Lando Norris Leads The Charge At Mexican GP: Pole For McLaren Ahead Of Ferraris

Last Updated:October 26, 2025, 09:23 IST

Lando Norris claims pole for the Mexico City Grand Prix in McLaren, boosting his championship hopes ahead of Charles Leclerc.

Lando Norris and Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc of Monaco, left, who qualified second, and Lewis Hamilton of Britain, who qualified third, smile at the podium (Picture credit: AP)

Title-chasing Lando Norris delivered a brilliant late lap in his McLaren to bag pole position for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, enhancing his championship bid on Saturday, October 25, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Norris’s team-mate and series leader Oscar Piastri, who leads him by 14 points in the championship, qualified in eighth after a disappointing session, three places behind four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who is 40 points behind in third.

The 25-year-old Briton recorded a best lap of one minute and 15.586 seconds, beating Leclerc by 0.262 seconds, with seven-time champion Hamilton three-tenths behind.

Mercedes’ George Russell was fourth, followed by Verstappen, Italian teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, Carlos Sainz of Williams, and Piastri. Sainz faces a five-place grid penalty.

Racing Bulls’ rookie Isack Hadjar was ninth, and Oliver Bearman of Haas finished tenth.

This marked Norris’s first pole in Mexico, his fifth this season, and the 14th of his career. It was also McLaren’s first pole in Mexico since 1990.

“I’m happy to be back on pole, it’s been a long time," said Norris, whose last pole came at the Belgian Grand Prix in July. “My lap – it was one of those laps where you don’t know what happened – it felt decent, but when I saw it was a 15.5, I was surprised. I’ve had some good races here in the past, and I’ll just focus on what I can control. I’m here to win," Norris added. “I’ll be looking forward, I have some quick guys behind me – I’m not expecting it to be easy."

Leclerc described it as a “difficult qualifying because there is so little grip. It’s very tricky, but I am happy with the job I’ve done," he said.

Hamilton, having secured his first top-three qualifying spot since joining Ferrari, said: “I am so happy. I am honoured to be here with these guys who have been so quick all year – and my first top three all year!"

In hot conditions and a festive atmosphere, Aston Martin’s two-time champion Fernando Alonso clocked an early opener before being overtaken by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and then a flying Norris with 1:17.147.

Leclerc went second, a tenth adrift, but Piastri was seven-tenths slower in 10th.

The track was heating up in the sunshine, allowing for faster laps, and the entire field was within a second of Norris before Hadjar, wearing an Alain Prost tribute helmet to mark the four-time champion’s 1990 win in Mexico, went top with 1:16.733, ahead of Hamilton.

It was the first time this year a Racing Bulls driver had topped any segment of qualifying.

Both Alpines, Lance Stroll of Aston Martin, Williams’ Alex Albon, and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto were eliminated in a tight finish as tyres and temperatures became decisive factors.

Q2 began with fast laps on new softs from Verstappen and Leclerc before Norris went top with 1:16.252, four-tenths clear of Leclerc. Piastri was a second down on his team-mate in 10th after the first runs and complained of a powertrain issue that hampered him.

Verstappen led the way again for the second run and, with the aid of a tow from team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, went second, 0.353 off Norris’s lap, before being beaten by Hamilton while Piastri squeezed into the top ten in seventh. Hadjar held on in 10th.

Out this time went Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon of Haas, Hulkenberg, Alonso, and Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls.

Verstappen led the way again in Q3 with 1:16.455, immediately overtaken by Norris with 1:16.252, four tenths clear of Leclerc.

Hamilton went second before Leclerc soared to the top with 1:15.991 – an improvement of seven-tenths to secure provisional pole.

Ferrari was clearly enjoying a surge of pace that left Piastri fifth behind both of his main title rivals, setting up a thrilling finale with the second Q3 runs.

This time, the Australian was first out of the pit lane, hoping for a dramatic change of fortunes. Instead, he wound up eighth as Norris charged to the top.

(With AFP Inputs)

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