Carlos Sainz delivered a masterclass in qualifying to secure pole position for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix. With two near-perfect laps in Q3, Sainz dominated the session, beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris by over two-tenths of a second to claim his sixth career pole position.
Reflecting on his performance at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Sainz remarked, “A great couple of laps. Around Mexico, you often feel like you can’t put a lap together because of the sliding, but today my two laps in Q3 were almost perfect. They were solid enough for pole.”
The drama unfolded early in Q1 when McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and local hero Sergio Pérez both faced shock eliminations. For Pérez, a lack of confidence under braking left him struggling at the bottom of the timesheets. Despite hopes of a late push, the Mexican driver was unable to improve and exited in P18 to the disappointment of the home crowd.
Piastri, on the other hand, saw his final lap time deleted for exceeding track limits. Attempting to recover on his last run, the Australian made a costly error by running wide at Turn 12, losing significant time and finishing in P17, missing out on a Q2 appearance.
As the session progressed, Norris looked formidable, consistently posting strong times. He led Q1 and again topped the timesheets in Q2, outpacing Verstappen and Sainz. However, the session was cut short when Yuki Tsunoda spun and crashed his Red Bull into the barriers, bringing out the red flags. Tsunoda’s incident also denied his teammate, Liam Lawson, and several others a chance to improve their times. As a result, Tsunoda qualified 11th, with Lawson in 12th, ahead of Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, and Valtteri Bottas.
In the final shootout for pole in Q3, Verstappen initially looked strong, but his first lap was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 2, dropping him to P10. The Dutchman recovered late in the session, but his best effort of 1:16.171 wasn’t enough to challenge Sainz’s blistering time of 1:15.946.
Norris, who had been a standout in Q1 and Q2, couldn’t match his earlier performances in the final stages of Q3. He ended up third, later admitting that he had reached the limit of his car earlier in the session.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, struggling with oversteer on his final lap, will start from fourth place, while Mercedes’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will line up fifth and sixth respectively. Kevin Magnussen impressed by qualifying seventh for Haas, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Williams’ Alex Albon, and the second Haas of Nico Hülkenberg.
With Sainz starting on pole and Verstappen determined to fight back, the stage is set for an exciting showdown at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
| Pos | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine |
| 9 | Alexander Albon | Williams |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas |
| 11 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | RB |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
| 15 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber |
| 16 | Franco Colapinto | Williams |
