Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz LOCK OUT the front row for the Mexican Grand Prix as Ferrari overcomes Q1 and Q2 struggles to shock the grid

Charles Leclerc took a shock pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix and claimed a Ferrari lockout with Carlos Sainz.

A surprised Leclerc said: ‘Two weekends in a row where we didn’t expect pole. We thought we were quite short after FP3.

‘But for some reason once we put everything together it went well and we gained a lot on the new tyres.

‘I’m already concentrating on tomorrow’s race because we’ve had a lot of pole positions, but we have to convert the win and it will be very difficult.

“We will only focus on ourselves. We had a pretty good pace all weekend. I’m not sure if it’s enough to fight for victory, but we’ll do everything we can to get it.”

Teammate Carlos Sainz (L) finished P2, completing a shock front row exclusion for Ferrari

Max Verstappen finished only third, although he is awaiting the stewards’ verdict on whether he blocked the pit exit earlier. The three-time world champion could be stripped of his second-row position if found guilty.

Mercedes’ George Russell, eighth, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, 13th, were also both called to answer the same charge, which related to Q1 when the drivers held back in search of a clear stretch of road.

Lewis Hamilton, who qualified sixth, was also ordered before the stewards for allegedly failing to slow down under yellow flags.

Whatever the outcome of that hearing, the Mercedes man was not the same force here as he was last week in Austin, Texas, when he finished second behind Verstappen but was disqualified for a technical infringement.

On a hot day in Mexico City, Verstappen was dominant all afternoon, until Q3. He hit the curb hard at Turn 8 on his first flying lap of the pole shoot-out and that slowed him down, allowing the Ferrari pair to lead the standings with just one final flying tilt left.

Can the Dutchman improve his time? Yes, but he was still 0.097 seconds off pole. It gave Leclerc his second consecutive pole.

Responding to his call, Verstappen said: ‘I was opening a gap. That was everyone. I’m surprised it’s being looked at. I don’t think I did anything wrong or weird. I didn’t bother.

‘Creating a gap in the pit lane is the only safe place to do that. You don’t want to start a lap with just a three to four second lead on the car in front of you.”

Sergio Perez struggled during his home race, finishing P5 and still had a lot of ground to gain

Sergio Perez finished a disappointing fifth in the second Red Bull in front of a partnership crowd of 390,000 in total over the weekend. A year ago the tickets were sold out.

Lando Norris was a surprise casualty in the first quarter. The Brit dropped his first two hot laps – at one point going wide at Turn 10 – and paid the price when a yellow flag caused by a spinning Alonso ended his hopes of progress.

Going out on the slower medium tires didn’t help him at first. The McLaren man later switched to softs, but the mistake had already been made.

It was a disappointment for Norris, after a rich run of form that saw him appear on the podium in four consecutive races. He will start 19th, with only Williams’ Logan Sargeant below him after two lap times were canceled for exceeding track limits.