Hamilton Takes First Ferrari Pole in Mexico City

Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix from pole. It is his first for Ferrari, and it keeps the title fight with Kimi Antonelli alive for another day.

A margin of 0.009 seconds

Hamilton edged Mercedes' George Russell by 0.009 seconds. The two of them are the drivers who can still stop Antonelli from clinching the world championship on Sunday.

The pole is Hamilton's 105th. It is his first since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, three years and three months ago. He is also the oldest driver to take a pole since Mario Andretti for Ferrari at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix.

Both men went out early for their first runs and then watched their rivals try, and fail, to beat them. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was first to run and fell 0.119 seconds short of Hamilton.

Verstappen, Antonelli and Russell

Max Verstappen was fastest of all after two sectors and looked set for pole. He then locked up into the hairpin in the stadium section and ruined the lap. He said he had a car close to him going into Turn 12 and lost time in the dirty air, then had a car on his right going into the hairpin.

Antonelli qualified fifth, behind Leclerc and Verstappen. He will start fourth, because Verstappen carries a one-place penalty.

Antonelli can lose the title in only two ways. Russell wins and the Italian finishes lower than ninth, or Hamilton wins and Antonelli is out of the points.

Russell said he took a unilateral decision to skip a preparation lap before his final run, going on a "gut feeling". The team had insisted on the lap and had fuelled the car for it. He called the time lost to the extra fuel weight "such a small number", but said it was bigger than his gap to pole.

Hamilton's weekend

Hamilton was only fourth on the first runs, more than 0.4 seconds off Leclerc's pace. On his final run he said he did not think he lost time anywhere. He described a hard weekend that included an engine issue on Friday, which left the team on the back foot and without a long run.

"To have your first Ferrari pole, it takes me back to watching Michael [Schumacher] get all those poles when he was at Ferrari and all those wins," Hamilton said.

Others in the top 10

Lando Norris of McLaren had looked in contention. He was fastest in the second session and third on the first runs in the final one, but could not improve on his last lap and took sixth. He said the lap that put him first in Q2 was incredible and unrealistic to repeat in Q3.

Red Bull's Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, and Alpine's Pierre Gasly completed the top 10. Lawson was later disqualified for an infringement of the technical regulations on the electrical deployment of the power unit, and will start from the back.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso went fastest on his first lap of the session. A water leak in the energy recovery system then stopped his car on track while he was still third. He answered four questions from the official television channel in nine words in total.

Our view

The pole may matter most for what it sets up. Both drivers who can still deny Antonelli start on the front row, so the opening laps could shape the title race. Russell's decision to skip the prep lap against the team's wishes is another open point for Mercedes.

Source: BBC Sport