Daniel Ricciardo stunned Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen by taking pole position for Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix. Verstappen had been on provisional pole during the final session and was set to become F1's youngest ever pole sitter before the Australian pipped him by just 0.026 seconds. READ: The full qualifying report from the Mexican Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton is edging closer to a fifth world championship but will look to seal the crown in style at this weekend's Mexican Grand Prix. The Brit only needs to finish seventh at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez to retain the title and will be hoping to secure pole position in qualifying to maximise his chances of achieving that in Sunday's race. But it is Red Bull and Max Verstappen who were quickest in the practice sessions, with Hamilton's title rival Sebastian Vettel also going quick for Ferrari. So follow all the action from what promises to be a thrilling qualifying session as it happens. If you are using the app, please click here to view today’s live blog<doc-sep>Daniel Ricciardo let out a primal roar as he seized only the third pole position of his career here on Saturday night, and his first outside Monaco, with an exhilarating final flying lap to edge out Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen by just 26 thousandths of a second. Lewis Hamilton, who needs only to finish in the top seven in Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix to wrap up his fifth world title, starts third. Memories of last year’s chaotic first few corners here at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez will be uppermost in Hamilton’s mind on the half-mile rundown to Turn One. The two Red Bull drivers have taken each other out once before this season, in Baku, and the champion-in-waiting is wary of avoiding another tangle between them as he chases his moment of history. “I’ve been racing a long time,” he said. “It’s very rare that I make rash decisions in those scenarios.”<doc-sep>Daniel Ricciardo stunned Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen by stealing pole position for Sunday's Mexican GP. Lewis Hamilton, who only needs five points to clinch a fifth world championship, was third fastest and will start alongside title rival Sebastian Vettel on the second row. Sunday's race starts at 7.10pm, exclusively live on Sky Sports F1. How Hamilton can win the title in Mexico Get a NOW TV pass Qualifying results in full Verstappen had been in dominant form up until the final moments of qualifying when Ricciardo suddenly uncorked his best lap of the weekend to pip the Dutchman by less than a tenth of a second. Verstappen, who topped every practice session, would have become the youngest driver to claim pole position had he prevailed. "The whole qualifying was c***," a stony-faced Verstappen rued. "I had a lot of rear locking, on the down-shifting and when I come off throttle. Somehow the behaviour was not correct." A jubilant Ricciardo said: "I knew it was there somewhere. I knew the pace was in the car, Max showed that all weekend from start to finish...I gotta relax a little, I'm tripping major nutsack right now." Verstappen had secured provisional pole position at the start of Q3 before Ricciardo's late burst secured the Australian a a farewell pole position before his departure to Renault and Red Bull's first front-row lockout since USA 2013. "All eyes have been on Verstappen, he's dominated all the sessions but when it mattered most, Ricciardo delivered," concluded Sky F1's Martin Brundle. How Ricciardo beat Verstappen to pole 2:53 Sky F1's Paul di Resta looks at how Daniel Ricciardo beat Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen to pole position for the Mexican GP. Sky F1's Paul di Resta looks at how Daniel Ricciardo beat Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen to pole position for the Mexican GP. Expect first-lap fireworks in Mexico Verstappen rues costly car problems Mercedes and Ferrari straight into the fight on Sunday? Red Bull, revelling in the high altitude conditions which equalise engine performance, set the tone for the weekend on Friday when they comprehensively outpaced Mercedes and Ferrari in practice. Although the red and silver cars reduced the deficit in Saturday morning practice and the early stages of qualifying, Red Bull remained a class apart in the final reckoning. But such is the superior straight-line speed of Mercedes and, in particular, Ferrari that both Verstappen and Ricciardo face intense pressure at the start of Sunday's race. "Hamilton and Vettel on the second row, side by side, with more straight-line speed than the Red Bulls in front of them - they're going to turn up into braking zone into Turn One four abreast I reckon," predicted Brundle. In last year's race, Hamilton clashed with Vettel off the line, but the Mercedes driver is eyeing an aggressive start on Sunday. "You saw what happened last year with the red car behind," said Hamilton. "It really depends how we get away but third place is a nice place to start here, you get a good tow from the guys up ahead. I'm going to fighting to at least gain a position but of course I'm aware of the Bulls up ahead." How Hamilton can win title in Mexico If Vettel wins in Mexico, Hamilton must finish seventh If Vettel is second or lower in Mexico, Hamilton is world champion Williams and McLaren fall early again In a frantic end to Q1, both Haas cars fell at the first hurdle, while the wretched struggles of fallen superpowers Williams and McLaren continued. For the 11th time in 2018, the Williams cars of Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin were eliminated in the first segment of Qualy, while Stoffel Vandoorne was beaten by McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso - a plight which has befallen the Belgian, leaving F1 for Formula E at the end of the year, in every qualifying session of a relentlessly grim season. Mexican GP Qualifying Timesheet Driver Team Time 1) Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:14.759 2) Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:14.785 3) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:14.894 4) Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:14.970 5) Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:15.160 6) Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:15.330 7) Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:15.827 8) Carlos Sainz Renault 1:16.084 9) Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:16.189 10) Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:16.513 Out in Q2 11) Esteban Ocon Force India 1:16.844 12) Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:16.871 13) Sergio Perez Force India 1:17.167 14) Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:17.184 15) Pierre Gasly * Toro Rosso No time set Out in Q1 16) Romain Grosjean * Haas 1:16.911 17) Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:16.966 18) Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:17.599 19) Lance Stroll Williams 1:17.689 20) Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:17.886 * Both Grosjean and Gasly face grid penalties Sky Sports F1 is the only place to watch every Formula 1 Grand Prix, qualifying and practice session live in 2018. Get Sky Sports F1. Comment below to get involved in the debate, but please adhere to our House Rules. If you wish to report any comment, simply click on the down arrow next to the offending comment and click 'Report'.<doc-sep>Max Verstappen was pleased for Daniel Ricciardo but frustrated at his own car problems in Mexican GP qualifying. MAX Verstappen has bemoaned the car issues which he believes cost him pole position for the Mexican GP. Verstappen missed out on becoming the youngest-ever pole sitter in F1 history by less than a tenth of a second when team-mate Daniel Ricciardo snatched P1 out of his grasp. Verstappen had previously topped all three practice sessions and held provisional pole position after the opening Q3 runs. Watch every remaining F1 practice, qualifying and race LIVE & EXCLUSIVE with no ad-breaks during racing. Get Sport HD + Entertainment with no lock in contract and no iQ4 set up costs. Get Foxtel Sport. T&C’s Apply RESULTS: Click here for full results from Qualifying, Mexican GP REPORT: Ricciardo upsets Verstappen to snatch Mexican GP pole “The whole qualifying was crap. It was just not good,” rued Verstappen. “I was struggling the whole qualifying, with the same problems I had in Practice Two, when I had a lot of rear locking, on the down-shifting and when I come off throttle. Somehow the behaviour was not correct.” Verstappen continued: “So we couldn’t do anything throughout qualifying, so I just had to lock a lot of tools, go forward on the brake balance to try and stabilise the whole car. It’s not how you want to do qualifying, normally you go more aggressive and be more aggressive on all the tools.” The close battle for pole: 1) Daniel Ricciardo, Lap time: 1:14.759 2) Max Verstappen, Lap time: 1:14.785 3) Lewis Hamilton, Lap time: 1:14.894 4) Sebastian Vettel, Lap time: 1:14.970 In contrast, Ricciardo, who has endured a miserable run of form since winning May’s Monaco GP, was overjoyed at claiming what is likely to be his final Red Bull pole position before leaving for Renault. “Max led the way through the practices. I knew there was a bit more in it and we just squeezed it out at the very end,” said Ricciardo. “I knew the pace was there, it was just a matter of putting it together. To be honest, the first sector wasn’t that good, so I was surprised to have probably got the pole after that, but I saw the second and third sector were strong and that’s where I made the difference.” Despite missing out on a front-row starting berth, Lewis Hamilton was also delighted to have claimed third on the grid - one place ahead of title rival Sebastian Vettel. “This is a great day for us,” said Hamilton. “Considering how bad yesterday was for us, and so I really want to say a big thank you to everyone who’s back at the factory who’ve been working hard overnight and also the guys here, to rectify the issues we’ve had and get the car back into a sweeter spot. “To be as close as I am, I’m really quite happy with that, and to be on third, it’s not a bad start.” Hamilton added to Sky F1: “It was testament to the work we did overnight and the decisions we made going into qualifying. I’m really, relay happy. On the engineering side, there’s nobody better than in my team.” Story originally appeared on Sky Sports<doc-sep>
DANIEL Ricciardo has blasted his way past teammate Max Verstappen in a stunning drive to claim pole position at the Mexico Grand Prix. The Red Bull star sealed a front row lockout for Red Bull on Sunday morning (AEST), pipping his younger counterpart by less than a tenth of a second. Red Bull team principle Christian Horner said Ricciardo’s final qualifying lap, by far his best of the entire weekend, came “out of nowhere”. And the 29-year-old Aussie, months away from jumping ship to Renault, couldn’t quite believe it himself. “I’m tripping major nut-sack right now … shout out to the team to get a one-two,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports after jumping out of his car. “I knew it was in there somewhere – I just knew the pace was in the car – Max showed that all weekend. “I still wasn’t convinced it was the cleanest lap, but I’ve got to relax a little.” Ricciardo said the sloppy conditions at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit were some of the “worst” for racing. “It’s too dry for inters, we’ll just burn ‘em up and we might need them for qualifying,” he said. “But it’s too wet for slicks, even if we go out on the hyper-softs we won’t learn anything. Have to wait for it to rain or dry up more.” Verstappen was leading the entire weekend before Ricciardo’s spectacular blindside and was was inches from becoming the youngest ever driver to sit atop a Formula 1 grid. “The whole qualifying was c***,” the 21-year-old said. It was Red Bull’s first front-row lockout since the 2013 United States Grand Prix. “All eyes have been on Verstappen, he’s dominated all the sessions but when it mattered most, Ricciardo delivered,” racing expert Martin Brundle said. The Mexico Grand Prix will almost certainly see the 2018 championship wrap up with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton needing to finish seventh or lower with Sebastian Vettel finishing first to be denied his fifth crown. MERCEDES AND FERRARI STRAIGHT INTO THE FIGHT ON SUNDAY? Red Bull, revelling in the high altitude conditions which equalise engine performance, set the tone for the weekend on Friday when they comprehensively outpaced Mercedes and Ferrari in practice. Although the red and silver cars reduced the deficit in Saturday morning practice and the early stages of qualifying, Red Bull remained a class apart in the final reckoning. But such is the superior straight-line speed of Mercedes and, in particular, Ferrari that both Verstappen and Ricciardo face intense pressure at the start of Sunday’s race. “Hamilton and Vettel on the second row, side by side, with more straight-line speed than the Red Bulls in front of them - they’re going to turn up into braking zone into Turn One four abreast I reckon,” predicted Brundle. In last year’s race, Hamilton clashed with Vettel off the line, but the Mercedes driver is eyeing an aggressive start on Sunday. “You saw what happened last year with the red car behind,” said Hamilton. “It really depends how we get away but third place is a nice place to start here, you get a good tow from the guys up ahead. I’m going to fighting to at least gain a position but of course I’m aware of the Bulls up ahead.” Daniel Ricciardo, the Aussie F1 driver not afraid of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel... Daniel Ricciardo, the Aussie F1 driver not afraid of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel — with Sky Sports