Max Verstappen had been fastest in all three practice sessions, heading into the all important qualifying session today.
Red Bull had a clear advantage over their rivals, as Mercedes and Ferrari weren’t able to use their engines to good effect in the high altitudes of Mexico.
And while Max Verstappen seemed to be sure to take pole position for raceday, right the end, on the last lap during Q3, Ricciardo pulled a rabbit out of the hat and secured pole position, beating Verstappen to it, with Hamilton and Vettel slotting in the 2nd row.
Ricciardo was an ecstatic man post the race, unable to hide his jubilation after a series of DNFs in the last few races.
Red Bull and especially Ricciardo have suffered with massive reliability issues this time round and it was about time Ricciardo got some happiness back into his life and this pole filled him up with plenty.
Max was absolutely devastated after the 2nd place, ramming his car into the 2nd place board after the qualifying session had come to an end, and seeming visibly distraught during his on track interview.
VERSTAPPEN: “It’s still good to be second. We’ll see what I can do tomorrow”#MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ijCDyK3Ang
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 27, 2018
Verstappen knocks over the P2 board as he pulls up on the grid. He’s been fastest all weekend but Ricciardo pulled it out of seemingly nowhere. Shows just what an asset Red Bull is losing #F1 #MexicanGP
— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) October 27, 2018
Verstappen was unhappy with the problems in the car.
Verstappen: “The whole qualifying was crap – same problems as FP2, engine braking not what I wanted, rear locking, I thought it would be enough with the problems we had. I’ll drive around it.” #F1
— Autosport Live (@autosportlive) October 27, 2018
Check out the video:
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