Lewis Hamilton has earned Ferrari its first pole of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign by defeating George Russell in a thrilling qualifying shootout for the Mexico Grand Prix.

Russell had taken provisional pole away from Charles Leclerc with his final run at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but Hamilton responded with a marginally faster first sector to take pole by a minuscule 0.009s.

As Hamilton delivered the Scuderia's first pole of the campaign and his own first pole for Ferrari, Leclerc could only find a slight improvement on his final tour as he conceded 0.119s to his Ferrari team-mate.

Max Verstappen was fourth, just under two tenths behind, but will line up in fifth on Sunday. The Dutchman took a one-place grid penalty into qualifying for an on-track altercation with Liam Lawson during Friday practice.

After a muted session championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fifth, with the top five was covered by just two tenths. In the shape of world champion Lando Norris, McLaren also looked like a threat for pole, but Norris wasn't able to nail his first flyer and then bailed out of his second.

An irate Isack Hadjar was seventh for Red Bull after going off at the low-speed Turn 13, Red Bull's Achilles heel this weekend. Lawson was eighth but will move down to ninth for his share in the practice incident with Verstappen. That promoted his Racing Bulls team-mate Arvid Lindblad to eighth, while Lawson will line up on the fifth row alongside Alpine's Pierre Gasly.

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Colin McMaster / LAT Images via Getty Images

In Q2 Hamilton and Piastri were put under some pressure when they bailed out of their first flyers, needing a clean second effort to advance to Q3.

While Hamilton booked a place in the top 10 shootout with fourth place in Q2, Piastri wasn't able to follow suit, with the Australian's horrid second sector, losing nearly half a second through the Esses due to a lack of rear grip, leaving him eliminated in 13th – nine-tenths of a second behind pacesetting team-mate Norris.

Gasly narrowly made the cut in 10th at Audi's Nico Hulkenberg's expense. In the second Alpine Franco Colapinto managed to stay ahead of Piastri to take 12th, while Gabriel Bortoleto went out in 14th.

Haas man Oliver Bearman wasn't able to string a clean lap together, losing his second flyer for track limits, and was dumped out in 15th with Carlos Sainz the only Williams in Q2 as he took 15th.

The Q1 segment was red-flagged with 11 minutes on the clock for Fernando Alonso's stricken Aston Martin as the Spaniard ground to a halt at the Foro Sol arena with a power unit issue.

It was a gut-wrenching exit for the two-time F1 world champion on what was looking like one of the team's most competitive circuits, with Alonso's only flyer almost good enough for Q2.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Manuel Eletto / Getty Images

As Hamilton led the way with a 1m17.341s, Alonso's time didn't survive the test, with the Aston driver joined in the drop zone by Williams driver Alex Albon, who was a tenth slower than his team-mate Sainz who did make the cut.

Ryo Hirakawa was 19th on his grand prix debut, the 32-year-old Toyota WEC driver standings in for the benched Esteban Ocon at Haas. Ocon was dropped by the team without any further public explanation, though it is believed tensions between the driver and his team have hit a breaking point. Ocon has already been replaced by Ferrari junior Rafa Camara for 2027.

Lance Stroll was 20th in the second Aston Martin, followed by Cadillac duo Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Bottas had already been due to start last anyway due to a grid penalty for taking a fifth Ferrari power unit.

F1 Mexico GP - Qualifying results