Ciudad de México, a 27 de octubre de 2018.

 DELIGHTED DAN, MAD MAX

• Red Bull lock out front row as Hamilton edges Vettel

Teammates – who would have them?

Just as everyone waited for Max Verstappen to become Formula 1’s youngest-ever pole position, along came his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo to steal it right out from under the 21-year-old Dutchman’s nose.

In a thrilling final segment of the one-hour qualifying session, Sebastian Vettel had looked certain to take the advantage into tomorrow’s race when his Ferrari clocked 1 minute 14.759. The German’s time lowered the AHR track record that had already been eclipsed by Vettel early in the opening segment of the session.

But Verstappen, who had topped all three free practice sessions, then chipped in with a 1:14.785 that seemed to have settled the issue.

Ricciardo had other ideas, and a stunning final lap of 1:14.759 gave the 29-year-old Australian the third pole of his F1 career, his second of 2018 and his first at a circuit other than Monaco.

‘I’m holding a lot in,’ said a delighted Ricciardo, whose emotions have been at the other end of the scale for much of the season after a string of race retirements. ‘I knew putting a lap together would be crucial because Max has shown we had the pace all weekend.’

Verstappen put on his Mad Max face as he explained that rear wheel locking and other problems had caused him to modify his normal approach. ‘It’s not how you want to do qualifying,’ he said, ‘normally you go more aggressive.’

With Red Bull locking out the front row of the grid for the first time since the United States Grand Prix of 2013, champion-elect Lewis Hamilton was left to pick up whatever pieces he could – and he did so very well with a lap of 1:1:14.84 to edge out Vettel, his only title rival.

‘We had an off-day yesterday,’ said the delighted Mercedes man, ‘but it was a big improvement today. That’s as good as I could get.’

Vettel will start fourth, while the two contenders’ teammates share the third row, with Valtteri Bottas recovering from his early end to free practice to finish fifth ahead of Ferrari’s Austin winner Kimi Räikkönen.

Row four is shared by the consistently fast Renaults of Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz, with the surprise package of both Saubers on row five, Charles Leclerc ahead of teammate Marcus Ericsson.

Sergio Pérez missed out on the top 10 but the Racing Point Force India man will start 13th and has the freedom to choose the tyres on which he will start a race where tyre management – one of Checo’s key skills – will be a crucial factor.

Horses for courses, they say, and while the Red Bulls obviously love Mexico, the same can’t be said for the Haas-Ferraris. For the second year in a row both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen failed to make it out of Q1.

‘It’s something about the Mexico track and the Haas that doesn’t quite work yet,’ said Romain Grosjean, who will start from the back row after he picks up a three-place grid penalty. ‘We’ve been trying different things but didn’t quite get it right.’

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner commented midway through, ‘We’re going to need something pretty mighty in Q3.’ Ricciardo provided it and gave himself a mighty chance of winning the first of the last three races he has left before leaving to join Renault in 2019.

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