Hamilton on pole, Rosberg 2nd

MEXICO CITY — Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix Saturday with a sizzling lap before Mercedes teammate and title favorite Nico Rosberg pulled a last gasp effort out of the bag to join him on the front row. On a sunny afternoon at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the triple Formula One world champion secured his 59th career pole and 10th of the season with a best time of one minute 18.704 seconds. “I turned up to do the job and I’m going to try to do the same thing I did last week. So far this weekend’s gone well and I’m looking forward to the race. The car feels great,” said the Briton, who won in Texas last weekend. Rosberg, last year’s winner from pole in Mexico, has a 26-point lead with three races remaining and will take the title Sunday if he wins and Hamilton fails to finish in the top nine. The German had struggled for performance in practice and the early phases of qualifying and was in danger of qualifying fourth before banging in a 1:18.958 in the dying seconds to rescue the situation. “Lewis’s lap was brilliant, not so much mine but I put it together when it counted in the end,” a relieved Rosberg told reporters. Rosberg had been only sixth fastest in phase one and fifth in the second. Red Bull’s Dutch teenager Max Verstappen qualified in third place with Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo fourth. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg qualified an impressive fifth with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel sixth and seventh — a disappointment after the team’s pace Friday. Mexican Sergio Perez, the crowd favorite and one of two home drivers in the race, qualified 12th for Force India. Compatriot Esteban Gutierrez, in a Haas, starts 17th. — Reuters