All eyes were on Max Verstappen and Lando Norris during qualifying at the Mexican Grand Prix but it was Carlos Sainz who dominated Q3, claiming a memorable pole position.

The bumper crowd in the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez stadium section were all cheering for one man, but that man was unable to progress from Q1. Sergio Perez was eliminated after qualifying a miserable 18th, putting him under major pressure as his Red Bull future becomes more and more precarious.

Oscar Piastri was also dumped out in Q1. The young Australian struggled to lay down a competitive lap time, spending the entire session scrapping in and around the cut-off line. He was joined in the bottom five by Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon and Zhou Guanyu.

While his team-mate struggled, Norris enjoyed a strong Q1 and followed it up with an equally impressive Q2. The McLaren man was the early pace-setter, leading title rival Verstappen by over two-tenths.

The second session of the day was brought to a premature end as Yuki Tsunoda found the barrier in the final sector. The stoppage prevented his team-mate, Liam Lawson, from getting a faster time on the board, while Valtteri Bottas and the two Aston Martin drivers were also eliminated.