Lewis Hamilton had not started a grand prix from the front of the grid since July 2023. On Saturday in Mexico City he did it in a Ferrari for the first time, with a lap of 1:16.514 that beat Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.009 seconds.
It is the 105th pole position of his career. At 41, Hamilton is the oldest driver to start from pole since Mario Andretti at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix. The wait since his previous pole, in Hungary, came to 1,197 days.
Hamilton, the first Black driver in Formula One and a seven-time world champion, joined Ferrari last year. Russell had set a provisional pole of 1:16.523, and Hamilton found the nine thousandths on his answer. Charles Leclerc, his Ferrari teammate, finished third, 0.119 seconds back, after a wobble at Turn 10. Max Verstappen locked a wheel at Turn 13 and lost his chance at pole.
“Thank you so much. It has been such a long time coming,” Hamilton said afterward. He called the moment “very, very special” and compared it to watching Michael Schumacher take poles for Ferrari.
Behind him, the grid carries a title story of its own. Kimi Antonelli starts fourth and needs only a ninth-place finish to become the youngest champion in Formula One history, and Italy’s first since 1953. Reigning champion Lando Norris qualified sixth. Verstappen takes a grid drop.
The Mexico City Grand Prix is on Sunday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
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