Sainz takes pole at Mexico Grand Prix as Verstappen gets the jump on Norris

Lando Norris finds himself trailing Max Verstappen by 57 points in the championship standings as the season approaches its final stretch, with five races left and a total of 146 points still up for grabs. The pressure is on him to make significant strides against the Dutch driver.

At the Mexico Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz of Ferrari secured pole position, while Norris could only manage third in qualifying—one spot behind Verstappen, who qualified second. Norris described his recent penalty, which dropped him behind Verstappen in Austin, as a “momentum killer” in his quest for his first title. This setback was compounded by a qualifying session where he fell over three-tenths of a second short of Sainz’s pace.

Despite showing promise early on by topping the first two qualifying sessions, Norris couldn’t match the impressive lap set by Sainz, with his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc lining up fourth on the grid. Verstappen, who has dominated in Mexico recently by winning five of the last six races there, is gunning for his fourth consecutive victory at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Though Verstappen faced challenges leading up to qualifying—including engine issues that hampered his Friday running and grip problems during final practice—he managed to pull together a strong performance. Now, he hopes to fend off Norris during the crucial 768-meter sprint down to Turn 1.

In the Mercedes camp, George Russell qualified fifth, finishing ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton. Meanwhile, Norris will head into the race without the support of Oscar Piastri, whose inconsistent form saw him eliminated in the first part of qualifying, despite being the fastest in final practice just hours earlier. This was a setback for McLaren’s bid for the constructors’ title, as Piastri ended up 17th, alongside Sergio Pérez, who struggled to a disappointing 18th place, intensifying the scrutiny on his future at Red Bull.

Currently, McLaren leads Red Bull by 40 points, with Ferrari trailing closely behind by just eight points. As the championship race heats up, every point will be crucial in determining the final standings.