McLaren driver Lando Norris, who is 14 points behind leader and teammate Oscar Piastri in the F1 standings, improved his chances to win the title by securing the pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix on Saturday.

Meanwhile, four-time defending champion Max Verstappen qualified in fifth, two spots ahead of Piastri. If Norris and Piastri finish in the positions in which they start the race, Norris will move ahead of his teammate in the standings.

Norris finished 0.262 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was followed by Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton, George Russell of Mercedes and Verstappen, who sits 40 points off the lead. Verstappen also finished ahead of Norris and Piastri in the last four races.

Not since Alain Prost in 1990 has a driver won in Mexico after qualifying outside the top three. Prost qualified at 13th that year.

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli qualified in sixth, one spot ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who dropped to 12th after a collision with Antonelli at last weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix resulted in a five-place grid penalty for Sainz.

Because of that penalty, Piastri moved from eighth to seventh ahead of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar. Haas’ Oliver Bearman will start ninth, followed by Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda.

–Field Level Media