MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two-time defending race champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull ended Ferrari’s run of five consecutive pole positions Saturday by capturing the No. 1 qualifying spot at the Mexican Grand Prix.
His fastest time came just as a big crash by Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas brought qualifying to an early finish. The wreck ended the pole bid by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel, who will start second and third.
“To come out on top was incredible,” Verstappen said. “We showed we are very quick.”
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton will start fourth as he goes for a sixth season championship. He can win the Formula One title if he finishes 14 points ahead of Bottas, the only driver still mathematically alive in the championship.
A sixth title would put the British driver just one behind the record seven by Michael Schumacher.
Bottas crashed as he headed into the final corner out of the slow stadium section. He hit the wall as the teams were rolling toward their final laps, causing the session to end.
Verstappen can become the first driver with three victories at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Ferrari had taken pole position in the last five races and earn three wins in that stretch.
Verstappen’s second career pole will have to be defended from the start against Leclerc in the long sprint to the first corner. Verstappen won both times the last two years starting in the No. 2 position and getting a tow to the first turn. Ferrari’s straight-line power should give Leclerc a big boost with a good start.
“Hopefully I can take at tow from Max,” Leclerc said.
Hamilton has work to do on a track that has not favored him in recent years. He clinched the 2017 and 2018 titles in Mexico City, but he has just one win in four races on the track and hasn’t finished on the podium in this race since his 2016 victory.
Hamilton needs to at least finish on the podium to seal the championship or it will extend to next week’s U.S. Grand Prix in Texas. Texas has been a much better race for Hamilton, with five victories since 2012. Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff suggested Friday there is no plan to have Bottas back off Sunday.
