Carlos Sainz secured pole position at the Mexico Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen managed to outpace his title contender Lando Norris, who qualified in third. With five races left in the season and 146 points still available, Norris trails Verstappen by 57 points in the drivers' championship and needs to make significant progress to close the gap. McLaren's efforts to overturn Norris's controversial penalty from the previous race in Austin, which had placed him behind Verstappen, were unsuccessful. Norris described that penalty as a "momentum killer" in his quest for his first championship title. Unfortunately for him, his qualifying performance fell short, finishing behind Verstappen and over three-tenths of a second slower than Sainz, the pole-sitter, as they prepare for the 71-lap race on Sunday.