Formula One, Mexican Grand Prix qualifying results: Daniel Ricciardo sizzles as Charles Leclerc takes pole position

Daniel Ricciardo is back – delivering a blistering drive on Sunday morning to turbocharge his Formula One comeback from a broken hand.

Daniel Ricciardo has declared he feels like his “old-self” and will back his chances of being able to “stay and the front and fight” after the Australian turbo-charged his comeback to put his AlphaTauri on the second row of the grid for the Mexican Grand Prix.

As Charles Leclarc took pole position in a front-row lock-out for Ferrari, Ricciardo delivered a stunning qualifying performance to book himself fourth spot on the starting grid for Monday’s race in only his second grand prix back after his return from a broken hand.

Building on his impressive practice form, Ricciardo admitted his shock qualifying result had exceeded expectations after he sandwiched his AlphaTauri between the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen (third) and Sergio Perez (fifth) in the Mexican’s home grand prix.

Leclerc led home a Ferrari one-two in qualifying ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz as the Monegasque driver targeted his first victory of the year.

Verstappen was 0.097sec behind in third and was later cleared by the stewards following a post-qualifying investigation for impeding at the pit exit in Q1.

Oscar Piastri qualified seventh for the race, but there was disaster for McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who was unable to progress past Q1 and will start from the back of the grid.

Daniel Ricciardo has produced a blistering lap to put him near the top of the grid for tomorrow’s Mexican Grand Prix. Picture: Getty

Ricciardo said he felt like he was back to his “old-self”, but admitted his P4 qualifying result had exceeded expectations.

“Already Sunday night in Austin, I was just wanting it to be Friday practice, I wanted to get back in the car and felt like there were some things left on the table,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports F1.

“There were some things also with set-up that we knew we could try this weekend, some things that I definitely wanted to try and had some confidence in. So from lap one yesterday, I felt really confident.

“P4 is maybe a little bit more than we thought, but coming into qualy, it was not about getting Q3, it was about how far can we get inside (the top-10)? I think as a team we definitely had confidence.

“But I thought maybe with the perfect lap it was maybe P6, P7, not quite a P4, so it’s cool.

“I think there was a positive chip on my shoulder as well, I know I have not done much this year race-wise, but I feel a lot like my old-self and I feel like I can do well.”

Ricciardo has endured a tumultuous time in recent seasons, and recently returned from a hand injury. Picture: Getty

Ricciardo said he would back his chances of being able to stay up and front and battle with the top teams in Monday’s race.

“There is a part of me that says, ‘Why not? Why can’t we stay at the front and fight for where we are because Yuki (Tsunoda) was great and gave me the tow in Q1 and Q2, but (in) Q3 we got that on merit,” Ricciardo said.

“It’s not like we had a bit of help to determine the final grid position. Part of you expects the top teams to show a bit more on Sunday and maybe better with tyre wear and things like this, but right now I’m like ‘Why not?’

“It’s pretty cool. There is a lot of cars behind me. That feels nice.”

Ricciardo missed five races after he broke his left hand and required surgery following a practice crash at the Dutch Grand Prix in late August and only made his return to racing at last week’s United States Grand Prix.

The 34-year-old placed last among the finishers on track in Austin after being hampered by damage his car picked up during the race.

Ricciardo said his repaired hand had continued to stand up to its latest test on track.

“I’m not ready for a boxing ring yet,” Ricciardo said.

“I’m throwing the right one (hand) out everywhere.

“Especially turn two and turn three here, you smash the kerbs and it is one that you are quite aggressive with and the hand has been good.

“I could say it (the hand) has cost me two-tenths and I’d be pole today, but the reality is, it’s doing alright.”

Max Verstappen was pinged for impeding at the pit exit in Q1. Picture: Getty

In a busy day for the stewards, Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton (sixth) and George Russell (eighth) and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso all avoided penalties following post-qualifying investigations.

Russell and Alonso faced the same issue as Verstappen for impeding at the end of pit exit, while Hamilton was looked at for failing to slow under yellow flags after Alonso’s spin during Q1.

Leclerc said his pole lap was unexpected and hoped the pace Ferrari showed in qualifying would be enough to convert his qualifying result into victory.

“To be honest I did not expect to be on pole position today, we thought we were lacking quite a bit after P3,” Leclerc said.

“But for some reason, once we put everything together it went well, the new tyres, we gained a lot, but I’m only focusing on tomorrow’s race because many pole positions but now we need to convert it to a win tomorrow and, of course, it is going to be very difficult.

“We have had a pretty good pace all weekend, I’m not sure if it’s enough to be challenging for the win, but we will try everything in our hands to try and get it.

“First place here, I’m not sure is the best starting place. But anyway, that’s fine, I’ll take that pole position. I’m really happy with today and let’s finalise it tomorrow.”

McLaren's Australian driver Oscar Piastri got back into the swing of things after a disappointing result in Texas. Picture: AFP

Piastri, who was forced to retire early from the US Grand Prix last week, predicted a podium finish in Mexico would be a “long-shot” from his starting position.

“I think Q1 and Q2 looked strong, especially Q2, we got through on one set of tyres and pace looked good then we just didn’t really find much more pace with Q3, which was a bit of a surprise, I’m not sure why,” Piastri said.

“I think the pace in the car was good. We’re in a decent spot for tomorrow. It’s going to be a difficult race from there, but we’ll see what we can do.

“The podium I think will be tough. The Mercedes looked good, Red Bull looked strong as always, Ferrari’s long run didn’t look amazing yesterday, but obviously they are starting at the front in clean air, so that makes a massive difference.

“Maybe we can get there. Hopefully I can have another good first lap, that would be nice. But I think the podium tomorrow would be a long-shot.”

Norris blamed himself for his shock qualifying exit.

“I got told to box, so something obviously wasn’t right. But that wasn’t a problem, I just made some mistakes on my one lap I had, obviously there was a yellow in the end from Fernando, so that one lap that I was given I didn’t put together and that was it,” Norris said.

“I had one lap and I didn’t do it, so it’s on me.”

Originally published as Formula One, Mexican Grand Prix qualifying results: Daniel Ricciardo sizzles as Charles Leclerc takes pole position