Sebastian Vettel boosted his slim hopes of keeping alive his world championship challenge after claiming the 50th pole of his career for today’s Mexican Grand Prix.
AFP
The four-time champion German, who needs to win and hope championship leading Briton Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes fails to finish in the top five, or worse, produced a dazzling lap in the final seconds.
Hamilton, who can capture a fourth world title on Sunday, was third in qualifying, edged out by Red Bull's Max Verstappen who was on course for pole until Vettel's sensational late charge.
“I am so happy,” said Vettel, who took pole with a record lap in one minute and 16.488 seconds. “We will attack all the way and see what we can do.
Hamilton was subdued, but not downcast.
“We’re still on for the win and we’ll see what happens with Max. I hope to have a battle with at least one of them," said the Mercedes driver.
"Those guys did a great job. I gave it everything in the last lap. I could've been a couple of tenths of a second quicker, but it wouldn't be enough to match these guys. We're still in for the win - I hope to have a battle with at least one of them."
Verstappen was second fastest ahead of Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari and Esteban Ocon of Force India.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo qualified seventh in the second Red Bull ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and his Renault team-mate Carlos Sainz with local hero Sergio Perez 10th in the second Force India.
