Mexican GP: Verstappen on pole as Bottas crashes hard

The Red Bull driver set the fastest time on the first runs in Q3, 0.114s faster than Leclerc.

He then improved to a 1m14.758s on his final attempt to consolidate pole position - although his first lap would have been good enough to secure top spot - completing his lap after Valtteri Bottas had a big crash at the final corner and brought out double waved yellow flags.

Leclerc held onto second place despite not improving, with teammate Sebastian Vettel also relying on his first-run time to take third on the grid after having to back off for yellow flags.

Lewis Hamilton made a slender improvement on his second run to make sure of fourth place, 0.504s off the pace.

Alex Albon, in the second Red Bull, was fifth fastest and 0.580s slower than his teammate.

This put him just 0.002s quicker than Bottas, who was on course to improve on his time when he hit the outside wall in the final left hander on his final attempt.

The rear stepped out on Bottas and sent him into the wall, which he slid along before coming to rest against the leading edge of the Tecpro barrier closer to the exit of the corner.

Although the medical car was deployed due to the size of impact, Bottas reported he was OK.

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG W10 after the crash

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

McLaren dominated the battle for 'best of the rest', with Carlos Sainz outpacing Lando Norris by three tenths in the battle for seventh.

Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly claimed ninth and 10th for Toro Rosso, separated by just over a tenth-of-a-second.

The Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes drivers will all start the race using medium-compound Pirellis having used that tyre to set their Q2 times, with the rest of the top 10 on softs.

Kvyat will be investigated after the session for an unsafe release when the Toro Rosso team sent him out of the garage as Daniel Ricciardo's Renault was driving past in Q1.

Racing Point's Sergio Perez ensured he was the best-placed driver with free tyre choice for the race by grabbing 11th place at the end of Q2, missing out on Q3 by just 0.008s.

That put him two tenths ahead of the lead Renault of Nico Hulkenberg, with Daniel Ricciardo behind in 13th place.

Kimi Raikkonen won the battle of the Alfa Romeo drivers for 14th place, outpacing Antonio Giovinazzi by three tenths.

Lance Stroll was the quickest of those eliminated in Q1 in 16th place after only making a slender improvement on the time set on his first run – complaining over the radio of "no grip".

A slow run through the middle sector cost him and left him 0.271s away from Giovinazzi, the slowest of those to escape Q1.

The Haas drivers both squeezed in three runs during the session, with Kevin Magnussen the faster of the duo in 17th place, 0.163s quicker than Romain Grosjean.

Grosjean's first attempt was ruined by the rear stepping out at the entry to Turn 1, as although he caught the moment it flicked the car into a spin in the other direction as he took to the grass.

Williams driver George Russell was just 0.224s off Grosjean's pace as he took 19th place, again winning the intra-Williams battle with teammate Robert Kubica 1.356s slower.

Cla	Driver		Chassis	Time	Gap
1	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	01'14.758
2	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	01'15.024	00.266
3	Sebastian Vettel		Ferrari	01'15.170	00.412
4	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	01'15.262	00.504
5	Alex Albon		Red Bull	01'15.336	00.578
6	Valtteri Bottas		Mercedes	01'15.338	00.580
7	Carlos Sainz Jr.		McLaren	01'16.014	01.256
8	Lando Norris		McLaren	01'16.322	01.564
9	Daniil Kvyat		Toro Rosso	01'16.469	01.711
10	Pierre Gasly		Toro Rosso	01'16.586	01.828
11	Sergio Perez		Racing Point	01'16.687	01.929
12	Nico Hulkenberg		Renault	01'16.885	02.127
13	Daniel Ricciardo		Renault	01'16.933	02.175
14	Kimi Raikkonen		Alfa Romeo	01'16.967	02.209
15	Antonio Giovinazzi		Alfa Romeo	01'17.794	03.036
16	Lance Stroll		Racing Point	01'18.065	03.307
17	Kevin Magnussen		Haas	01'18.436	03.678
18	Romain Grosjean		Haas	01'18.599	03.841
19	George Russell		Williams	01'18.823	04.065
20	Robert Kubica		Williams	01'20.179	05.421
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