Lewis Hamilton takes first F1 pole in three years at Mexico GP

Lewis Hamilton claimed his first Formula 1 pole position in three years at the Mexico City Grand Prix. 

Seven-time world champion Hamilton pipped George Russell by 0.009 seconds to end a three-year wait for a grand prix pole at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. 

It marked Hamilton's first time topping qualifying since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix and was his 105th career pole, breaking his own record. 

Hamilton not only secured his first grand prix pole since joining Ferrari but also became F1's oldest polesitter since Mario Andretti in 1982 on a weekend Andrea Kimi Antonelli can be crowned the sport's youngest-ever world champion. 

F1 Mexico Grand Prix: Full qualifying results

Charles Leclerc was the faster Ferrari driver for much of the weekend but was left to rue a mistake on his final lap of Q3 as he ended up third, 0.119s down on his team-mate. 

A lock-up ruined Max Verstappen’s pole shot as he ended up 0.178s adrift in fourth, however the Red Bull driver will serve a one-place grid penalty for his clash with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson in FP2. 

Antonelli, who will secure his maiden F1 title if he finishes inside the top-nine on Sunday, qualified fifth but will move up to the second row once Verstappen’s penalty is applied. 

Reigning world champion Lando Norris was sixth-fastest for McLaren ahead of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar.

Lawson, who also has a one-place grid drop, outpaced Racing Bulls team-mate Arvid Lindblad in eighth, while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the top-10. 

Nico Hulkenberg narrowly missed out on the top-10 as he once again qualified 11th for Audi, ahead of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto. 

Oscar Piastri was the big scalp as the McLaren driver suffered a shock Q2 elimination with a time only good enough for 13th on the grid. 

Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto took 14th ahead of Haas driver Ollie Bearman and the Williams pair Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, who dropped out in Q1. 

Fernando Alonso was left hugely frustrated after a suspected water pressure issue in his Aston Martin forced him to stop on track in Q1, resulting in a red flag. 

Despite this, the single push lap the two-time world champion completed prior to his stoppage was good enough for 18th and saw him out-qualify team-mate Lance Stroll. 

Ryo Hirakawa placed a respectable 19th in his first F1 qualifying session, after being parachuted in for Haas as a last-minute replacement for Esteban Ocon, who was suddenly dropped from the team’s line-up on Saturday morning. 

Stroll was 20th in the second Aston Martin, ahead of the Cadillac pair led by home hero Sergio Perez, who once again outpaced the under-pressure Valtteri Bottas in qualifying.