Lewis Hamilton claimed his first pole position for Ferrari – and first in over three years – at the Mexico City Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 41-year-old, whose last pole came in Hungary in July 2023 with Mercedes, claimed top-spot by just 0.009 seconds to former teammate George Russell in second.

Kimi Antonelli, who is set to win the title on Sunday, will start in fourth alongside Charles Leclerc in third. Max Verstappen will start fifth, as a result of his one-place grid drop for a clash with Liam Lawson on Friday.

Yet Hamilton, who becomes the oldest pole-sitter since Mario Andretti 44 years ago, was in a state of shock after a pole position which he admitted on team radio was “a long time coming.”

“Wow! That felt great, feels good!” Hamilton said. “So happy. I'm lost for words.

“It's been a challenging weekend, had an engine issue yesterday. We were on the back foot, but we did a good job with the set-up but it was so close between us all.

“To have pole here, don't know if I've had one here before! I think my first pole with Ferrari.”

Hamilton did record a pole position for the sprint race in China last year but had failed to claim P1 in qualifying since.

He added: “Where there's a will, there's a way. It's all in the mind for all of us. I don’t have the pains other people have – I ice bath a lot – all those things you can do to keep yourself young and fit.

“But I love what I do, I dream about it.

“The support I have around the world, these guys keep me going. Hope I can do it for them tomorrow.”

Antonelli, meanwhile, needs to just finish ninth or higher to claim the world championship and become the youngest champion in the history of the sport.