Lewis Hamilton secured his first Grand Prix pole position for Ferrari in Mexico City on Saturday, as Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli moved closer to a historic championship. The 20-year-old Italian will start fourth and needs only ninth place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday to become Formula One’s youngest champion and Italy’s first since 1953.
Hamilton recorded a lap of one minute 16.514 seconds to extend his career record to 105 poles. Although he had taken two sprint poles since joining Ferrari last year, his previous Grand Prix pole came with Mercedes in Hungary in July 2023, a gap of 1,197 days. At 41, the seven-time champion also became the oldest pole-sitter since Mario Andretti took pole at Monza in 1982 aged 42.
“It has been such a long time coming,” Hamilton told his team over the radio. He thanked Ferrari’s staff for their work and said his first pole for the team brought back memories of watching Michael Schumacher’s successes there. Schumacher, who won five championships with Ferrari between 2000 and 2004, earned his first pole for the Italian team at the 1996 San Marino Grand Prix.
George Russell briefly held provisional pole before Hamilton edged him by 0.009 seconds. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished third, 0.119 seconds behind Hamilton. Russell is Antonelli’s nearest championship challenger but trails his teammate by 123 points, with only 100 available after this weekend. Victory is necessary for either Russell or Hamilton to retain a chance of postponing Antonelli’s title celebrations.
Antonelli set the fifth-fastest qualifying time but gains a position because fourth-fastest Max Verstappen has a grid penalty. The Italian acknowledged feeling tense and said he struggled to trust his tyres in the final qualifying phase. He described his lap as containing too many mistakes and said the attention surrounding his championship opportunity had made it harder to relax.
Reigning champion Lando Norris, who won in Mexico last year, qualified sixth for McLaren, ahead of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar. Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson was eighth fastest and initially faced a one-place penalty for a practice collision with Verstappen. A subsequent technical disqualification sent Lawson to the back. Arvid Lindblad will start eighth, followed by Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was eliminated in 13th place after reporting insufficient rear grip, hurting the team’s attempt to overtake Red Bull for third in the standings. Norris had led the second qualifying phase, while Antonelli was seventh.
Fernando Alonso stopped in the stadium section during the opening phase after Aston Martin identified a suspected power-unit water pressure problem, interrupting the session. He was subsequently noted for a safety incident after leaving the car without reattaching its steering wheel.
Ryo Hirakawa qualified 19th on his Formula One race debut for Haas at 32. He replaced Esteban Ocon, whom the team dropped for undisclosed reasons unrelated to illness. Cadillac teammates Sergio Perez, preparing for his 300th Grand Prix before his home crowd, and Valtteri Bottas occupied the back row in qualifying.
