Lewis Hamilton has promised to be “pretty aggressive” from third on the grid at the start of the Mexico City Grand Prix as he looks to build on his best qualifying result for Ferrari and claim an “amazing” first podium for the team.
The seven-time world champion started at the front of the second row at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc, with Ferrari proving to be the closest challenger to impressive pole-sitter Lando Norris, who led qualifying by two tenths of a second on a day where the two title rivals struggled.
Hamilton enters Sunday’s 20th race of the season after a difficult first season with Ferrari, but has yet to finish higher than fourth in a grand prix.
But Hamilton, who has returned to qualifying in the top three for the first time in 13 months, believes he is finally showing signs of real progress.
“I’m very happy to be in the top three,” said Hamilton, who had his best start to a Grand Prix since the 2024 Singapore Games.
“It took us a year to get here, so it was a tough mountain to climb. But I’m really, really happy that we’re finally able to get things going with everything around us and I think that myself and the engineers are really starting to get the performance out of the car.”
“Honestly, it’s been a tough year. I can’t believe it took me this long to get here, but it’s okay. It’s the process that counts, and I’ve grown a lot in the process.”
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Highlights of Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying.
Does Hamilton actually hold the best starting grid position?
The impressive Norris ultimately proved too strong for Ferrari, but Leclerc edged Hamilton by 0.090 seconds and qualified for the Scuderia’s top car in second place.
However, Hamilton feels he may be able to claim the more desirable second row of the grid of any Ferrari driver.
This is because third place is on the left side of the grid, which means a cleaner racing line, and because the distance to the first turn of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez is one of the longest of the season at 830 metres, giving the cars behind a chance to slipstream.
Pole sitter Max Verstappen has not led the first lap in Mexico in either of the past two years, but at the start of 2021 he famously slingshot from third on the grid to first place ahead of Hamilton and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
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On the first lap of the eventful 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, Max Verstappen took the lead and Yuki Tsunoda crashed.
Hamilton said: “I was second (on the grid) at one point, but it actually wasn’t that good on the inside, it was quite dirty, so I’m very grateful to be third and I want to take advantage of that.”
“Obviously, Charles is on new (soft) tires, just like Lando, but I think third place is not a bad position to start from because he can still pull. So I’m going to fight quite aggressively and hope to make some headway tomorrow.”
“I definitely want to be racy,” Hamilton said at a press conference.
“I have nothing to lose, but he (Norris) has something to lose. So I will be quite aggressive, I’m sure.”
“And hopefully we’ll get close enough to put up a good fight.”
And while Leclerc is aware of the potential pitfalls of starting on the dirty side of the grid, he is aiming for an aggressive start as he expects Norris also has strong race pace.
“I think (Norris) is definitely very strong,” Leclerc said.
“But the start is definitely an opportunity for us to try to create something special.
“If I start second on the dirty side of the track, I don’t know if it’s great or not, but I’m fine.
“I just focus on what I can control and hope that being with him in turn one is enough.”
Sky Sports F1 Mexico City GP Schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Sunday, October 26th
6:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP Build-up*
8pm: Mexico City Grand Prix*
10pm: Checkered flag: Mexico City GP reaction
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
Heads of F1’s thrilling title race will continue at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix with lights out at 8pm on Sunday and broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
