It was pole and an open road to renewed title contention for Lando Norris, though starting first here in Mexico City comes with a major caveat attached.
However, the papaya-ink asterisk is against the world championship leader Oscar Piastri, who will start from a disappointing seventh place in the other McLaren. Are his dreams heading for skid row?
The Australian was billed as tough as carbon but he has not beaten Norris, let alone Max Verstappen, in any of the last four races since he won in Holland back in August, his advantage diminishing all the while, seemingly along with his confidence. Norris has worked away, providing him with a vital flicker of momentum.
He more than flickered in qualifying. He was on fire, dominating an otherwise captivatingly unpredictable session.
This was a bonanza day for him with Verstappen, who trails Piastri by 40 points and him by 26 with 141 remaining, qualifying only fifth, struggling in his Red Bull.
The two cars behind Norris were the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc, 0.262sec back, and Lewis Hamilton. George Russell starts fourth for Mercedes.
Not wishing to spoil the excitement but to the aforementioned caveat, which can do little for the tranquility of Norris’s sleep despite dazzling in bright sunshine to take his first pole since Belgium in July.
For the drag into the opening corner is the longest on the calendar at 900 yards. It offers a chance for slipstreaming into the 90-degree right-hander, the first part of the crucial complex.
‘Turn one,’ ruminated Verstappen, ‘I’ll think about that when the lights go out. It’s not something that you can really plan for.
‘Every start is different. So that’s also how I approach it. I think it’s always better to start first. There is nothing else I can control right now.’
The most instinctive driver on the grid, Verstappen’s confidence is buttressed by the fact he has won at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez a record five times. He lies in wait but from a long way back. It is advantage Norris, no doubt.
Whatever transpires today, Verstappen has put the wind up Piastri. A few short weeks ago he was not expecting an interloper barging into what he considered to be a strictly internal contest. He led by 104 points post-Zandvoort.
McLaren, at least in the shape of Norris, have found their mojo again in great style despite having brought zero upgrades to Mexico; Red Bull boast four, more than any other team.
Two are tweaks to the transformational floor introduced in Monza last month, as well a couple relating to improved reliability. These additions reflect a relentless determination to evolve into an even stronger package over the final five rounds rather than turn all eyes towards next year’s car.
As for Verstappen’s special brew and the threat he possesses today and to the end of the championship, a warning from a man who knows him well, Jonathan Wheatley, now team principal at Sauber but previously sporting director at Red Bull.
‘Max is the whole deal now,’ cooed Wheatley. ‘He’s knitting his experienced team around him to exploit where he thinks performance can be found. He’s seeking it out all the time.
‘I would not write Max off in any situation I could imagine.’
That is a reality McLaren are learning on the hoof. But at least Norris put a brake on his pal, for one glorious afternoon at least.
