By: Qualifying, held on the Mexico City circuit during the Italian evening, saw Lewis Hamilton take his 105th pole position, a prestigious tally achieved with three of the sport’s most illustrious teams: McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari.
Behind the seven-time world champion was George Russell, finally more convincing and in better form than his team-mate Antonelli, who may nevertheless be able to afford the luxury of focusing solely on the championship, which is now within reach.
Leclerc was "only" third after a mistake, but had the potential for pole position and an all-Ferrari front row.
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Hamilton and Russell: former team-mates compared
At a grand prix that was expected to be the most difficult for the SF-26, the car instead proved extremely comfortable, above all thanks to the work carried out by Serra’s team, who have equipped it with an excellent suspension system that allows it to attack the kerbs very effectively.
In every passage through the more technical sections, Hamilton gains more than a tenth over George Russell’s W17 and, at Turn 13, the gap briefly exceeds three tenths before being clawed back under acceleration towards the finish line.
It was therefore in the slower sections that Hamilton built his 105th pole.
In terms of top speed, the SF-26 loses out to the Mercedes, but by far less than at other venues, perhaps precisely because of the thin air. It should also be said that Russell negotiated the high-speed section from Turn 6 to Turn 12 very effectively, truly on the limit, recovering a great deal of the deficit he had suffered to the Englishman.
The picture is different under acceleration, where the Mercedes’ electrical component is always dominant, although Hamilton’s much less progressive throttle trace on the exit of Turn 16 could also suggest a very small mistake.
Hamilton gets the better of Leclerc in the more technical section
The comparison between Hamilton and Leclerc first reveals a broadly even match up to Turn 4, where Leclerc is only 54 thousandths behind.
From Turn 4 to Turn 11, however, Leclerc is clearly ahead, gaining more than a tenth on Lewis Hamilton. That is why we can say an all-Ferrari front row was entirely possible.
Just before Turn 11, Leclerc makes a mistake which, according to the graph, costs him as much as two tenths, only partially recovered in the subsequent corners. We will look in more detail later at the differences between Leclerc’s two laps.
Leclerc gets his tyre preparation wrong on final Q3 attempt
Let us now focus on Leclerc. In red is the lap that earned him third on the grid, while in blue is his previous Q3 lap.
When the Monegasque says that tyre preparation for his final attempt was not optimal, he is probably telling the truth because, looking at the gaps, his first attempt was as much as half a second quicker in certain sections.
Grip appears much better through the first three slow corners, and also better between Turns 4, 5 and 6; only traction out of the final corner towards the pit straight allowed him to shave some time off his previous lap.
Paradoxically, the small mistake between Turns 10 and 11 described in the comparison with Hamilton disappears, insignificant compared with the grip difference caused by tyres that were not at 100%.
Looking closely at the Turn 4, 5 and 6 complex, it is very clear how much greater grip and confidence Leclerc had under braking into the corner, and how much time was lost on the final attempt.
Cover photo by Finlay Williams / WHYOUT Images
All the news, photos, weather, session times and times from the Mexican GP 2026
