Lewis Hamilton Edges George Russell by 0.009 Seconds for His First Pole With Ferrari in Mexico City

By The Arena Staff

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 31, 2026 — Lewis Hamilton finally has a pole position in a Ferrari, and he got it by nine-thousandths of a second.

The seven-time world champion turned a lap of 1 minute, 16.514 seconds on his final run in qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix on Saturday, beating Mercedes' George Russell by 0.009 seconds. It was the 105th pole of Hamilton's career and his first since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, a gap BBC Sport put at three years and three months. BBC Sport also reported that he is the oldest driver to take a pole since Mario Andretti did it for Ferrari at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix.

"Oh man, I'm lost for words," Hamilton said. "It's my first pole for Ferrari, and 105th, I like that number." He added that it took him back to watching Michael Schumacher collect poles and wins in red.

It did not look like Hamilton's session for most of the afternoon. He was only fourth after the first runs in the final round, more than four-tenths of a second behind teammate Charles Leclerc, and lock-ups had left him near the bottom of the top 10 midway through the second round, according to Formula1.com. Russell then jumped to the top on his last lap, and Hamilton beat him by the smallest of margins. "I hope you're proud of yourselves too," Hamilton told his team over the radio.

Max Verstappen had the best chance to take it from both of them. BBC Sport reported that the Red Bull driver was fastest through the first two sectors before he locked up at the hairpin in the stadium section and finished fourth, behind Leclerc. Verstappen blamed traffic and dirty air for the lost time.

The front row carries extra weight this weekend. Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader, needs to finish ninth or better on Sunday to clinch his first title. According to BBC Sport, Hamilton and Russell are the only two drivers who can stop him: Russell would have to win with Antonelli finishing lower than ninth, or Hamilton would have to win with Antonelli out of the points.

Antonelli qualified fifth but will start fourth because Verstappen takes a one-place grid penalty for an incident with Liam Lawson in practice. Lawson was later disqualified from qualifying over a power unit deployment infringement and will start from the back, BBC Sport reported.

There were surprises further down the order. McLaren's Oscar Piastri was knocked out in the second round and qualified 13th after saying he "had no rear grip," while teammate Lando Norris qualified sixth. Fernando Alonso was ordered to stop his Aston Martin on track in the first round with a suspected water leak in the energy recovery system, ending what had looked like a promising session for him.

The race starts at 2 p.m. local time Sunday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Video: Lewis Hamilton's pole lap and qualifying highlights, both on Formula 1's official YouTube channel.

Sources: Formula1.com and BBC Sport.