Hamilton Takes First Ferrari Pole in Mexico as Piastri Exits in Q2

Lewis Hamilton starts the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix from pole after edging George Russell by just 0.009 seconds in a close final qualifying session. It’s Hamilton’s first pole with Ferrari, and it came after a scruffy opening run left him needing to find speed at the end of Q3. Charles Leclerc made it two Ferraris in the top three, while Oscar Piastri’s surprise Q2 exit was one of the session’s biggest shocks.

The result capped a weekend that had looked open to several teams. Ferrari’s Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris had set the practice pace, and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli had also shown potential. Norris went on to top FP3, in a session that also saw Haas replace Esteban Ocon with Ryo Hirakawa for the Mexico City weekend. The Japanese driver, 32, was making his F1 debut. Haas gave no explanation for Ocon’s absence, and uncertainty remained over whether he would return for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix the following week. Norris had led FP3, while Hirakawa’s replacement was described as limited to Mexico City.

Hamilton finds the time when it counts

Mercedes sent Russell and Antonelli onto the track early in Q3. Both had untidy beginnings to their sessions and opted for a second build lap. Hamilton, meanwhile, had made an early mistake that compromised his first attempt. Leclerc set the initial target at 1:16.647, with Norris close behind in 1:16.824.

Their lap times reflected different strengths around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Norris was quicker in the final sector, posting 19.544 seconds to Leclerc’s 19.707, but gave up time in the middle sector: 30.193 seconds against 30.068. Leclerc held the early advantage, while Max Verstappen was only 0.045 seconds off his benchmark after setting the fastest first sector.

Russell then moved into first with a 1:16.523, combining a 26.877-second opening sector with a 30.008-second middle sector and a personal best in the final sector. Hamilton answered with personal bests in all three sections and crossed the line in 1:16.514. That nine-thousandths margin proved decisive.

Leclerc pushed hard on his final attempt and recorded the session’s best final sector at 19.524 seconds. He still finished 0.119 seconds behind Hamilton and 0.110 behind Russell. Antonelli improved each of his sector times but qualified fifth, while Verstappen’s 1:16.692 put him fourth in the session. A one-place penalty for his practice collision with Liam Lawson moved him to fifth on the grid. For the weekend’s title picture and viewing details, see the Mexico City Grand Prix guide.

Piastri’s McLaren falls out in Q2

Q2 began with Mercedes at the front of the queue, but early mistakes quickly changed the order. Norris ran wide through the opening chicane and locked up at Turn 13, spoiling his first attempt. Leclerc took the early benchmark with a 1:16.944. Hamilton also locked up at the stadium hairpin on his opening run, leaving both drivers temporarily down the order.

Verstappen went quickest with a 1:16.876, 0.068 seconds ahead of Leclerc. Isack Hadjar reported that Haas driver Oliver Bearman had impeded him at Turn 13, as Piastri slipped toward the elimination places while Norris recovered. Hamilton’s first representative lap, a 1:16.953, put him third and pushed Piastri to 11th.

Hadjar soon improved to 1:17.047 and fourth, leaving Lawson in danger. Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly traded positions, while Franco Colapinto and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto also moved ahead of Piastri. The McLaren driver’s best effort was 1:17.646, good enough for 13th and his first Q2 elimination since 2024.

Lawson used a late improvement to 1:17.207 to take 10th and reach Q3 for the 10th time this year, knocking Hulkenberg out. Piastri told his team over the radio, “I don’t know what happened. I had no rear grip.” The contrast with Norris was sharp: on soft tyres already five laps old, Norris improved to 1:16.728 and finished Q2 fastest.

Lawson’s qualifying result was later changed to a disqualification. The stewards said he had failed to reduce power immediately after completing his fastest Q2 lap, so his MGU-K deployment did not meet the required step-down rate. Verstappen and Lawson had each received a one-place penalty after their FP2 collision. The stewards attributed fault to both drivers for an “unacceptable” error while they contested track position. Lawson’s disqualification also removed the expected grid-position benefit for Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad.

Alonso stops in Q1 as the field tightens

Home driver Sergio Perez drew a cheer when he joined the opening session. He had missed FP3 after a precautionary engine change and began with a 1:19.909. Lance Stroll was 0.258 seconds slower on his first Aston Martin lap, while Fernando Alonso briefly led with 1:18.908. Hamilton and Piastri then set the first leading times, 1:18.249 and 1:18.589, before a short stoppage.

Hirakawa made a solid first impression, running eighth after the opening laps, ahead of teammate Bearman in 10th. Alonso’s early pace did not last: Aston Martin told the two-time champion to stop with 11 minutes remaining after detecting an engine problem. He was in the stadium section and could not make it to the pits.

After the restart, Gasly briefly led on 1:18.194, but Leclerc soon took top spot, having also led FP1 and FP2. Bortoleto improved to sixth, ahead of Norris, and Bearman climbed clear of the drop zone with a 1:18.083. Hadjar struggled with lock-ups at the final corner and a wide moment at Turn 12, then switched to another set of soft C5 tyres. That fresh rubber lifted him to second with a 1:17.385, just 0.044 seconds off Leclerc.

The initial elimination group included Alex Albon, Alonso, Hirakawa, Stroll, Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Albon was 0.206 seconds from safety, while Williams teammate Carlos Sainz sat 16th and Hadjar was down in 15th before his late recovery. Perez had earlier missed FP3 because of the engine change; in Q1 he ultimately recorded 1:19.105.

Qualifying order

Hamilton’s narrow advantage over Russell gives Ferrari pole, but the front rows are closely packed: Leclerc is third, and Verstappen’s penalty promotes Antonelli to fourth on the grid. Norris starts sixth, while Piastri’s Q2 exit leaves him 12th. The published results list Perez in 22nd and Bottas in 21st, with Lawson marked disqualified after qualifying.

Hamilton’s pole came down to a single clean response after a compromised first run. The grid also sets up a useful test of Ferrari’s one-lap pace against Mercedes, with McLaren needing Piastri to recover from a result far outside the front-running group.