Mexico City: Max Verstappen held off the challenge of Mercedes to claim pole position for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix.
The newly crowned back-to-back world champion produced a fine final flying lap to finish ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who had led the way in the final practice session.
Verstappen’s first pole in Mexico City stands him in a strong position to win his 14th grand prix of the season and break the record for the most race wins in a single campaign.
On Friday during the second practice session, Russell offered a hint of Mercedes’ potential with a strong performance in a session devoted to tyre testing, in changeable conditions, while Leclerc, unhurt, was left to watch from the Ferrari garage.
The 24-year-old Briton took advantage of a chance to shine as one of only a few drivers permitted to run on 2022 tyres and clocked a best lap in one minute and 19.970 seconds on softs.
This lifted him eight-tenths of a second clear of Yuki Tsunoda in his Alpha Tauri and Esteban Ocon of Alpine, both also allowed to use half the session to work on set-up with regular tyres after handing their cars to guest rookies for the opening practice.
Russell’s Mercedes teammate, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, was fourth-quickest in a session interrupted by two red flags. (AFP)
