Hamilton Snatches Mexico City Pole by 0.009s Over Russell

Lewis Hamilton has claimed pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix, ending a three-year spell without a top grid slot. The seven-time champion pipped Mercedes driver George Russell by just 0.009 seconds after a dramatic battle at the top of qualifying.

Hamilton's final effort produced a lap time of 1 minute 16.514 seconds. The result is his 105th pole in Formula 1, adding another landmark to a career defined by outstanding qualifying performances.

Charles Leclerc took third, with Max Verstappen fourth despite losing control of his car on the last lap. Antonelli, the championship leader, completed the top five, and the five fastest drivers were covered by less than 0.2 seconds.

McLaren's performance dipped after a strong showing in FP3. Lando Norris qualified sixth, while Isack Hadjar finished seventh after a mistake on his first Q3 attempt cost him any chance of recovery.

Liam Lawson qualified eighth for Racing Bulls but will lose a place because of an FP2 incident involving Verstappen, who faces the same penalty. Arvid Lindblad will therefore advance from ninth to eighth, and Alpine's Pierre Gasly earned a spot inside the top 10.

Oscar Piastri's session ended in Q2, and he was classified 13th after failing to improve on his final lap. Nico Hulkenberg of Audi was 11th, while Franco Colapinto of Alpine was 12th.

In the second Audi, Gabriel Bortoleto qualified 14th. Oliver Bearman and Carlos Sainz were next. Sainz has beaten Williams teammate Alex Albon in qualifying 14 times this season, with Albon finishing 17th.

Fernando Alonso was knocked out in Q1 in 18th place. Aston Martin had asked him to stop during the session after a suspected water pressure problem in the ERS system.

Ryo Hirakawa, Haas's new driver for the rest of the Mexico City weekend in place of Esteban Ocon, delivered a respectable 19th place on his Formula 1 qualifying debut. Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas completed the grid order.