F1 Mexican GP Qualifying Results: Title race takes EXCITING twist with shock pole

Both Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were beaten in Saturday's qualifying session for the Mexican Grand Prix, with 12 minutes of brilliance from Carlos Sainz delivering the two fastest laps of Q3.

Verstappen will start alongside him on the front row despite having his first flying lap deleted for exceeding track limits, with Lando Norris set for a powerful slipstream down to the first corner after qualifying third.

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Charles Leclerc qualified fourth, just five thousandths of a second behind Norris, giving Ferrari two cars in the top four as they close the narrow constructors' title gap to their two rivals – neither of whom even have two cars in the top 17.

Home hero Sergio Perez was knocked out of the session at the first time of asking, compounding a miserable season. The Red Bull star had been complaining on team radio earlier in the session that he was struggling to slow his car down into low-speed corners.

Perez wasn't the only big name to be eliminated in the opening runs though, with the McLaren of Oscar Piastri being punted from contention in Q1 despite setting the fastest time in FP3 just hours before.

The Australian had one lap deleted for a track limits violation midway through the session, but even that deleted time wouldn't have been enough to send him through to the final 15.

No surprise names were eliminated in Q2, which was red flagged in the dying seconds when Yuki Tsunoda hit the barriers while winding up for his final flying lap.

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Here are the times from qualifying in Mexico:

F1 Qualifying Results: Mexican Grand Prix 2024

1. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - 1:15.946sec
2. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - +0.225sec
3. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +0.314sec
4. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.319sec
5. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.410sec
6. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +0.705sec
7. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] - +0.940sec
8. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - +0.946sec
9. Alex Albon [Williams] - +1.119sec
10. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] - +1.419sec

ELIMINATED IN Q2

11. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB]
12. Liam Lawson [VCARB]
13. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]
14. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]
15. Valtteri Bottas [Sauber]

ELIMINATED IN Q1

16. Franco Colapinto [Williams]
17. Oscar Piastri [McLaren]
18. Sergio Perez [Red Bull]
19. Esteban Ocon [Alpine]
20. Zhou Guanyu [Sauber]

How does F1 Qualifying work?

The qualifying session is split into three finite windows, which provide a dramatic prelude to Sunday's race.

The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of Q1, with a further five eliminated after Q2.

Then, Q3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.

READ MORE: Ferrari share fresh update after driver replacement CONFIRMED at Mexico GP

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