Leclerc On Pole In Mexico As Verstappen Is Hit With A Penalty.

Verstappen Stripped Of Pole

Verstappen’s stellar performance should have secured him a second pole of the season for Red Bull.

However, the Dutchman was later handed a 3-place grid penalty for “Failing to slow under yellow flags.”

A decision which will see him drop to fourth position as a result.

Verstappen’s banker lap put him on provisional pole, just slightly ahead of the Ferrari duo of Leclerc & Vettel.

Leclerc was unable to better his time on his final run, meaning Vettel was initially their only shot at pole.

Bottas Loses Control

Unfortunately for the italian outfit, the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas hit the barriers at the final corner.

Subsequently, the crash brought out yellow flags, denying Vettel or anyone else behind a chance to improve their laps.

The Mercedes driver lost the rear while exiting the stadium section, in turn dragging his W10 into the wall.

Bottas, who was then a passenger, came to an abrupt halt after hitting the TecPro barriers.

A nightmare end to qualifying for Valtteri Bottas!

But thankfully he is okay ?#MexicoGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/TakzoATo2i

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 26, 2019

The Finn’s first lap was good enough to put him into sixth on the grid, just behind Red Bull’s Alex Albon in fifth.

However, due to the extensive repairs needed, he his tipped to receive a grid penalty for the race.

With Verstappen’s grid drop, it is Leclerc & Vettel who will start from first and second respectively.

The result sees Ferrari take their sixth consecutive pole position of the season.

Just behind the Scuderia drivers is Lewis Hamilton who lines up in third place as he attempts to take a sixth world championship.

McLaren Claim Best Of The Rest

Both Toro Rosso’s were strong throughout qualifying and looked poised to de-throne McLaren in the best of the rest battle.

However, it was to no avail as McLaren retained their status as the head of the mid-field.

Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr. will start in seventh place, just in-front of teammate Lando Norris in eight.

It was Daniil Kvyat who came out as the top Toro Rosso pilot.

The Russian beating teammate Pierre Gasly to ninth place, leaving the Frenchman to round out the top ten.

Sergio Perez could only manage eleventh around his home circuit. The Mexican just missing out on a top ten spot by 8 thousandths of a second.

However, there is a silver lining as Perez will be the first driver outside of the top ten with a choice of starting tyre.

Renault’s Despair

Following the recent news of their disqualification from the Japanese Grand Prix for using “Illegal Driver Aids”

Things have gone from bad to worse for Renault as both of its cars failed to make it into the final part of qualifying.

For the French outfit, it is Nico Hulkenberg starting in twelfth and last years pole-sitter Daniel Ricciardo in thirteenth.

From P1 last year, to unlucky 13 this time… ?#MexicoGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/D4okE4fNBV

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 26, 2019