Shayni Solanki joined GPblog in the autumn of 2025 as an NCTJ-qualified motorsport journalist with a degree in History and Classics from the University of Warwick.
Shayni works for TNT Sports/Eurosport covering MotoGP, WEC, WRC, Formula E and Speedway, and has bylines in Motorsport Week, Motor Sport Magazine and Racing Pride. She initially fell in love with motorcycle racing before discovering Formula 1 as a young Ferrari fan.
The championship fight between the two McLaren drivers and a dejected Max Verstappen continues in the Mexican Grand Prix, with Lando Norris taking pole position ahead of both of his title rivals.
A hectic qualifying session saw Norris beat out Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton for pole, with the Ferrari duo settling for second and third, respectively.
Norris also gained some momentum on both rivals, with Verstappen only qualifying in fifth place and the championship leader, Oscar Piastri, qualifying in eighth but set to start in seventh.
Photo: Race Pictures
It was a lacklustre qualifying session for both Verstappen and Piastri, with Verstappen slotting in between the Mercedes duo of George Russell in fourth and Kimi Antonelli in sixth.
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Behind them was Williams' Carlos Sainz, who has been in excellent form lately, scoring his first podium for the British team in Azerbaijan.
However, Sainz was given a penalty for causing a collision at the United States Grand Prix, and was bumped down to 12th.
The championship leader, Piastri, described his qualifying session as being "far off" after being unable to pinpoint the issue with his McLaren.
After his tricky qualifying session that saw him qualify in eighth, Piastri told the press: "I mean, ultimately just a bit frustrated with how the session's gone.
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"There's a lot of things I could worry about, but ultimately being that far off when you feel like you've done a reasonable job is a difficult place to be, and so that's my biggest concern at the moment.
"So it's difficult to pinpoint where the lap time's been lacking this weekend but I'm sure we'll find out."
The championship leader will start the race from seventh place.
Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman rounded off the top ten for Racing Bulls and Haas, with their teammates unable to make it past Q2.
The full starting grid for the Mexican Grand Prix is:
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| 1. Lando Norris | McLaren |
| 2. Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| 3. Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari |
| 4. George Russell | Mercedes |
| 5. Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
| 6. Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes |
| 7. Oscar Piastri | McLaren |
| 8. Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls |
| 9. Oliver Bearman | Haas |
| 10. Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull |
| 11. Esteban Ocon | Haas |
| 12. Carlos Sainz | Williams |
| 13. Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber |
| 14. Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin |
| 15. Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls |
| 16. Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber |
| 17. Alex Albon | Williams |
| 18. Pierre Gasly | Alpine |
| 19. Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
| 20. Franco Colapinto | Alpine |
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