MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Formula 1 driver championship fight stormed into the Mexican Grand Prix with points leader Oscar Piastri struggling in qualifying while McLaren teammate Lando Norris took the pole.
Norris won his fifth pole of the season — first one at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez — while Piastri was a distant seventh in Saturday qualifying.
“I am happy to be back on pole, it's actually been quite a long time so it's a good feeling,” said Norris,
who was last on pole in Belgium six races ago. “I've had some good races here in the past, so I just focus on what I can control and that's what I can do.”
Piastri called it a “frustrating session” and said his speed was just off.
“Everything felt pretty normal, the lap times just haven't been there,” said Piastri, who said he will focus on gaining positions at the start of Sunday's race.
A bigger surprise was the performance from Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton qualifying second and third. It's the best qualifying effort for Hamilton since he joined Ferrari this season.
“This is an amazing feeling, it's the first time we've both been up here in the top three,” Hamilton said. “I think our race pace is not too bad, but it's difficult to say.”
George Russell of Mercedes qualified fourth while four-time reigning champion Max Verstappen will start fifth. Verstappen is quickly clawing his way back into the championship picture as the Red Bull driver has not given up on winning a fifth consecutive title.
Verstappen has won three of the past four races, as well as the sprint race at the United States Grand Prix last weekend.
Piastri holds the driver standings lead, 14 points ahead of Norris and 40 ahead of Verstappen with five races remaining. But Verstappen was 104 points behind Piastri only five races ago.
Norris didn't sound like a driver ready to concede any ground to Verstappen in Mexico City.
“I am here to win, I will be looking forward,” Norris said. "I am expecting a battle, I am not expecting it to be easy and it is eyes forward and I'll see how much I can win by."
The Mexican Grand Prix will celebrate its 10th anniversary with another sold-out crowd — an accomplishment celebrated by promoters who worried the absence of Sergio Perez in the field this year would cause a decline.
Approximately 150,000 people are expected Sunday at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Alejandro Soberon Kuri, the founder and CEO of promoters Grupo CIE and OCESA, said Perez not having a ride this season forced them work harder to sell out the race. Tickets go on sale nearly a year in advance and because the Mexican driver was still with Red Bull at the time, there was an initial early rush on purchasing.
But when Perez was fired at the end of the season, sales slowed, Kuri said Saturday.
“It was an interesting year for us because of the absence of Checo, who is very much beloved by the Mexican fans,” he said. “But we were very sure that we had a lot of traction with the community. They're very fond of Formula 1, very knowledgeable about Formula 1, and again, another sellout.”
Perez has been hired alongside Valtteri Bottas to be the first drivers for the Cadillac F1 team launching next season — a boost that already has led to at least one additional suite sale for General Motors for the 2026 race. With Perez expected to be back on the grid in Mexico City next year, promoters are eager to open the ticket sales window.
“It was 90% sold at the beginning (when Perez had a ride), and then it smoothly reached the sold-out mark,” Kuri said. “We're going to go on sale in three weeks, almost 11 months in advance.”
The race is on F1's schedule through the 2028 season and next year will have to compete for spending dollars with soccer's World Cup, which will be partially held in Mexico.
McLaren has been expected to issue some sort of punishment against Norris for the way he raced Piastri in Singapore, but the current points leader revealed the team has backed away from any repercussions.
Norris hit Piastri on the first lap in Singapore and McLaren felt after a review that it was avoidable and Norris warranted some sort of punishment. It was expected the team would give Piastri priority to choose the order of the two cars leaving the pits in qualifying.
But Piastri tangled with Nico Hulkenberg at the start of last weekend's sprint race and the contact caused him to hit Norris, knocking both McLarens out of the running of that event in Texas.
Because of the second incident, Piastri said McLaren came to Mexico City with a “clean slate" as both drivers try to fend off Verstappen and give McLaren a driver championship.
“I think there is a degree of responsibility from my side in the sprint, and we’re starting this weekend with a clean slate for both of us," Piastri said. "We’re just going out and racing and see who can come out on top. The consequences on Lando’s side have been removed. There’s a lot of factors involved, but ultimately, yes, that’s what’s been decided.”
As Ferrari closes in on the one-year anniversary of its last win — Carlos Sainz Jr. at Mexico City last October — Leclerc warned that his podium at last weekend's United States Grand Prix is not a true indicator that a victory is near.
It was Leclerc's sixth podium of the season — five of them were third-place finishes — but first since Belgium six races ago. But then he and teammate Hamilton qualified second and third in Mexico City.
“If we look at the gap compared to the McLarens, it remained kind of the same. For us, we are more focused about next year, which I hope will help us," Leclerc said. “Whether from now on we can consistently fight for a podium, I think it is a long shot, but I will try to make this happen again this weekend.”
Hamilton has yet to score a podium finish and equaled his season-best result by finishing fourth in Texas. He was also fourth at Silverstone in July.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
