McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed pole position for 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix in a dramatic qualifying session.
Norris topped Practice and two of the three qualifying segments to claim his first pole position in Mexico, whilst his fellow title hunter – Max Verstappen qualified fifth as championship leader, Oscar Piastri only managed eighth on the grid, although Carlos Sainz’s grid penalty promoted him to seventh.
FP3
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were first on track but opted to focus on pit stop practice, whilst Verstappen set 1m 18.914 as the benchmark time on medium tyres.
He soon traded fastest laps with Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto on his next flier, before Williams’ Sainz on the soft tyre set 1m 18.028 to head Verstappen by 0.023 seconds.
Norris initially went 0.037s down on Sainz’s best lap in third position but found himself quickest at the halfway mark with 1m 18.015 set in the 27th minute.
Mercedes’ George Russell however finished the main opening stints fastest with 1m 17.892 ahead of the soft-tyre qualifying simulations, which Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar initially headed with 1m 17.396 before Piastri, Charles Leclerc and Andrea Kimi Antonelli displaced him amongst various drivers.
With ten minutes left, Hamilton lowered the benchmark to 1m 16.978 but Norris a minute later topped the session with 1m 16.633, as Russell settled for third to make it a British top three.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 16.633 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.345 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.512 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.566 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.599 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.609 |
| 7 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.620 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 0.763 |
| 9 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 0.782 |
| 10 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 0.893 |
| 11 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.919 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.941 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.965 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 1.031 |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 1.168 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.361 |
| 17 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.413 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.779 |
| 19 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 1.948 |
| 20 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.978 |
Qualifying
Q1
Stroll was first on track and set 1m 18.815 but once everyone set their first lap times, Norris headed the order on 1m 17.147 whilst the bottom five comprised of; Ocon, Colapinto, Stroll, Gasly and Bortoleto – after the Brazilian’s lap time was deleted due to a breach of track limits.
Stroll subsequently climbed out at the expense of Alonso who then dropped Hulkenberg and Hamilton into the bottom five.
Once everyone completed their second fliers, Tsunoda headed the bottom five from Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Albon and Stroll.
At the checkered flag, Tsunoda and Hulkenberg survived as Bortoleto qualified 16th ahead of; Albon, Gasly, Stroll and Colapinto.
Hadjar meanwhile topped Q1 with 1m 16.733 ahead of Hamilton and Russell.
Q2
Hadjar was first to venture out in Q2 and set 1m 17.137 as the initial benchmark time but by the time everyone completed their first fliers, Norris set the pace on 1m 16.252 whilst the bottom five comprised of; Bearman, Ocon, Alonso, Antonelli and Lawson.
Lawson however had aborted his first flier due to a mistake into turn 4 which saw him run too deep into the corner under braking, before he then aborted his second lap due to a lack of pace.
At the checkered flag, Bearman and Antonelli escaped the drop as Tsunoda found himself knocked out in 11th as Hadjar scraped into Q3 by 0.012s.
Ocon, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Lawson were also eliminated and will line up in positions 12 – 15 respectively, whilst nobody topped Norris’ first flier.
Q3
Verstappen was first on track and set 1m 16.455 as the initial benchmark time but Norris displaced him by 0.285s, only for Leclerc to post 1m 15.991 to go onto provisional pole from the Brit.
Hamilton slotted into third at the end of the first Q3 runs ahead of; Verstappen, Piastri, Russell, Antonelli, Sainz, Hadjar and Bearman.
Once the checkered flag fell, Norris snatched his first pole in Mexico with 1m 15.586 and is joined on the front row by Leclerc, with ex Mercedes teammates – Hamilton and Russell sharing the second row in third and fourth.
Verstappen qualified fifth ahead of; Antonelli, Sainz, Piastri, Hadjar and Bearman, although Sainz will start 12th due to a five-place grid penalty after he collided with Antonelli in the US GP.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 15.586 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.262 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.352 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.448 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.484 |
| 6 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.532 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.586 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.588 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 0.666 |
| 10 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 0.874 |
| 11 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | 1m 16.816 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.021 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 0.200 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.287 |
| 15 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 1.256 |
| 16 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 1m 17.412 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.078 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.134 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.194 |
| 20 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 0.258 |
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