For the first time since Budapest in 2023, Lewis Hamilton is on pole for an F1 Grand Prix, taking pole for the Mexico City Grand Prix by 0.009 seconds over Mercedes’s George Russell.

This is Hamilton’s 105th GP pole and his first with Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton started on pole for a sprint earlier this year at Silverstone but was still awaiting the elusive GP pole. Hamilton won his first Grand Prix with Ferrari at the Catalunya-Barcelona Grand Prix in June.

Ferrari is the third team that Hamilton has won pole for, with his first 26 poles coming with McLaren, then 78 with Mercedes, and now one with Ferrari.

Hamilton looked set to place only one lap in Q3, going out with more than 10 minutes remaining. Instead, he came back out for a second run to advance from fourth, 0.422 seconds down from his teammate Charles Leclerc on Provisional pole, to take the top spot. Leclerc will start third behind Russell.

This is Hamilton’s second pole in Mexico City, with the first coming in 2016.

“Oh man, I'm lost for words,” Hamilton said post-quali. “It's been a really, really tough, challenging weekend. Obviously, P1, we had a rake running, and we obviously then had the engine issue we had yesterday, which meant that we were just on the back foot. I didn't get to do a long run, but we've really done a really good job with the setup over the weekend. We've already worked. We learned a lot from the last race, but it's so close between us all. And for example, Q2, I didn't get my lap at the beginning.

Ferrari did run through five sets of soft tires to get to Hamilton’s maiden pole, meaning that the competitors around him and Leclerc will have an advantage at the start of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

“I think the others have a new tire for the start, but wow, to have pole here, I mean, I don't even know if I've had a pole here before,” Hamilton said. “So it feels special to be in Mexico and get that. I think that's my first pole with Ferrari and 105. I like that number.”

Max Verstappen was the fourth-fastest but will start fifth after a one-place grid penalty handed to him and Liam Lawson for their avoidable crash in the stadium section during FP2 on Friday. Verstappen had the chance at a front-row qualifying spot but locked up in turn 13 on his final lap.

Kimi Antonelli qualified fifth and will start fourth. The young Italian driver needs only a ninth-place finish to claim the 2026 World Drivers' Championship. Reigning WDC champion, at least for one more day, Lando Norris bailed on his second lap in Q3 after a strong opening sector and will start sixth.

Red Bulls’ Isack Hadjar will start seventh, qualifying one spot ahead of the two Racing Bulls drivers. Lawson drops from eighth to ninth with his grid penalty, and his teammate Arvid Lindblad reaps the benefit. Pierre Gasly will start in tenth as the last driver to make it into Q3.