Lando Norris vows to win the Mexico City Grand Prix and inflict pain on title rivals Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. F1 News

Lando Norris is determined to score a title-deciding victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday evening, with his main rivals baffled by a lack of pace.

The British driver produced the most dominant qualifying performance of his career, taking pole position from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen started fifth and championship leader Oscar Piastri started seventh after qualifying almost six tenths slower than his team-mate.

Norris trails Piastri by 14 points in the drivers’ standings and if he wins on Sunday, his McLaren team-mate will need to finish at least fourth to maintain his lead in the title hunt.

And Norris was brimming with confidence as he looked ahead to Sunday’s race.

“I came here to win,” he said.

“I will be looking forward to it. I know there will be fast people behind me.

“It’s a long haul until the first turn. The race pace for Ferraris is usually very strong.

“I’m looking forward to the fight. I don’t expect it to be easy. I’ll just keep my eyes on the front and see how far I can win.”

Piastri said the lack of speed was a ‘mystery’.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella told Sky Sports F1 after the race that Norris was faster than Piastri in “almost every corner” of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Now at risk of giving up the title lead he has held since April, the Australian driver was left frustrated on Saturday evening, claiming he was bewildered by his lack of pace.

“Everything seems fine. There is no speed, which is a bit mysterious,” he said. Sky Sports F1.

“It’s been pretty much the same gap all weekend so let’s look at where we went wrong. It’s definitely a bit frustrating.

“The way I feel in the car hasn’t changed much. Just this weekend and last weekend, I felt like I wasn’t up to speed.

“I’m not 100% sure why yet, so I’ll look into it further.”

Piastri’s best chance of gaining ground may come in the long run at the first corner and he will be hoping for a tow as he lines up behind Norris, Hamilton and Verstappen on the left-hand side of the grid.

“It will be an opportunity to make progress going forward,” he acknowledged. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Verstappen: Everything we tried didn’t work.

Verstappen came into the weekend in the best form of the three title hopefuls and was looking to replicate his great weekend in Austin last week and make further inroads to close a 40-point deficit in the driver standings.

But like Piastri, he too endured a frustrating lack of pace that left the Red Bull unable to compete with the rampant Norris.

“If we knew, we would change it, but unfortunately we don’t,” he said. Sky Sports F1.

“We tried a lot of things and they weren’t good. It wasn’t a lack of trying, it was a lack of finding.

“We went into qualifying trying something again and it didn’t work out in some corners. We got better in some places but in other areas it was harder and we couldn’t push.

“I knew from the first run in the first quarter that wasn’t going to be the case. Basically, everything we tried didn’t really work.”

But he does not share Piastri’s optimism about being able to win the first corner.

“If you don’t have speed, you don’t really have recovery drive,” he added.

“We need people to retire in the future.

“Every lap I did this weekend wasn’t good. It didn’t feel like anything short-term or long-term and it’s not going to suddenly change for the better tomorrow.”

Sky Sports F1 Mexico City GP Schedule

Sunday, October 26
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP strengthened*
8 p.m.: Mexico City Grand Prix*
10pm: Checkered flag: Mexico City GP reaction

*Applies to Sky Sports main event as well

Formula 1’s thrilling title race continues at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday for the lights-out Mexico City Grand Prix at 8pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream Sky Sports NOW – No Commitment, Cancel Anytime