Mexico City, 27 October 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Carlos Sainz of Ferrari claimed his first pole position of the Formula One season at the Mexican Grand Prix on Saturday.

The Spanish driver was strong throughout the entire qualifying and posted the fastest time of 1 minute 15.946 seconds. Sainz won the Australian GP earlier this year, but his last pole had been at the Singapore GP in September 2023.

He will be joined in the front row by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, who was 0.225s behind. Title contender Lando Norris of McLaren was third.

"I did two great laps in Q3 and they were enough for pole, which was great as normally in Mexico it is tricky. Definitely we have done a step up, it seems like we are going in the right direction and looking forward to finishing the job tomorrow," Sainz said.

Three-time and defending champion Verstappen will be desperate to win and end a run of nine races without victory.

He still tops the standings 57 points ahead of Norris, who will be aiming to boost his title hopes and claim McLaren's first win in Mexico since Ayrton Senna in 1989.

Sainz : Important result for constructors' championship

While Sainz sits fifth in the drivers' standings and is completely out of the title race, he's aiming to do his part to help Ferrari stay in the fight for the constructors' title.

"If you win, those extra points are important for the team in the constructors' - hopefully our race pace is good enough to win it," Sainz said.

His team-mate Charles Leclerc arrived in Mexico with hopes of making his case for the world title after winning last weekend's United States GP, but the Monegasque will have to make up a lot of ground after finishing qualifying in fourth.

McLaren top the constructors' standings and Ferrari are 48 points behind in third.

Verstappen recovers after deleted lap

Verstappen had the second best time after his first flying lap in Q3 but that was deleted for track limits. The Dutchman was still able to fight back and recover second place.

The Red Bull driver said he was "already under a lot of pressure" after not completing enough laps in Friday's practice sessions due to an engine issue.

"Then my lap time got taken away so added more pressure. But I really didn't expect the front row. It's one of the hardest tracks to get right," he said.

Perez let down home crowd

Home favourite Sergio Perez disappointed the Mexican fans at the circuit as he was eliminated in Q1. He will start his home race in 18th and will try to "maximize the day, to score points will be a tremendous effort."

"I just couldn't get on top of it, I couldn't stop the car soon enough, too much energy through the tyres and braking. So I cannot attack the corners under braking," he explained.

Alonso to start 400th Grand Prix in 13th

Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin will start his 400th Grand Prix in 13th, after failing to reach Q3.

Alonso missed Thursday's mandatory press conference as he was not feeling well.

Mercedes grabbed fifth and sixth place with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively, and Haas had two drivers in the top 10 - while Kevin Magnussen was seventh, Nico Hülkenberg was 10th.

Pierre Gasly of Alpine and the Williams' of Alex Albon completed the top 10 in eighth and ninth respectively.

There was a red flag with 10 seconds to go in Q2 after Yuki Tsunoda lost his car and crashed his Visa RB into the barriers. The incident wrecked his team-mate Liam Lawson's chances of reaching Q3.

Photo: EPA