Mexican Grand Prix

Ferrari Shines! Hamilton Claims His 105th Pole

Lewis Hamilton(Bild: EPA/ISAAC ESQUIVEL)

Starting from fourth on the grid, Kimi Antonelli is on track to claim his first world championship title. If the 20-year-old Italian finishes among the top nine drivers at Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix, he will be crowned the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history. However, his remaining championship rivals are lined up on the front row: Lewis Hamilton secured Ferrari’s first pole position of the season ahead of George Russell in the second Mercedes...

On Saturday in Mexico City, Hamilton celebrated not only the 105th pole of his career, but also his first in more than three years and since his move to Ferrari. The record-holding world champion had last secured pole position for Mercedes in Hungary in 2023. “This feels great,” Hamilton said. “I’m so happy—I’m lost for words. It’s been a tough weekend so far; we were a bit behind. But we did a great job with the setup.”

His teammate Charles Leclerc, who had been the fastest twice in Friday’s free practice and had also entered the final qualifying runs in the lead, was unable to push any harder in the end and could not move beyond third on the grid. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen qualified fourth in his Red Bull, but will be moved back one spot due to a skirmish with Racing Bull driver Liam Lawson in free practice. Antonelli will therefore move up to the second row of the grid.

The result:

Antonelli drops back in qualifying
Antonelli had no say in the battle for the front row. The championship contender finished ninth and seventh in the first two qualifying sessions before finishing fifth, 0.193 seconds behind Hamilton. “It wasn’t my best performance,” said Antonelli, who struggled with grip issues. Russell, on the other hand, came within nine thousandths of a second of Hamilton. To theoretically prevent Antonelli from clinching the title, one of the two English drivers must win the Grand Prix. If it’s Russell, Antonelli only needs to finish 9th; if it’s Hamilton, even 10th will suffice.

“Tomorrow will be a big day!”
In that case, with four races remaining, the young Mercedes star would not only be crowned world champion—becoming only the third Italian to do so after Giuseppe Farina and Alberto Ascari in the 1950s—but he would also replace Sebastian Vettel as the youngest-ever champion in the premier class. The German was 23 years and 134 days old in Abu Dhabi in 2010 when he won the first of his four titles with Red Bull. For Antonelli, race Sunday in Mexico marks the 68th day since his 20th birthday. “Tomorrow will be a big day,” said the youngster.

Last year’s world champion, Lando Norris—who has already been dethroned—had to settle for sixth place after setting the fastest time in Saturday’s third free practice session, just one-thousandth of a second ahead of Antonelli. Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren was surprisingly eliminated in 13th place during the second qualifying session. Isack Hadjar, in the second Red Bull, finished in 7th place ahead of Lawson and his Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad.