Sebastian Vettel revelled in his pole position lap as he snatched top spot from Max Verstappen during a pulsating qualifying session for the Mexican Grand Prix.
Verstappen held an advantage over the first runs but Vettel struck back during the closing stages as he edged 0.086s clear, while the following Verstappen was unable to improve.
It marked Vettel’s 50th career pole position and his first since the Hungarian Grand Prix, prior to the summer break, as he bids to keep his title hopes alive.
“Yeah, well it was quite a lap I have to say,” said Vettel.
“I’m really, really happy, it’s very difficult here, very slippery, difficult to get everything in one lap.
“I had a little bit [of an advantage] in the first sector, I managed to get that right so I had a good start, then I had a bit of a moment at Turn 6, I nearly lost it there, had to go down to 1st gear, but I didn’t lose any time.
“Then I knew the last sector if I could just keep it clean and cross the line it should be enough and it was.
“Yesterday wasn’t that good for us in all honesty but overnight we improved, we had a lot of things we worked on and changed and they all worked.
“For now I’m really happy, we’ll see what happens but the race pace should be really good.”
Vettel added: “It’s not as much in my control as I would like it to be, so it depends what Lewis is doing.
“For us we go all out, we’ll attack and see what we can do, we deserve a good result, Ferrari deserves a good result, let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
