Valtteri Bottas pulled off a crucial pole position for the 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix in a dramatic conclusion to Saturday's qualifying session at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Mercedes had been looking up against it throughout practice despite Bottas having set the pace in FP1. After that, Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez had pulled out a seemingly insurmountable advantage.
But Bottas was back on top again when he was fastest in the first round of qualifying, and his team mate Lewis Hamilton went top in Q2 to set up a thrilling showdown with Verstappen and Perez in the final top ten pole shoot-out.
Bottas was able to throw down the gauntlet with a brilliant lap of 1:15.875s at the start of Q3 which put him top by 0.145s from Hamilton, but everything still hinged on one final push.
Neither Bottas nor Hamilton were able to improve on their times - but crucially, an attempt to provide Verstappen with a tow backfired when Perez briefly ran off track leaving the Red Bulls having to settle for third and fourth on the grid.
"It’s a good feeling," Bottas told the media in parc ferme after the end of the session. "It was awesome laps, especially my lap in the first run of Q3.
"I couldn’t quite match the final sector on the last one, but I think honestly that first run in Q3 was one of my best laps.
“This morning the car was really good," he continued. "We tried to optimise everything with tyre temperatures and setups. It was a joy to drive.
"We were lacking a bit of pace on lap one, but I think with the higher temperatures this afternoon it came our way.
However Bottas is all too well aware that the job is not even half done, with both Mercedes having their work to cut out to stay ahead of both Red Bulls at the start of Sunday's race in the run down to turn 1.
“It is a long straight and for sure the cars behind will get a tow will have good opportunities, so we need a good start,” he acknowledged.
“At least as a team it’s great that we have two cars ahead," he said. "Hopefully we'll try and keep our positions.”
Mercedes is defending a 23 point lead over Red Bull in the constructors standings with five races remaining, while Bottas is now in a perfect position to help his team mate Hamilton overcome a 12 point deficit to Verstappen in the drives championship.
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