2025 F1 Mexico City Grand Prix Qualifying - As it happened

1- Norris

2- Leclerc

3- Sainz

4- Hadjar

5- Verstappen

6- Hulkenberg

7- Tsunoda

8- Hamilton

9- Russell

10- Piastri

Bearman, Ocon, Alonso, Antonelli and Lawson in the drop zone, with +1.0s covering Norris in first and Piastri in tenth

Racing Bulls are the only cars on circuit right now with Hadjar jumping to fourth place to strengthen his hopes of making it into Q3.

Lawson aborts his lap and comes in just as there is a queue forming at the other end as everyone else prepares for their final flyers

The first wave of fast laps are in and - once again - Norris leads way, with a four tenths margin over Leclerc. Sainz, Verstappen and Hulkenberg complete the early top five

No huge upsets in Q1 drop zone there

A late flyer from Hulkenberg and Alonso got them out of danger, at the expense of Bortoleto.

Albon is out of Q1 for the second race in succession, the Thai driver complaining about his brakes - it comes after he ran off more than once in FP3 while trying to get it stopped.

Elsewhere, Alpine couldn't turn around has been a horrid weekend so far already, while Stroll notches up 32 consecutive races where he has been out-qualified by Alonso

With two to go, the drop zone currently contains Antonelli, Gasly, Colapinto, Hulkenberg and Stroll

Hadjar still fastest, Verstappen only improves to fifth

Just under four minutes to go and Isack Hadjar moves quickest, with team-mate Liam Lawson in third.

George Russell reports he wants to go late, suggesting track evolution is critical here 

1- Norris

2- Leclerc

3- Bearman

4- Piastri

5- Russell

6- Hamilton

7- Verstappen

8- Sainz

9- Ocon

10- Alonso

Well, that's a sight... Oliver Bearman briefly goes quickest of all before normal service is resumed with Norris at the top

Green and purple sectors all around though as drivers recover from their double cooling off laps and get back up to speed.

Russell slots in just behind Norris, the Mercedes just 0.047s adrift of his countryman.

They head up Leclerc in third, Verstappen in fourth - after a scruffy lap - and Sainz in fifth

Lando Norris isn't messing around early on in Q1 as he heads on track as the first of the big hitters - job done, six tenths fastest so far.

Oscar Piastri is soon through behind him - seven tenths off his title-rivalling team-mate

Lance Stroll is first on the board as he bids to out-qualify Fernando Alonso for the first time in 31 qualifying sessions... yep, that's 31 consecutive qualifying sessions he has been out-paced by his Aston Martin team-mate.

That said, Alonso did miss part of FP3 with technical issues, so is today the day Stroll gets one up on the Spaniard?

As we count down to lights out, let's have a look at how the championship race is shaping up.

Piastri continues to lead but his advantage over Norris is down to 14 points with an eight point swing last weekend in Austin. Verstappen is 40 points adrift of the Australian but if he continues to make up ground as he has been doing since Monza, he will be right on the McLaren pair before the end of the year.

Elsewhere, McLaren may have long wrapped up the constructors' trophy but just 10 points now split Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull in the battle for the runners-up spot.

Just over 20 minutes to go before qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix kicks off

Meanwhile, FP3 was littered with drivers out-braking themselves and running off track, including Norris, Hamilton (three times), Albon (twice), Sainz, Antonelli (twice) and Bortoleto.

There are some heavy braking zones at Turn 1 and 3 that have been problematic, but the stadium section has also caught some drivers out.

With only a couple of shots at getting a good grid position, cutting out those errors will be crucial

Considerations for the teams ahead of qualifying are likely to focus on traffic and brake markers.

Traffic is often a lottery at the business end of qualifying sessions anyway - leading to some NSF broadcast radio outbursts - but here it could prove particularly problematic.

Already in FP3 there were some frustrations bubbling over, while some drivers are having to slow to a crawl - or in Verstappen's case, stop entirely - to ensure they don't get in the way on the apex. 

With such fine margins on the timesheets, even a little distraction could prove costly.

Is pole position the best place to be in Mexico?

While you'll be hard pressed to find a driver willing to go for second place over pole position, the particularly looooooong race down to Turn 1 after the start can complicate things for whoever gets away first.

It's possible to pick up a bit of slipstream and even if you don't make it to the apex first, there is a shot at going around the outside and jamming it down the inside of Turn 2.

It has happened before, so it's certainly something to think about

We are just an hour away from qualifying at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez. 

After three practice sessions with three different drivers setting the pace, it really is anyone's guess as to who will go on to take pole later on.

McLaren's Lando Norris looked really strong in final practice as his main rivals lagged behind, so can the Briton continue that form into qualifying and lay down a marker in the title race?

That's FP3 done and dusted, we now look ahead to qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix, which takes place at 22.00 UK time (just under two and a half hours...)

Until then...

While the recent focus has been on Verstappen homing in on the McLarens, it's easy to forget that Norris is also having to close that gap down on Piastri at the top of the standings.

So far this weekend Norris has looked in a better place - as he did in Austin - with Piastri yet to show the kind of front-running form he needs to keep his big rivals at bay.

On the back of FP3 at least, it's advantage Norris

1- Norris

2- Hamilton

3- Russell

4- Leclerc

5- Piastri

6- Verstappen

7- Antonelli

8- Hadjar

9- Tsunoda

10- Bortoleto