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54 maltatoday SUNDAY 29 OCTOBER 2017 Sports FORMULA 1 FOOTBALL Vettel snatches Mexico pole from Verstappen RED Bull 's Max Verstappen looked set to become F1's young- est-ever polesitter in Mexico on Saturday – until the man who still holds that record, Ferrari 's Sebastian Vettel, denied him at the last by just 0.086s around the Autodromo Hermanos Rod- riguez. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was third, from Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas. Verstappen is, however, under another stewards' investigation, this one for possibly impeding Bottas early in Q3. On the third row of the provi- sional grid for Sunday's race will be Ferrari 's Kimi Raikkonen and Force India's Esteban Ocon, fol- lowed by Red Bull 's Daniel Ric- ciardo and the Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz. In the second Force India, local hero Sergio Perez completed the top ten. Hamilton and Bottas headed the times on Pirelli 's ultrasoft tyres in Q1 with 1m 1.518s and 1m 17.578s respectively, but Ver- stappen and Vettel were close with 1m 17.650s and 1m 17.665s with supersofts. Further back, a late improve- ment by McLaren's Stoffel Van- doorne pushed Pascal Wehrlein out of Q2, and his Sauber team mate Marcus Ericsson also beat his time, leaving them 16th and 17th on 1m 19.196s and 1m 19.333s. Then came the two Haas cars, with Kevin Magnus- sen on 1m 19.443s from Romain Grosjean on 1m 19.473s. Pierre Gasly never even ran, as his Toro Rosso's engine was still being re- placed after its problem in FP1. Q2 would show the true peck- ing order, as everyone opted for ultrasofts. Red Bull and Fer- rari showed their true colours as Verstappen lapped in 1m 16.524s and Vettel in 1m 16.870s, leaving Hamilton rather breathless on 1m 17.035s. Neither Williams made it through to Q3, with Felipe Massa stopping the clocks in 1m 18.099s for 11th and Lance Stroll 12th on 1m 19.159s. It transpired they had no opposition from Toro Rosso, as Brendon Hart- ley's engine stopped on his out lap, and neither of the McLarens ran as Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso have heav y grid penalties – 35 and 20 places respectively – for engine changes. So Q3 looked certain to be a battle between Verstappen and Vettel, with Mercedes likely to take the second row at best… Interestingly, however, the Red Bull driver had been unhappy about the way in which his front tyres took so long to warm up, so was agitating for a revised strat- egy if the team were planning single-lap runs in Q3. Verstappen set the pace on the first runs in Q3, with 1m 16.524s to Vettel 's 1m 16.833s and Hamilton's 1m 16.934, but the Dutchman caused a stir by initially going so slowly in the stadium after appearing to abort his first try that Bottas said his lap was ruined as passing the Red Bull caused him to go too deep into Turn 1 and lock up; he thus aborted that lap as well and headed for the pits, so he had no time when others had finished their runs. Verstappen failed to improve on two further tries, but Vet- tel did, snatching the pole away at the last moment with 1m 16.488s. Hamilton's second lap was scruff y, but Bottas jumped up to fourth 1m 16.598s, leaving Raikkonen fifth on 1m 17.238s, Ocon a tremendous sixth on 1m 17.437s and Ricciardo a dis- appointing seventh with 1m 17.447s. Hulkenberg out-qual- ified new Renault team mate Sainz, with 1m 17.466s to 1m 17.794s, as crowd favourite Perez completed the top 10 with 1m 17.807s. Thus with penalties applied, the provisional grid will line up: Vettel, Verstappen; Hamil- ton, Bottas; Raikkonen, Ocon; Ricciardo, Hulkenberg; Sainz, Perez; Massa, Stroll; Hartley, Ericsson; Wehrlein, Magnussen; Grosjean, Alonso; Vandoorne, Gasly. Man City surge on, United sink Spurs to stay second M ANCHESTER City main- tained their charge towards the Premier League title with a 3-2 win at West Bromwich Albion as Manchester United kept within five points of their neighbours with a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur yesterday. Goals from Leroy Sane, Fer- nandinho and Raheem Sterling moved the leaders on to 28 points - equalling the best return after 10 matches of a Premier League season - as irresistible City took their campaign's tally of league goals to a remarkable 35. Earlier, Jose Mourinho re- ceived the response he had de- manded from his United side following their humbling defeat at Huddersfield Town as an 81st- minute goal from substitute An- thony Martial preserved their perfect home record. The win, their sixth straight victory in the league at Old Trafford without conceding a goal, moved United on to 23 points, three clear of Spurs as champions Chelsea and Arsenal both marched to within a point of their London rivals. Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, who had shown unusual irrita- tion last week when asked about stories linking compatriot Carlo Ancelotti with his job, seemed rather happier after Eden Haz- ard 's 51st minute goal earned his side a 1-0 win in the late game at Bournemouth to maintain their fourth spot. Arsene Wenger celebrated a successful 800th Premier League match in charge as Ar- senal fought from one down to beat Swansea City 2-1 with sec- ond-half goals from Sead Kolasi- nac and Aaron Ramsey. Liverpool 's Juergen Klopp got the better of his best friend, Huddersfield boss David Wag- ner, in a 3-0 win at Anfield where second-half strikes from Daniel Sturridge, Roberto Fir- mino and Georginio Wijnaldum pushed the Reds to sixth on 16 points. Watford 's giddy ascent, though, was checked with a 1-0 home defeat by struggling Stoke City - Darren Fletcher hit the target in the 16th minute - that dropped them to seventh on 15. At the other end of the table, Crystal Palace escaped with an astonishing 2-2 draw with West Ham United, coming back from two down and earning a draw in the seventh minute of stoppage time through Wilfried Zaha. Pep Guardiola's Man City con- tinue to look unstoppable at do- mestic level, having opened up in brilliant fashion with Sane scoring his sixth goal in seven league games after 10 minutes. Though Jay Rodriguez equal- ised quickly, City were in com- plete control once Fernandin- ho's def lected effort put them ahead after 15 minutes. Substitute Sterling scored his ninth of the season in all com- petitions four minutes after coming with City's only late mo- ment of concern en route to a 13th straight win coming when careless defending from Nicolas Otamendi let in Matty Phillips for a consolation. City's 28 points equalled the tally accrued by Chelsea in 2005 and Manchester City themselves in 2011 - and both those sides went on to win the title - but nei- ther of those teams could match the plus-29 goal difference of Guardiola's charges. The manager reserved special praise for Sane, describing him as a "special talent" after City extended their unbeaten record in all competitions to a club re- cord 21. Mourinho hailed United 's win in difficult windy and rainy con- ditions in the lunchtime fixture between the second and third- placed teams as "deserved " after they had created the lion's share of chances. Martial struck 10 minutes af- ter coming on, latching on to Lukaku's f licked header from David de Gea's goalkick. It was a scruff y left-foot fin- ish from the Frenchman, leav- ing Mourinho to smile: "Martial scores with a bad shot -- but the bad shots can be the most beau- tiful." Wenger was in bullish mood after Arsenal 's win, saying the Gunners had proved their critics wrong by overturning a lead for a third time in a week. "Again we have showed the mental strength to come back and win the game," said Wenger, now just 10 matches short of former Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson's landmark of 810 Premier League matches as manager.