’s Mexico City GP schedule

Sunday October 26
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP build-up*
8pm: THE MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX*
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP reaction

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1’s thrilling title race heads continues at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday with lights out at 8pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime