Hamilton takes first Ferrari pole in Mexico as Antonelli eyes the F1 title
Lewis Hamilton has taken his first pole position for Ferrari, and his first for more than three years, at the Mexico City Grand Prix, beating Mercedes' George Russell by just 0.009 seconds. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli will start fourth and can clinch the world title in Sunday's race unless one of the two men ahead of him wins and he has a bad day.
It is the seven-time champion's 105th career pole and his first since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. At 41, he is the oldest pole sitter since Mario Andretti, also for Ferrari, at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc was third, 0.119 seconds off, and Max Verstappen, fastest after two sectors before locking up at the stadium hairpin, qualified fourth but drops a place because of a penalty, which moves Antonelli up to fourth.
Antonelli can only be stopped from winning the title in Mexico if Russell wins and the Italian finishes lower than ninth, or if Hamilton wins and Antonelli fails to score. "Oh man, I'm lost for words," Hamilton said after an engine problem on Friday had limited his preparation. "To have your first Ferrari pole, it takes me back to watching Michael [Schumacher] get all those poles when he was at Ferrari and all those wins."