LEWIS HAMILTON was denied pole position for Sunday’s Mexico GP as Max Verstappen took P1.
Just days after being hit with a penalty for breaking F1’s cost-cap, the Dutchman provided the perfect boost to his Red Bull team.
Hamilton had topped both Q1 and Q2 and it was looking like a hat-trick as he went into the final session.
Sergio Perez drew first blood to bring thousands of fans to their feet while he was soon leapfrogged by Verstappen, who took provisional pole.
Hamilton’s time was only good enough for third – but he then had it deleted for exceeding track limits by the picky stewards.