Lando Norris vows to win Mexico Grand Prix and make title rivals Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri suffer | F1 News

Lando Norris vowed to claim a decisive victory at the Mexico Grand Prix on Sunday night as his main rivals were mystified by their lack of pace.

The British pilot produced the most dominant qualifying performance of his career to clinch pole position of Charles Leclerc and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton with Max Verstappen starting fifth and championship leader Oscar Piastri seventh after qualifying almost six tenths slower than his teammate.

Norris trails Piastri by 14 points in the drivers' standings and if he wins on Sunday then his McLaren teammate will need to finish at least fourth to maintain the lead in the title race.

And Norris was brimming with confidence as he looked ahead to Sunday's race.

“I’m here to win,” he said.

“I'm going to look forward to it. I know I'm going to have fast guys behind me.

“It’s a long descent to the first corner. The racing pace of the Ferraris is normally very strong.

“I expect a battle, I don't expect it to be easy. Look forward and see how much I can win.”

Piastri says lack of pace is 'a mystery'

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella told Sky Sports F1 after the race that Norris was faster than Piastri in “almost every corner” at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The Australian driver, who now risks losing the lead he has held since April, appeared frustrated on Saturday evening, insisting he was mystified by his lack of pace.

“Everything’s fine, there’s just no rhythm, which is a bit of a mystery,” he said. Sky Sports F1.

“It's more or less the same gap all weekend, so we'll see where it went wrong. Obviously it's a little frustrating.

“The way I feel in the car hasn't changed much. It's just this weekend and last weekend I felt like the pace wasn't there.”

“I’m not 100% sure why yet, so we’re going to do a little digging.”

Piastri's best chance of gaining places could come from the long run to the first corner and he will hope to be towed as he lines up behind Norris, Hamilton and Verstappen on the left side of the grid.

“This will be an opportunity to progress,” he admitted. “We’ll see what I can do.”

Verstappen: Everything we tried didn't work

Verstappen entered the weekend in the best form of the three title hopefuls and was looking to replicate a spectacular weekend in Austin last week and extend further into the 40-point gap he has in the drivers' standings.

But like Piastri, he endured a frustrating lack of pace, with Red Bull unable to match Norris.

“If we knew it we would change it and unfortunately that’s not the case,” he said. Sky Sports F1.

“We've tried so many things and it hasn't been good. It's not the lack of trying, it's not the finding.

“We tried something again in qualifying and we didn't succeed in some corners. It made things better in some places, but in other areas it was more difficult and didn't allow me to attack.

“I knew from the first run in Q1 that it wasn't going to be the case. Basically everything we tried didn't really work.”

However, he does not share the same optimism as Piastri about his ability to catch up from the first corner.

“There’s no real recovery when you don’t have rhythm,” he added.

“I need people to retire before me to move forward.

“Every lap I did this weekend was not good. Short or long term, it never felt in the window and it's not going to suddenly change for the better tomorrow.”

Sky Sports F1 Mexico GP Schedule

Sunday October 26
6:30 p.m.: Grand Prix Sunday: preparation for the Mexico GP*
8 p.m.: THE MEXICO GRAND PRIX*
10 p.m.: Checkered flag: reaction from the Mexico GP

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1's thrilling title race continues on Sunday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix with lights out at 8pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime