Lewis Hamilton storms to first pole position in three years in Mexico

Lewis Hamilton claimed a first pole position in over three years as he stormed to top spot in Mexico.

The 41-year-old declared he was “built differently” on Thursday as he said he is still a match for the youngest drivers on the grid.

He showed every bit of that with a stunning display to take his first Ferrari pole and his first since Hungary in 2023 – 1,197 days ago.

Hamilton pipped former Mercedes team-mate George Russell by just 0.009 seconds thanks to a brilliant final run. His Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc finished third.

Kimi Antonelli, 21 years Hamilton’s junior, is set to clinch the world championship on Sunday assuming he finishes ninth or better in Mexico City.

The Italian will start his march towards claiming his spot as the youngest world champion from fourth on the grid.

He qualified fifth but will gain a place after a penalty for Max Verstappen.

Hamilton becomes F1’s oldest pole-sitter since 42-year-old Mario Andretti in 1982. Ferrari had shown pace throughout the weekend, with Leclerc appearing most likely to land top spot.

But Hamilton, who has previously claimed sprint pole in Ferrari colours, delivered at the last to clinch a 105th career pole.

“Thank you so much, it has been such a long time coming,” Hamilton said over the radio.

“Mega job, guys – I am so grateful for the hard work you guys put in.”

He added: “That felt great! That feels good! I’m so happy. I’m lost for words.

“I think the others have a new tyre for the start but to have pole here, it feels special to be here in Mexico and (pole position) 105, I like that number.”

Lando Norris will start sixth for McLaren, while team-mate Oscar Piastri’s miserable season continued as he suffered a shock elimination from the second part of qualifying.

The Australian, who was pipped to the title by Norris at the season finale last year, has trailed the British driver throughout this campaign and lining up 13th in Mexico will do little to improve his mood.

Verstappen was handed the one-place grid drop after a collision with former Red Bull team-mate Liam Lawson – who received the same penalty – in practice on Friday.

His current team-mate Isack Hadjar was issued with a warning by the FIA after shoving a paddock guest, who was aggressively attempting to take a selfie with the Frenchman.

Fernando Alonso was instructed by Aston Martin to stop the car in Q1 as the session was red-flagged.

The top drivers made it through with little trouble, but that was not the case for Piastri in Q2. While Norris topped the charts, he was over nine tenths slower and miserably trudged back to the garage.

Leclerc led the way after the first run of Q1, narrowly ahead of Verstappen while Hamilton and the Mercedes duo were well off the pace.

As the clock ticked down, Russell found pace from nowhere to storm to the top of the charts, however, Hamilton found the answer.

Haas made a surprise announcement that Esteban Ocon had been replaced for the rest of the weekend by Ryo Hirakawa, but offered no explanation as to why.

Ocon took part in second practice on Friday, after Japanese driver Hirakawa had been given an opportunity in the first, but cut a frustrated figure after rowing with his race engineer during the session.

The Frenchman will leave Haas at the end of the season and is without a seat for next year as things stand. Haas have given no indication over their driver line-up for Brazil next weekend.