Hamilton takes first Ferrari pole in Mexico City

Lewis Hamilton secured his first pole position for Ferrari at the Mexico City Grand Prix, beating former Mercedes teammate George Russell by 0.009 seconds in qualifying on October 31. The result was Hamilton’s 105th career pole and his first since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc qualified third. Hamilton’s final lap in the decisive qualifying session put him ahead of Russell by nine-thousandths of a second. The narrow margin delivered a milestone for the seven-time world champion in his first season with Ferrari. At 41, he also became Formula One’s oldest polesitter since Mario Andretti in 1982. Hamilton said a power-unit problem during Friday practice had left him short of track time and without a long run. He also said Ferrari’s work on the car’s setup over the weekend helped him recover. In the opening practice session, he had run an aerodynamic rake, a device used to gather data about airflow around the car. Tyre preparation was another focus. Hamilton said getting the tyres into their operating window had been a challenge for him over several seasons, particularly since Formula One introduced 18-inch tyres. He described the usable...