MEXICO CITY: World champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull will start the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix from pole for the first time on Sunday night. In 2019, Verstappen was quickest in qualifying but had to drop three grid places for a yellow flag infringement, promoting Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to pole. There were no such problems for the 25-year-old Dutchman this time, who recorded a best lap of 1:17.775 and an average lap speed of 199.220 km/h to secure his sixth pole of 2022 and the 19th of his F1 career. “Very lovely that,” the Dutchman told his team after holding off the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. “It was a close one. We made a few adjustments and the car got into a better rhythm.” The hopes of hundreds of thousands of Mexican fans were dashed when Sergio Perez could not join his team-mate on the front row, after finishing fourth fastest. “It was a big shame,” said Perez. “We had an electrical issue throughout qualifying. I was pretty much blind, I had no indication of my lap times. To be P4 is not the end of the world, but today I believe we could have fought for pole.” But Verstappen lifted the Mexican mood: “Checo will be there tomorrow,” he said, “I’m sure we’ve got a fast race car.”Russell complained of brake problems throughout the hour but apologized to his Mercedes team after his final run when he ran wide on entry to the Foro Sol and lost any chance of catching the Red Bull. “The team deserved more today,” said the 24-year-old Englishman. “They’ve produced a really great car for this weekend — it was just a terrible lap from me.” Ferrari could do no better than fifth for Carlos Sainz and seventh for Charles Leclerc, as Sainz complained: “We were fighting the car too much,” but the surprise package was Valtteri Bottas sandwiched between them. Bottas, now 33, was on pole at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez last season for Mercedes, but to be in the top six in his Alfa Romeo is in some ways an even more outstanding effort. “It’s really uplifting for the whole team,” said the Finn. “It’s been an easy car to drive and since FP1 I’ve had confidence.” The last three positions in the top 10 are shared by the McLaren of Lando Norris and the two Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon — another mouth-watering prospect for Sunday — as those two teams battle for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.Right behind them is Daniel Ricciardo in the second McLaren, who was eliminated in Q2 along with Chinese newcomer Zhou Guanyu in the other Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri pair Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, in addition to Kevin Magnussen’s Haas. There had been a landmark moment for the Haas team as Magnussen made it into the second stage of qualifying — the first time the American team has got one of their drivers out of Q1 in Mexico. However, Magnussen carries a grid penalty and will drop back, while team-mate Mick Schumacher was sixth at one point, until his best lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits in Turn 2 and the German was also eliminated. There was no joy for 2017 Mexican pole-winner Sebastian Vettel. In his final appearance at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the Aston Martin driver could manage only 17th in Q1. Mercedes, winless and with just one pole position in 2022 so far, threw down the gauntlet to the field in the third practice session as Russell and Hamilton made it a 1-2 for the Silver Arrows.