MEXICO CITY: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen put himself on pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix on Saturday with his sights set on a record 14th Formula One victory of the season.

The Dutch 25-year-old, who secured his second world championship in Japan this month with four races to spare, lapped the high-speed Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez with a fastest time of one minute 17.775 seconds.

Mercedes’ George Russell joined him on the front row, qualifying 0.005 ahead of seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, with Red Bull’s Mexican Sergio Perez the fourth fastest with the crowd roaring their support.

The pole was the 19th of Verstappen’s career and he will be hoping to convert it into a fourth Mexican victory to take the outright record of most wins in a season from German greats Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.

Red Bull have won the last eight races and 15 of 19 so far. Mercedes, who have yet to win this year, can take hope from history with the winner of the last two races at the high-altitude circuit coming from third on the grid.

Hamilton was fastest in the first two phases of qualifying but his first flying lap in the top-10 shootout was deleted, leaving the Briton with no time on the board going into the final effort.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2022