Mexico Qualifying: Hamilton too good

Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix in scintillating fashion, forcing his Mercedes teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg to dig deep to secure second place on the grid ans set the scene for what could be an intriguing duel on race day.

Hamilton's best lap time of 1:18.704 was set on his first run in Q3, which he followed up with a final run which was only seven thousandth of a second slower - both laps were good for pole position on a day in which he looked untouchable, clearly carrying the momentum from his North American triumph last week down south.

The reigning world champion was somewhat subdued as he alighted from his car in parc ferme, disappearing into the FIA weigh room after a slight wave to the crowd.

Hamilton summed up his session, "There is more grip on the track now, last year we were sliding around a lot more, today it felt more like a race track. I turned up to do the job and I'll try and do the same thing I did last week. I'm looking forward to the race and the car feels great."

It was a different story for Rosberg who could only manage the fourth best time during FP3 earlier in the morning session, and then for most of qualifying struggled to hit the sweet spot and looked destined for a second row start behind one, if not both, Red Bulls.

But the German delivered a great lap in his final run in Q3, one of the few drivers to go quicker with his last effort, and with assured himself a second row start. He ended a quarter of a second down on the top time.

Rosberg commented: "Lewis' lap was brilliant, not so much mine, but I put it together when it counted so I'm pleased with that. It still gives me a great chance for tomorrow. I took a bit longer this weekend to find the way, generally with the tyre temperatures on the cold side. I got there in the end."

For the record, even if Hamilton wins all three remaining races, Rosberg would only need two second-place finishes and a third place to clinch his first Formula 1 world championship.

As suspected Red Bull kept their powder dry during free practice, as in qualifying both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo looked game to take on the Silver Arrows and in the race they must fancy their chances of causing an upset. Verstappen will start from third with Ricciardo beside him in fourth.

Verstappen said: "You have to be realistic in Q2, some other guys were on soft tyres. I had a good feeling with the car all weekend, I was getting better and better but it was a shame in Q3 I couldn't get the lap together. We have a different strategy for tomorrow."

Ricciardo summed up: "I don't know how close we were to pole, I guess everyone had handling issues out there - I think it was pretty terrible balance. It was a handful, we didn't expect a perfect car and you can't when the altitude is like this and the grip. From that I think fourth is great. It was a pretty confusing qualifying."

Nico Hulkenberg continued his good run in qualifying by ending fifth fastest, well ahead of his local hero teammate Sergio Perez who will start his home race from 12th.

Ferrari flattered in free practice only to deceive in qualifying with Kimi Raikkonen sixth fastest, ahead of Sebastian Vettel who was seventh on the timing screens - the Reds six tenths down on Hamilton's pole winning time.

Up next were the Williams pair of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, in eighth and ninth respectively, followed by the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz in tenth.

At the end of Q2 the young Spaniard snatched tenth on the timing screens, which cost his fellow countryman Fernando Alonso a slot in Q3. After a good showing in Austin a week earlier, the McLaren duo struggled to find an optimum balance with their car in Mexico. Jenson Button was 13th quickest.

Q1 107% time - 1:25.008 Note - Palmer failed to set a Q1 time within the 107% requirement so races at the stewards' discretion.