Lewis Hamilton said he had achieved his "dream" of emulating Michael Schumacher after claiming his first pole position for Ferrari at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The 41-year-old unexpectedly snatched pole from Mercedes' George Russell in a thrilling end to qualifying to take his first pole in over three years and extend his record career pole tally to 105.

Hamilton and Schumacher share the sport's record for the most Drivers' Championships with seven each, but while the Brit won one title with McLaren and the other six with Mercedes, the bulk of Schumacher's success came at Ferrari as he won five in a row from 2000 to 2004.

Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: "To get the pole, finally get a pole for Ferrari, just takes me back to when I was a kid and sitting on the sofa and watching Michael get those poles, thinking 'how cool would it be to do that?'"

"It was a dream my family have shared with me and I know so many people in the world grew up watching Michael.

"To be at this point of my career and still have this special feeling - 105 [poles], the number doesn't mean much in a sense, it feels like the first.

"I spoke a couple years ago about getting to have a first. It feels like when you get to 40 they are all gone, but I'm having those firsts this year and I'm in a really good place."

2009 F1 world champion and Hamilton's former team-mate Jenson Button said he noticed how confident the Ferrari driver looked in Q3.

Hamilton had been four tenths off the pace of his team-mate Charles Leclerc after the first runs in Q3, but then produced his best lap of the weekend when it mattered most.

"Watching that lap back, he was so smooth," Button said.

"There was one moment were he got a bit of oversteer but apart from that he is driving within the limits. I think that's the big positive."

Can Hamilton win the Mexico City GP?

Hamilton, who is the oldest pole-sitter since Mario Andretti in 1982, starts on the front row alongside Russell - the only two drivers who can prevent Kimi Antonelli from becoming world champion on Sunday.

Antonelli only needs to finish in the top nine to become champion but, should he come 10th or fail to score any points, victory for Hamilton or Russell would delay the inevitable for another round.

The long run down to Turn 1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez always creates jeopardy and the pole-sitter has the disadvantage of towing trailing cars down the long straight.

Hamilton, whose only Grand Prix win for Ferrari came in Barcelona earlier this year, says it will be a "big challenge" to keep Russell and Leclerc behind, but that he will make his car "as wide as possible".

"It's a long run down to Turn 1 - very tough," he said.

"It's not a bad place to be in first but people can tow you. Lando did a really good job last year so I have to try and do what he did.

"Getting away off the line, I'm going in a little bit blind because in FP2 the engine stopped, so I didn't get to do a long run. I really don't know what the balance is like when you put all that fuel in.

"I kind of have to engineer my way through it and somehow drive my way through it. If we can get to Turn 1 first, then it comes down to how you manage your tyres. Hopefully we can have one of those special days where you can maybe whisper them a long way."

Russell thinks Turn 1 will be "crucial" as overtaking is likely to be difficult due to the high altitude, with the tight margins between the top teams potentially too small for passes to be possible later in the race.

"I think the race pace, there's probably going to be a tenth between the top seven or eight drivers," Russell said.

"Overtaking is going to be tough, overheating, etc. It's always the case here in Mexico. But get a good night's sleep and see what the race brings."

Leclerc added: "I'll keep my head down as much as possible and see what's possible. But, yes, it's always an exciting Turn 1 there, and we'll see how it goes."