Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Pole in Mexico after Verstappen Penalty

Mexico City: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was handed pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix on Saturday after stewards demoted Max Verstappen for failing to slow for yellow warning flags in qualifying.

The Red Bull driver’s three-place drop to fourth also lifted Sebastian Vettel to an all-Ferrari front row and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to third, boosting the Briton’s chances of sealing his sixth world championship on Sunday.

Since the high-altitude race returned to the calendar in 2015, every winner has started on the front row.

“I think it’s clear for everyone that when there’s a yellow flag you need to slow down... I think it’s clear for every driver. It’s the basics,” Leclerc had said after qualifying second on the track.

The qualifying session had ended in drama after Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas crashed heavily at the last corner, strewing the track with debris.

Verstappen, a winner of the past two Mexican Grands Prix, had sounded defiant in a post-qualifying news conference when he admitted he had not slowed for the flags warning of the accident.

“I was aware that Valtteri crashed,” said the 22-year-old Dutchman.

Asked whether he had backed off, Verstappen replied: “Didn’t really look like it, did it? No.”

Hamilton can wrap up the championship on Sunday with three races to spare if he finishes on the podium at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and scores 14 points more than Bottas.

Bottas was passed fit after a trip to the medical center, but Mercedes faced a busy evening repairing extensive damage to his car.

The front row lockout was Ferrari’s second in a row and their sixth successive pole. It is also Leclerc’s seventh pole of the season.

“In that last sector, it all went to pot,” said Hamilton before the penalty was announced. “I’m generally happy with today, it’s hard to keep up with the others,”

“We knew it would be difficult this weekend but I gave it everything; it wasn’t enough for pole and I got enough out of the car and it puts us in a good enough fighting position for tomorrow.” IANS

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