Lewis Hamilton takes pole position at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

Lewis Hamilton claims pole position

Lewis Hamilton snatched pole position at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez with a 1:16.514 lap time to beat George Russell by 0.009 seconds after the Ferrari driver set a blistering second run to edge out his Mercedes rival. The 41-year-old driver became the oldest pole sitter since Mario Andretti in 1982 and claimed his first pole position since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. This performance extends his record for the most F1 poles to 105. Hamilton held fourth place after the first round of Q3 laps. Charles Leclerc finished third with a 1:16.944, while Max Verstappen qualified fourth with a 1:16.978 but will drop one place after a lockup in the stadium section prevented a faster time. Kimi Antonelli will move up to fifth as Lando Norris finished sixth with a 1:17.027. Isack Hadjar took seventh, while Liam Lawson took eighth and Arvid Lindblad took ninth. Pierre Gasly finished tenth with a 1:17.278. Charles Leclerc topped both practice sessions on Friday.

Unexpected exits and technical failures

The qualifying session produced several unexpected results and technical failures. Oscar Piastri suffered a shock exit in Q2 and finished 13th with a 1:17.646 lap, despite the pace shown by Lando Norris. Fernando Alonso triggered a red flag only nine minutes into the session when he pulled over with a suspected water pressure issue linked to the ERS system in his Honda power unit. Aston Martin confirmed the issue, and Alonso will start 18th on Sunday after a separate "general safety" problem involving his steering wheel. Alonso fell away in Q1 along with Alex Albon, Ryo Hirakawa, Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez, and Valtteri Bottas.

Liam Lawson and Max Verstappen each face a one-place grid penalty. Valtteri Bottas will start from the back of the grid because he took an almost complete power unit change. Bottas and Sergio Perez both failed to set a timed lap during Free Practice 3. The session also saw Ryo Hirakawa drafted in as a late replacement for Esteban Ocon at Haas. The Q2 elimination group included Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Gabriel Bortoleto, Oliver Bearman, and Carlos Sainz. Nico Hulkenberg finished 11th and Franco Colapinto finished 12th. Alonso recorded a 1:18.908 in Q1, while Alex Albon recorded a 1:18.630. Lance Stroll and Ryo Hirakawa recorded times of 1:19.072 and 1:18.958 respectively. Sergio Perez finished 21st and Valtteri Bottas finished 22nd.

New regulations and full results

The 2026 qualifying format includes 22 cars, which means six drivers exit after Q1 and Q2. This year, Q3 also lasts 13 minutes instead of the previous 12. The following table shows the final qualifying results for the top ten drivers.

Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Gabriel Bortoleto, Oliver Bearman, and Carlos Sainz all exited in Q2. These five drivers join Oscar Piastri as the six eliminated competitors from the second session. The remaining drivers, including Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Ryo Hirakawa, Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez, and Valtteri Bottas, fell out during the first session. Gabriel Bortoleto and Sergio Perez struggled during Free Practice 3 and failed to set a timed lap before qualifying began. Earlier in the weekend, Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson had a moment in Free Practice 2 where Verstappen drove off the road before he joined the track and crowded Lawson to the side of the track on exit. This contact prompted a red flag and left debris littered across the circuit. Lewis Hamilton also stopped on track during Free Practice 2 with an issue in his Ferrari, while Gabriel Bortoleto had issues that meant the Brazilian only emerged in the latter stages of that session. Lando Norris led Free Practice 3 with a 1:17.600, which was 0.001s faster than Kimi Antonelli.