Lando Norris vowed to take a decisive victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday night as his main rivals were left baffled by a lack of pace.
British driver produced the most dominant qualifying performance of his career to take pole position of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton with Max Verstappen starting fifth and championship leader Oscar Piastri starting seventh after qualifying almost six tenths slower than his teammate.
Norris trails Piastre by 14 points in the drivers’ standings and if he wins on Sunday, his McLaren team-mate will need to finish at least fourth to maintain his lead in the title race.
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McLaren’s Lando Norris was shocked by the speed of his lap
And Norris was brimming with confidence as he looked ahead to Sunday’s race.
“I’m here to win,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to it. I know I’ll have some fast guys behind me.”
“It’s a long race to the first lap. Ferrari’s race pace is usually very strong.”
“I expect a battle, I don’t expect it to be easy. I look ahead and see how much I can win.”
Piastre says lack of pace ‘mystery’
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella told Sky Sports F1 after the race that Norris was faster than Piastri in “pretty much every corner” at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
The Australian rider, now in danger of relinquishing the title he has held since April, played down a frustrated figure on Saturday night insisting he was baffled by the lack of pace.
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Highlights from qualifying at the Mexico City Grand Prix
“Everything is fine, there’s just no pace which is a bit of a mystery,” he said Ski Sports F1.
“It’s been more or less the same gap all weekend, so we’ll see where it went wrong. It’s obviously a bit frustrating.
“Not much has changed about how I feel in the car. Just this weekend and last weekend I feel like the pace hasn’t come.
“I’m not 100 percent sure why yet, so we’ll do some digging.”
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Oskar Pjastri is frustrated by the lack of pace in his car
Piastre’s best chance to make up ground may come on the long run to the first corner and he will be hoping to pull away as he lines up behind Norris, Hamilton and Verstappen on the left side of the grid.
“It will be an opportunity to make some progress,” he admitted. “We’ll see what I can do.”
Verstappen: Everything we tried didn’t work
Verstappen entered the weekend in the best form of the three title contenders and was looking to repeat a spectacular weekend in Austin last week and add to his 40-point gap in the drivers’ standings.
But like Piastre, he suffered a frustrating lack of pace with Red Bull unable to compete with the rampaging Norris.
“If we knew, we would change it, and unfortunately we don’t,” he said Ski Sports F1.
“We tried so many things and it wasn’t good. It’s not for lack of trying, it’s finding.
“We went into qualifying trying something again and we didn’t get it quite right in some corners. It made it better in some places but harder in other areas and it didn’t let me push.
“I knew from the first K1 series that it wasn’t going to be it. Basically, everything we tried didn’t work.”
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Max Verstappen says he has no chance of making up places in Sunday’s race
However, he does not share the same optimism as Piastre that he can make up ground in attack to the first corner.
“There’s no real recovery when you don’t have pace,” he added.
“I need people to pull in front of me so I can continue.”
“Every lap I did this weekend wasn’t good. Short term or long term, it never felt in the window and it’s not going to suddenly change for the better tomorrow.”
Ski Sports F1 Mexico City Grand Prix schedule
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Take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments that took place at the Mexico City Grand Prix
Sunday, October 26
18.30: Grand Prix Sunday: Opening of the Mexico City Grand Prix*
20:00: MEXICO CITY GRAND PRICA*
22:00: Checkered flag: Mexico City Grand Prix reaction
*also in the Ski Sports main event
The thrilling race for the Formula 1 title continues at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday with lights out at 8pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream Ski Sports from NOW – no contract, cancel anytime