Sainz makes his mark in finely balanced championship

Carlos Sainz is the fifth driver this season to have secured a pole position. The Spaniard joined the club after being a front runner throughout qualifying, second in Q1, third in Q2 before beating the field in the top ten shoot-out when both his flying laps were good enough to secure him the number one grid slot. In Mexico City, the Ferrari driver has seemed on form from the moment he first drove out of the garage and now he has a great opportunity to add to the victory he took earlier in the year in Melbourne. It's certainly not the first time that Carlos has fought for pole, but for one reason or other, this year it has always eluded him, his previous perfect qualifying performance dating back to Singapore last year. On that occasion, he followed it up with an amazing win, the only one that didn't fall to a Red Bull driver that season.

All the signs point to a repeat performance this Sunday, especially as the SF-24 seems to be in great shape. From the Italian Grand Prix onwards, apart from pole here in Mexico, Charles Leclerc started from the number one slot in Baku, which he converted into a second place and he also won in Monza and Austin, while Sainz finished second last week in Austin. In the post-qualifying press conference, Carlos admitted it was a special moment for him. The team is making progress and is in the hunt for the Constructors' title, which suggests that next year could be the right one. And while Carlos has been a key element in Ferrari's gradual return to the top, next year he will no longer be dressed in red and will, in some ways, have to start from scratch on his quest to achieve his dream of being world champion. But that's another story.
The fact that Sainz is the fifth driver to take pole position demonstrates how closely contested is this season. In fact, Ferrari is the only team so far this year to have had both its drivers on the top grid slot. Not since 2012 has the team with the most poles not exceeded 40% of the total number of poles. Back then, Red Bull and McLaren ended the year with the most poles – eight apiece, while seven drivers from five teams were quickest in qualifying, the aforementioned two, plus Ferrari with two, while Mercedes and Williams had one each. Today, Red Bull still leads the way on eight, from the 21 races so far, but the last time one of its cars headed the field dates back to the Austrian Grand Prix. McLaren is second on six, followed by Ferrari with four and Mercedes with two.

It's not just the pole position statistics that point to a closely contested season. Seven drivers have won at least once, Sergio Perez being the only driver from a top team not to have done so. Red Bull leads the way thanks to eight wins for Max Verstappen, followed by McLaren on five, courtesy of three with Norris and two with Piastri, while Ferrari and Mercedes have three each – Leclerc on three, Hamilton on two and Sainz and Piastri one apiece. Those four teams also share all 57 podium places available so far, McLaren leading the way with 18, followed by Ferrari and Red Bull on 16 and Mercedes with seven. Perez, who suffered a humiliating qualifying yesterday, also makes it onto this particular list thank to better results in the first four races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Australia and China. Then from Miami onwards his form plummeted and it continues to do so, seriously jeopardising his team's chances of hanging onto the Constructors' crown. In Mexico City it could slip down to third in the standings as it only has an eight point lead over Ferrari and Verstappen is all on his own at the front end of the grid, surrounded by his rivals.