Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for the 2026 Mexico City GP with a stunning last effort in Q3, which granted him his 105th pole position in F1, and his first grand prix pole for Ferrari.
Hamilton “doesn’t remember” last time he was on pole before 2026 Mexico City GP
Hamilton’s last grand prix pole position before today had come at the 2023 Hungarian GP, as the then Mercedes F1 driver secured his 104th pole.
After that, he managed two Sprint poles – in the 2025 Chinese GP, and more recently at the 2026 British GP – but such has been his pole drought, the Ferrari driver admitted he doesn’t even remember the last time he was fastest in grand prix qualifying.
Speaking after qualifying in Mexico, the seven-time world champion reflected on how such a special feeling – especially after what has been an incredibly difficult weekend after an FP2 failure in his SF-26 – reminded him of just how long it has been since he reached the top spot in qualifying:
“It definitely does [mean a lot to me],” he said in the post-qualifying press conference. “It’s been a long time since I think I’ve sat in this spot.
“I don’t really remember the last time I had a pole. Embarking on this journey with Ferrari, and all the challenges and ups and downs we’ve had. Even yesterday was challenging, obviously when the car stopped on track and we lost the long run, that everyone got to do.
“But just continuing to hold on to that hope, that one day we’ll get back on the front row and to P1 once we dialled the car in.”
Hamilton delves into detail of “millimetre perfect” last run in Q3 for the 2026 Mexico City GP
Hamilton explained how the tyre preparation played a big role in getting the “millimetre perfect” lap together at the end of Q3 in the Mexico City GP, as the 2026 F1 cars proved quite a challenge at the high altitude of Mexico, given the low-downforce, low-grip nature of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez:
“It was such a close qualifying and so difficult, I think, for everyone, working the tyres,” he explained. “So little downforce and grip that you have on here, so you just have to be as millimetre perfect as you can be.
“It was a really, really clean lap, [and] I needed it, because, I mean, Charles [Leclerc] was three or four tenths up the road from the first run, and that’s quite a big deficit to close on your last lap. But I knew areas that I could improve on.
“Honestly, I knew all weekend that I had the pace to be on pole, but these sessions were just up and down. Obviously, Charles was very, very quick. I think the key is getting the tyres working,” he emphasized. “You see us all go out and it looks like we’re doing okay, but the tyres operate in a very small window where they’re good, and then they overheat.
“I’m really perfecting that. That’s been something I’ve really struggled with, I would say, probably the last few years, particularly as we went to the 18-inch tyre. So just learning to drive differently. It’s a bit of a different skill set, or just a different way you have to drive and approach these corners, and it requires a different type of balance usage.
“I was able to utilise a couple more tools that I’ve not used for like 13 years. And then I think, just there, as I said, just got the tyres in the perfect window on that out-lap. Once I was through Turns 1, 2 and 3, it was kind of smooth from there, and I just don’t think I lost any time anywhere, to be honest.
“So, it was just an overall good lap, but I know [Mercedes] are super close.”
Hamilton concerned about race pace after plan to improve 2026 F1 long-runs went awry in FP2 at the Mexico City GP
The seven-time world champion knows pole position is only part of the job done, with the race start and long-run pace two key factors to consider if he is to secure his second victory of the season at tomorrow’s Mexico City GP.
Hamilton revealed how he and Ferrari had a clear plan in mind for Friday’s FP2 session, in order to improve his long-run stints that he hasn’t had “one good” example of so far this season.
But that went down the drain shortly after FP2 got underway, as a power unit failure meant the Briton had to stop by the side of the track before completimg any meaningful high-fuel runs, which concerns him about what kind of balance he will have on his SF-26 come Sunday’s 71-lap race:
“In general, I don’t think this year I’ve had a good long run. We’ve either pushed our short laps too long and then got into the long run, but I’ve not had one good long run where it’s consistent and got the balance right,” he explained. “Coming into this weekend, we met up on Wednesday. We went over all the areas that we can improve on, different approaches, things that we learned from the last race.
“We’re like, ‘We’re going to make sure we get a good long run in this weekend.’ Big, big focus. And then the car stopped!
“And then I just watched the rest of the session where everyone was pounding around and getting those long runs in. So, I don’t know how the car will behave on the long run on heavy fuel, and I also don’t know the settings that I’m going to need.
“So those are the things I’m going to have to kind of guesstimate tonight and we’ll take our best guess to hopefully get the car in the right window for tomorrow.”
Optimising start will be the focus for Hamilton and Ferrari
Starting from pole at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is not always such an advantage, given the long run down towards the first corner, which often provides the cars behind with a big slipstream that more often than not results in the pole-sitter being left behind.
But instead of worrying about losing the lead at the start, Hamilton is choosing to focus on the positive nature of his lofty grid spot, as hes already better off than most of the races, when he has to come from further back and has no chance to take the lead:
“[I’m] just always looking – you look at the race starts of the previous years, and obviously we need to make sure that we get a good start, a good jump off the line, and then it’s just car positioning, braking point.
“But again, I’ve not been in that position here before, so I’m always coming from further back. So I’ll just focus on trying to optimise the start.”
Mexico altitude “helped “enabled” Ferrari to claw back some of the straight-line deficit over its rivals
Hamilton believes the high-altitude helped reduce some of Ferrari’s deficit in straight line speed compared to its Mercedes-powered rivals, which, combined with the chassis benchmark-setting cornering ability, proved to be just enough to secure the Scuderia its first pole position of the 2026 F1 season at the Mexico City GP:
“I think, fundamentally, we’ve got a great car,” said Hamilton. “We’ve worked a lot on this car. I think the engineers are doing a really great job. The mechanics and the garage are doing a really great job as well.
“And for two weeks in a row, we’ve really executed perfectly, I would say, through qualifying. All the other circuits we’ve gone to, I mean, Mercedes, they still are pulling a little bit more in the straights, but [here] it’s just not as costly as it has been in the previous races.
“When you’re losing five tenths on the straight in some races, five, six in Silverstone, whatever, to McLaren, I think it was, and more often averaging three to four, there’s not really much we can do, especially as everyone else is developing their car and they’ve slowly closed the gap.
“So through corners, they’re pretty much just as quick as us. Then we’re just at that deficit. So I think the altitude has enabled us to somehow close that gap a little bit, and I’m sure we’re still losing something on the straight, but maybe it’s just a tenth or two. So mega job to the team.”
“Very special” feeling of first Ferrari pole reminded Hamilton of Schumacher’s glory days
Although it’s only his first pole for the Scuderia, and just one of his mesmerizing total of 105 poles, Hamilton went through all the emotions on Saturday at the 2026 F1 Mexico City GP, as the third-placed driver in the world championship reminisced about Michael Schumacher’s glory days with the Scuderia, feeling all the support from the Ferrari fans in the grandstands, and rewarding his team for their “belief and faith” in him:
“I think just my belief in this team, the opportunity that they’ve given me and the belief and faith they’ve put in me – it feels great to be able to reward them with a pole.
“And to have [my] first Ferrari pole, I mean, it just takes me back to watching Michael [Schumacher] get all those pole positions when he was at Ferrari and all those wins. So, it’s very, very special.”
