F1 qualifying results: Mexico City Grand Prix

Max Verstappen’s incredible run of form since the Formula 1 Summer Shutdown has ignited a three-way fight for the Drivers’ Championship and put the Red Bull driver in position to pull off arguably the sport’s biggest comeback and secure his fifth title.

Mexico is the next stop on the calendar, and today the grid will set the starting order for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix. While Verstappen was fastest in Friday’s second hour of practice ahead of Charles Leclerc and Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris topped the timing sheets on Saturday’s final hour of practice at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

As things stand in the title chase, Oscar Piastri remains at the top of the standings, with a 14-point edge over his McLaren teammate Norris and a 40-point lead over Verstappen. But Verstappen has trimmed 60 points off the lead Piastri held following the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.

Who will take pole position in today’s critical qualifying hour? Follow along so we can find out together.

Qualifying gets underway at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

Update: Norris, with a thunderous lap at the end of qualifying, will start in P1 tomorrow in the Mexico City Grand Prix. With Norris just 14 points behind Piastri in the title race, the British driver has a tremendous opportunity to close that gap as Piastri will start sixth, and Verstappen will start fifth.

It was a strong day from Ferrari, as Leclerc will start alongside Norris on the front row, and Lewis Hamilton will start behind Norris in P3.

F1 Mexico City Grand Prix provisional grid

Here is the provisional starting order for the Mexico City Grand Prix, which will be filled in throughout the session.

F1 Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying

Follow along here as the qualifying hour unfolds.

18 minutes were put on the clock, and pit lane roared to life with the Aston Martin pair of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso the first to take to the track, followed by the Alpine pair of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly.

Championship contenders such as Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, and Oscar Piastri remained in their respective garage stalls as the session began.

Stroll set the benchmark with a 1:18.815, but he was quickly pipped at the top of the timing sheets by Oliver Bearman, Alonso, Esteban Ocon, and Colapinto. Bearman led the way for the moment with a 1:17.765.

Soon, the two McLarens took to the track, and Norris went purple through the first two sectors, right to the top of the timing sheets, with a 1:17.147. Piastri, however, continued to struggle and could only manage a 1:17.850, which dropped him into P3 for the moment. However, as times came in from Alexander Albon and Isack Hadjar, Piastri soon found himself down in P7.

And Max Verstappen had yet to take to the track.

Eventually, Verstappen roared out of the garage and attacked Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, but a wobble through Turns 9 and 10 prevented him from going into P1.

But his lap was still good for P3.

A strong effort from George Russell followed Verstappen’s effort, as the Mercedes driver clocked in with a 1:17.194, just 0.047 seconds behind Norris.

Bearman responded with a thunderous lap, as the Haas rookie pumped in a lap of 1:17.106, good enough to go ahead of Norris and top the timing sheets once more.

That lap dropped Piastri, the championship leader, down to P15 for the moment. The McLaren driver was then dropped into the elimination zone for the moment, but he responded with a lap good enough for P3.

Worrying, however, was the fact that on both of his push laps, Piastri was behind Bearman in a Haas.

With seven minutes remaining, the five drivers in the elimination zone were Yuki Tsunoda, Colapinto, Nico Hülkenberg, Albon, and Stroll.

Norris went back to the top of the timing sheets as he was the first driver in qualifying to crack the 1:17.000 mark, pumping in a time of 1:16.899. With five minutes remaining in Q1, he was in P1, followed by Charles Leclerc, Bearman, Piastri, and Russell in the top five.

Verstappen was down in P7.

With under four minutes remaining, Isack Hadjar went purple through the second sector, and his thunderous 1:16.733 jumped him up to P1, indicating that the times were going to start tumbling, and that none of the drivers could feel too comfortable about advancing through to Q2.

Verstappen’s second push lap was off the pace of Hadjar as he slotted in P5, 0.343 seconds off Hadjar’s lap.

As 90 seconds remained, Hadjar remained in P1, followed by Norris, Liam Lawson, Leclerc, and Verstappen in the top five. At that point in Q1, Kimi Antonelli, Gasly, Colapinto, Hülkenberg, and Stroll were the five drivers in the elimination zone.

Antonelli’s final effort was good for P10, but with 30 seconds remaining, the Mercedes rookie was certainly not safe.

When the checkered flag flew, Hadjar remained at the top of the timing sheets, followed by Lewis Hamilton, Russell, Norris, and Ocon in the top five. Verstappen advanced in P9, while Piastri was right behind him in P10.

Colapinto was the first driver eliminated, down in P20. Gabriel Bortoleto, Albon, Gasly, and Stroll were the other drivers eliminated.

Q2 began moments later with 15 minutes on the clock, and 15 drivers fighting for the ten available spots in the third and final segment of qualifying.

The first driver to take to the circuit was Hadjar, who surprisingly topped the timing sheets in Q1. The Visa Cash App RB F1 Team rookie set the benchmark for Q2, starting out with a 1:17.137.

As you might expect, his spot in P1 was not safe for long.

Hülkenberg then jumped to P1 with a 1:17.016, and a 1:17.088 for Hamilton slotted the Ferrari driver into P2.

Then Verstappen’s first effort of Q2 came in at 1:16.824, which was good for P1, but only for a few seconds. A lap from Leclerc came in at 1:16.658, putting the Ferrari at the front of the field and dropping Verstappen down a place.

But then it was Norris’ turn. The McLaren driver went purple through both Sector 1 and Sector 2, and when he crossed the line, his lap of 1:16.252 not only put him into P1 but also came in 0.406 seconds ahead of Leclerc in P2.

As for Piastri’s first effort in Q2? That came in more than a second behind Norris, and he was down in P10.

When the clock hit seven minutes Bearman, Ocon, Alonso, Antonelli, and Lawson were the five drivers in the drop zone. Lawson had yet to post a lap time, as his first effort was deleted for exceeding track limits.

Things then got more worrisome for Piastri. As he completed his push lap, he reported to the team, “[i]t felt like in Turn 5, something weird happened with the [power unit].”

McLaren told the driver that they were aware of the issue, but with the seconds ticking away, Piastri’s spot in Q3 was by no means guaranteed.

With four minutes left in the session pit lane was filled as drivers began to line up for their final push laps in Q2. Verstappen’s final effort in Q2 was only good for second, more than three-tenths off the pace of Norris. He was then dropped into third by Hamilton, who came in 0.206 seconds off the pace from Norris.

Verstappen was then dropped down to fourth when Russell came in with a 1:16.537.

Those times had dropped Piastri down into P13, as the championship leader was on his final push lap. The Australian driver managed to come across the line in P7, and as noted by Jolyon Palmer he “needed all of that out of the final corner.”

When Q2 drew to a close Yuki Tsunoda, Ocon, Hülkenberg, Alonso, and Lawson were the five drivers eliminated.

Norris, Hamilton, Russell, Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr., Leclerc, Piastri, Antonelli, Bearman, and Hadjar were the ten drivers who advanced into Q3.

The third and final segment of qualifying began with just 12 minutes on the clock, and the track remained quiet as all ten remaining drivers stayed in their respective garage stalls.

The first to roar onto the circuit at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez? None other than Verstappen, followed by Bearman. They were followed by the McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri, with the British driver the first of the two to attack the track.

Verstappen’s first effort came in at 1:16.455, which put him into P1 for the moment. Bearman cut the beam next with a 1:17.420, which was well off Verstappen’s pace.

But then Norris thundered home with a 1:16.170, nearly three-tenths ahead of Verstappen, putting the British driver on provisional pole. Piastri came in third on his first effort, but was dropped down to fourth when Hamilton delivered a 1:16.374.

Then Leclerc shocked everyone, rocketing home with the first sub-1:16 effort. The 1:15.991 lap from the Ferrari driver put Leclerc into P1, putting the rest of the grid on notice that Ferrari might have something up their sleeves here in Q3.

After the first set of runs, the ten drivers slotted in with Leclerc in P1, followed by Norris, Hamilton, Verstappen, Piastri, Russell, Antonelli, Sainz, Hadjar, and Bearman.

The track then went quiet as the clock hit five minutes remaining, with the ten drivers — and seven teams — making their last preparations for the final push laps of Q3.

Bearman was the first driver to leave their garage and begin their final push lap effort. As the clock hit 90 seconds, all ten drivers were on the track, and the shootout for pole position was truly on.

Piastri’s last effort was good for P3, but he was dropped to P4 after Verstappen came in with an effort good for P2. Norris was on a screamer of a lap, going purple through the first two sectors. He crossed the line with a 1:15.586, going into pole position for the moment.

Both Leclerc and Hamilton came close, with Leclerc coming in second, 0.262 seconds behind Norris, and Hamilton qualified third.

Russell qualified fourth, with Verstappen in fifth, Antonelli in sixth, and Sainz in seventh. However, Sainz has a five-place grid penalty that is carrying over from the United States Grand Prix.

Piastri qualified eighth — and will jump up to P7 tomorrow after Sainz serves his penalty — with Hadjar and Bearman rounding out Q3.