Leclerc angry with himself as Hamilton takes pole he expected to have

Leclerc arrived for Saturday as the man to beat. The Monegasque driver was the quickest in both FP1 and FP2 on Friday afternoon. In qualifying, though, after having provisional pole after the first laps were completed by the drivers, he ended up finishing third behind Hamilton and also Mercedes' George Russell.

As in Austin last week, the problem was getting the tyres into the right window before the flying lap, and he made no attempt to deflect the blame.

"I just didn't do a good enough job. Yes, tyre preparation is quite key. I kind of struggled to have the same conditions for my out-lap throughout the qualifying. But at the end of the day, when I had a clean out-lap in Q3, run two, I didn't do the job. So I can only be angry with myself," Leclerc said after the session.

Third place in Mexico City is not the worst place to start. Because the run from the grid to Turn 1 is so long, pole is not always the best spot, and Leclerc will have both Hamilton and Russell ahead of him to tow from. Asked whether he could take advantage of his team-mate's slipstream, he kept his answer short: "Yes, I mean, I'll keep my head down as much as possible and see what's possible. But, yes, it's always an exciting Turn 1 there, and we'll see how it goes."

That leaves Ferrari with both cars in the top three. Leclerc thinks the car has the pace, saying "I think we've got a very strong car in the corners". However, he expects the Ferrari to lose out on the straights, where it is down on power and carries extra drag.

That is why the start matters so much to him. Leclerc said his experiments in FP2 showed how little help drivers get when trying to pass: "I've tried more in FP2, and it's just very difficult because the overtake mode doesn't do much. So, I think whatever the standing is after Turn 3, it's going to be very difficult then to overtake."

Russell made a similar point, saying "I think Turn 1 is going to be crucial".

The championship stakes are high. Kimi Antonelli starts fourth, directly behind Leclerc, and can clinch the title on Sunday. Behind him, only nine points cover second to fifth in the standings, with Russell, Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Leclerc all in the fight.