Lewis Hamilton has seized pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix with a sizzling lap in the sunshine, with Mercedes teammate and title favourite Nico Rosberg joining him on the front row with a last gasp effort.

On a bright Saturday afternoon at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the triple Formula One world champion produced a fastest lap of one minute 18.704 seconds to secure his 59th career pole and 10th of the season.

“I turned up to do the job and I’ll try and do the same thing I did last week. I’m looking forward to the race and 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 over Hamilton with three races remaining and can take the title on Sunday if he wins and Hamilton fails to finish in the top nine.

The German had struggled for performance and was in danger of a second row slot before banging in a 1:18.958 in the dying seconds to rescue the situation.

“Lewis’s lap was brilliant … but I put it together when it counted in the end. It still gives me a great chance for tomorrow,” a relieved Rosberg, who had been sixth fastest in the first phase and fifth in the second one, told reporters.

Red Bull’s Dutch teenager Max Verstappen qualified in third place with Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo fourth.

“I had a good feeling with the car all weekend, I was getting better and better but it was a shame in Q3 (phase three) I couldn’t get the lap together. We have a different strategy for tomorrow,” said Verstappen.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg qualified fifth with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel sixth and seventh – a disappointment after the team’s pace on Friday.

Neither of the McLarens made it through to the final phase of qualifying, with Fernando Alonso 11th and Jenson Button 13th.