Lando Norris has golden chance to eat into Oscar Piastri’s lead with Mexico pole
Lando Norris will have a golden opportunity to eat into his championship deficit to Oscar Piastri on Sunday after storming to pole position in Mexico, leaving his title rivals trailing in his wake. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – who has won three of the last four grands prix to surge back into title contention – was only able to claim fifth on the grid. Norris’s McLaren team-mate and championship leader Piastri was a massive six-tenths slower than the Briton and qualified in eighth, although the Australian will start seventh due to Carlos Sainz’s grid penalty.
It was a dream result for Norris, who will have the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, as well as the Mercedes of George Russell, providing a buffer to Verstappen.
Norris was understandably delighted. “I don’t even know how I did that,” he murmured over his radio on his cool-down lap.
After collecting his thoughts, he said he was thrilled to have claimed his first pole position since Belgium in July. “It’s been a long time, so it’s a good feeling,” he said. “I’ve been feeling good all weekend. I was a little nervous about the Ferraris in Q3 but I pulled it out when it mattered. I’ve not been sleeping well lately, so maybe that’s the key to it all.”
Norris was not lying about feeling good all weekend. He looked the most likely candidate for pole during practice on Saturday. But no one foresaw him taking it by such a margin – almost three tenths from Leclerc – and with his direct title rivals so far behind him.
All week the narrative has been about Verstappen cutting into the two McLarens’ lead. The Dutchman has been in inspired form of late, and is now considered the title favourite according to the bookies, despite still lying 40 points behind Piastri.
Such has been Red Bull’s improvement in the latter part of the season – they arrived in Mexico with a four-part upgrade package – McLaren team principal Andrea Stella even hinted they might be sacrificing their 2026 chances in pursuit of Verstappen’s fifth world title.
That drew a withering response from Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko. “It was the same story in 2021,” he said. “Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team principal] was really worried that we wouldn’t be competitive in 2022. It’s part of our philosophy that, whenever the rules change, we work as long as we can to stay competitive.
“We know what we’re doing,” Marko added. “It needs an exact plan and very disciplined people, which we have. So we don’t think there’s a handicap for 2026.”
Time will tell who is right on the score. In the meantime, Norris has a race to win. It would be his first since the summer break could hardly be more timely as he looks to eat into his 14-point deficit to Piastri.
He will have to watch out for the Ferraris behind him. Hamilton noted that P3 was a very good place to start in Mexico with the extra-long drag down to turn one.
“I’m delighted to be up there with Lando and Charles,” the seven-time world champion noted. “This is the first time we’ve both been in the top three all year. It’s a great result for the team, P3 is kind of the perfect spot on this track. I think our race pace is not too bad but it’s difficult to know really.”
But Norris said it was “eyes forward” for him. McLaren have not had a car on the front row in Mexico since Gerhard Berger in 1990. But he said he would be looking to convert rather than play it conservatively and bank as many points as possible.
“I’m here to win,” he said. “I’ll be looking forward. I know I’ll have some quick guys behind me, I’m expecting a battle. But no, definitely eyes forward.”
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
