Mexico City, Saturday — Lando Norris picked the perfect moment to light up the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, ripping a 1:15.586 out of thin air to steal pole for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix and throw a serious punch in the 2025 title fight.
Charles Leclerc had planted a tidy provisional pole for Ferrari in Q3, but when the track rubbered up and the lap times tumbled, Norris found the grip and the nerve where others couldn’t. It’s the sort of lap that feels bigger than one grid slot. With his two closest rivals having off-days, the McLaren driver suddenly has a clear road and a very real opening.
Leclerc will still fancy his chances from the front row, and Ferrari’s day looks solid with Lewis Hamilton slotting P3. George Russell backs that up for Mercedes in P4, the Silver Arrows once again looking tidy over one lap in the thin air.
The subplot that matters most: Max Verstappen, who’d won three of the last four races coming in, could do no better than P5. He starts ahead of rookie Kimi Antonelli in P6, an impressive return for the teenager at a circuit that tends to punish inexperience. But Verstappen in the pack at Turn 1 — where the slipstream can swallow you whole — will make a few hearts flutter on the front two rows.
Championship leader Oscar Piastri starts only P7. On a day when Norris delivered under pressure, Piastri and Verstappen both blinked. That’s the leverage Norris has been chasing for weeks.
The rest of the top 10 is a snapshot of F1’s new mix: Isack Hadjar put in a composed effort for P8, Oliver Bearman continues to make himself hard to ignore in P9, and Yuki Tsunoda grabbed P10.
Behind them, the grid is busy with storylines. Esteban Ocon lines up P11 for Haas, one spot ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who drops to P12 after a penalty carried over from Austin. Nico Hülkenberg starts P13 for Sauber, with Fernando Alonso P14 for Aston Martin on a tricky afternoon for the green cars. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) is P15, Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto P16. Then it’s Alex Albon (Williams) P17, Pierre Gasly (Alpine) P18, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) P19, and Franco Colapinto P20.
Mexico’s peculiarities will keep everyone honest. The altitude robs power and punishes cooling, the braking zones are edgy, and the tyre warm-up can be a game of roulette. The long, long run to Turn 1 almost guarantees a scrap on the opening lap — especially with two Ferraris tucked right behind a McLaren and Verstappen queued up in the slipstream.
Norris won’t need reminding: poles here can be fragile if you don’t nail the launch. But this was the mark of a driver who knows the title picture has just shifted. He got the lap when it mattered and left his rivals with work to do.
Mexico City GP starting grid (top 10):
1. Lando Norris
2. Charles Leclerc
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. George Russell
5. Max Verstappen
6. Kimi Antonelli
7. Oscar Piastri
8. Isack Hadjar
9. Oliver Bearman
10. Yuki Tsunoda
Then: Ocon, Sainz, Hülkenberg, Alonso, Lawson, Bortoleto, Albon, Gasly, Stroll, Colapinto.
Pole in hand, rivals in traffic, and a slipstream the length of a runway waiting to reshape the race inside 15 seconds. Sunday could be very loud indeed.
