Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has claimed pole for Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix.
Last weekend, Leclerc was denied a sixth-placed finish - his fifth top-six in a row - in the United States courtesy of being disqualified for his car breaching regulations.
However, he went some way to finding redemption with a blistering performance in qualifying as he and teammate Carlos Sainz Jr secured the front row of the grid.
The late charge of already-crowned world champion Max Verstappen did not materialise, with the Red Bull driver finishing 0.097 seconds adrift of Leclerc.
"Well, that's a surprise! A good surprise, let's do it tomorrow!"
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 28, 2023
- @Charles_Leclerc #MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/bIpXH28M7q
Daniel Ricciardo produced the best drive since his return to the sport as he finished fourth fastest in the AlphaTauri.
Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of Oscar Piastri in the McLaren.
George Russell was eighth - only marginally more than half-a-second slower than Leclerc - with the Alfa Romeo pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu completing the top 10.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was 13th fastest, while Lando Norris finds himself on the back row of the grid in 19th having failed to make it through Q1 in his McLaren, only ahead of Williams driver Logan Sargeant who failed to post a time.
Darren Plant
