Update: Lewis Hamilton has taken pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Kimi Antonelli does not need a win to clinch his maiden Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
But securing pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session would put him one step closer to securing the result he needs to clinch that first championship.
Antonelli can clinch the title with a P9 result in Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, if George Russell wins the race itself, but he could certainly be in the fight for pole position given how Friday’s pair of practice sessions unfolded. Antonelli was second fastest in FP1, and fourth fastest in FP2, with Charles Leclerc leading both hours.
But as we saw last week at the United States Grand Prix, Antonelli does have a habit of turning it on during qualifying. Antonelli was in the middle of the pack during FP1 in Austin, but a thunderous lap at the start of Q3 was enough to secure pole position, and put him on a path to victory.
A similar performance today could put him on a path not just to victory, but to a title.
Mexico City provisional starting grid
Here is the provisional starting grid for the Mexico City Grand Prix, which will be filled in throughout the session:
Row |
Position |
Driver |
Team |
Position |
Driver |
Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 1 | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 2 | George Russell | Mercedes |
| Row 2 | 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 4 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes |
| Row 3 | 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
| Row 4 | 7 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 8 | Arvid Lindblad | VCARB |
| Row 5 | 9 | Liam Lawson | VCARB | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine |
| Row 6 | 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 12 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine |
| Row 7 | 13 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 14 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi |
| Row 8 | 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 16 | Carlos Sainz | Williams |
| Row 9 | 17 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 18 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin |
| Row 10 | 19 | Ryō Hirakawa | Haas | 20 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
| Row 11 | 21 | Sergio Pérez | Cadilllac | 22 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac |
Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying
Here is how the qualifying hour unfolded. All times listed are in Eastern:
6:02: Opening runs done. Leclerc, Verstappen, Norris, Hamilton, and Russell the current top five.
5:58: Hamilton sets the benchmark with a 1:16.647. Leclerc in P2.
5:55: Q3 is about to begin. Antonelli set to lead the grid out when the green light illuminates at the end of pit lane.
5:50: Norris, Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Russell, Hadjar, Antonelli, Lindblad, Lawson, and Gasly are the ten through to Q3, in that order.
5:50: Hülkenberg, Colapinto, Piastri, Bortoleto, Bearman, and Sainz are out.
5:49: Scratch that, Piastri is out!
5:48: Piastri crosses the line in P13, but he has time for one last push lap.
5:47: Q2 about to end. Lawson, Colapinto, Bortoleto, Piastri, Bearman, and Sainz in the drop zone.
5:26: Checkered flag for Q1. Alonso, Stroll, Perez, and Bottas already out.
5:23: Hamilton and Leclerc lead a Ferrari one-two at the moment, ahead of Piastri and Norris.
5:21: Q1 has just four minutes left, Albon, Alonso, Hirakawa, Stroll, Pérez, and Bottas are in the drop zone.
5:05: Alonso has the early benchmark of 1:18.908, but the best teams have yet to post times.
5:01: Green light in Mexico City, and Pérez is one of the first to take to the track.
