Ricciardo on pole, Hamilton third

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Daniel Ricciardo stunned Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen by stealing pole position for Sunday's Mexican GP. 

Lewis Hamilton, who only needs five points to clinch a fifth world championship, was third fastest and will start alongside title rival Sebastian Vettel on the second row.

Sunday's race starts at 7.10pm, exclusively live on Sky Sports F1.

How Hamilton can win the title in MexicoGet a NOW TV passQualifying results in full

Verstappen had been in dominant form up until the final moments of qualifying when Ricciardo suddenly uncorked his best lap of the weekend to pip the Dutchman by less than a tenth of a second.

Verstappen, who topped every practice session, would have become the youngest driver to claim pole position had he prevailed.

"The whole qualifying was c***," a stony-faced Verstappen rued. "I had a lot of rear locking, on the down-shifting and when I come off throttle. Somehow the behaviour was not correct."

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A jubilant Ricciardo said: "I knew it was there somewhere. I knew the pace was in the car, Max showed that all weekend from start to finish...I gotta relax a little, I'm tripping major nutsack right now."

Verstappen had secured provisional pole position at the start of Q3 before Ricciardo's late burst secured the Australian a a farewell pole position before his departure to Renault and Red Bull's first front-row lockout since USA 2013.

"All eyes have been on Verstappen, he's dominated all the sessions but when it mattered most, Ricciardo delivered," concluded Sky F1's Martin Brundle.

How Ricciardo beat Verstappen to pole

Expect first-lap fireworks in MexicoVerstappen rues costly car problems

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Mercedes and Ferrari straight into the fight on Sunday?Red Bull, revelling in the high altitude conditions which equalise engine performance, set the tone for the weekend on Friday when they comprehensively outpaced Mercedes and Ferrari in practice.

Although the red and silver cars reduced the deficit in Saturday morning practice and the early stages of qualifying, Red Bull remained a class apart in the final reckoning.

But such is the superior straight-line speed of Mercedes and, in particular, Ferrari that both Verstappen and Ricciardo face intense pressure at the start of Sunday's race.

"Hamilton and Vettel on the second row, side by side, with more straight-line speed than the Red Bulls in front of them - they're going to turn up into braking zone into Turn One four abreast I reckon," predicted Brundle.

In last year's race, Hamilton clashed with Vettel off the line, but the Mercedes driver is eyeing an aggressive start on Sunday.

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"You saw what happened last year with the red car behind," said Hamilton. "It really depends how we get away but third place is a nice place to start here, you get a good tow from the guys up ahead. I'm going to fighting to at least gain a position but of course I'm aware of the Bulls up ahead."

How Hamilton can win title in Mexico

If Vettel wins in Mexico, Hamilton must finish seventhIf Vettel is second or lower in Mexico, Hamilton is world champion

Williams and McLaren fall early againIn a frantic end to Q1, both Haas cars fell at the first hurdle, while the wretched struggles of fallen superpowers Williams and McLaren continued.

For the 11th time in 2018, the Williams cars of Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin were eliminated in the first segment of Qualy, while Stoffel Vandoorne was beaten by McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso - a plight which has befallen the Belgian, leaving F1 for Formula E at the end of the year, in every qualifying session of a relentlessly grim season.

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