With Lando and Daniel sandwiching Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon on the starting grid for the Mexico City Grand Prix, the British star is hopeful that he and his teammate can work together in their fight for a double points finish.

Lando qualified in eighth, just over a tenth off Charles Leclerc, whilst Daniel finished in 11th, missing out on Q3 by only 0.054s. Alpine pairing Alonso and Ocon were just over a tenth further back from Lando and will start in between them in ninth and 10th.

Apart from a superb performance from Valtteri Bottas to finish in P6, Lando feels that the top seven was pretty much as he expected, expressing his belief that he maximised the car's potential around Mexico.

"I am pretty happy," Lando told F1TV. "We did a good job. We beat the guys we wanted to beat, and I feel like we did a good lap, especially my Q3 lap - it felt good.

"I don't know how many coffees Valtteri [Bottas] had, but he has found a lot of pace, so fair play to them. I am happy, I think this is the best that we could have really achieved. I would have needed another three-tenths to beat the Ferrari, so I am happy with where we are."

Asked whether those in front will be catchable in the race on Sunday, Lando was keen to play down expectations but asserted that he would be primed to pounce on any mistakes.

"[Bottas] was four and a half tenths ahead in Qualifying, and he is not going to lose four and a half tenths in the race," Lando continued. "But you never know – it will be a long race in tricky conditions, and it is easy to make mistakes.

"It will be a race of attrition more than anything, and making sure that we get to the end. We need to score some good points, and Daniel is not far behind, so hopefully, we can go forward from there."

On the other side of the garage, it was a solid afternoon for Daniel, who came back from a tricky US Grand Prix to make it into Q2 for the second time in three races.

The Honey Badger looked capable of breaking into the top 10 but missed out by the narrowest of margins, explaining that a compromised final run played a role in what he described as a "missed opportunity."

"I think the first run in Q2 was decent," Daniel said. "I think the lap was kind of there. We were building up, and I knew a couple of tenths were on the table in a few corners. I felt like it was all coming together nicely, but there is so much to gain here with tyre prep, and we didn’t have it on that last run.”

Despite his frustration at missing out on Q3, the Australian was buoyed by the pace beneath him and what he was able to extract from the MCL36 around the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, echoing Lando's thoughts that anything can happen on Sunday on the unique Mexico City circuit.

"Saturday was encouraging," he continued. "Certainly, parts of the weekend, we have been quite strong. With tyre management, it felt pretty good from my side, so I think we will be all right in the race.

"It is always tough here on equipment with the altitude and the engines and the brakes, and I think a lot of teams have to come here with some modifications, so you never know how the race is going to play out, but I think we will be okay."

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