McLaren driver Lando Norris secured the fastest time in Formula 1 qualifying for the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix and will start from pole position in the Grand Prix on Sunday evening.
The current World Championship runner-up determined the time trial over long stretches and finished qualifying in Q3 clearly first with a time of 1:15.586 minutes – 0.262 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari and 0.352 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari.
0.484 seconds and still behind George Russell, World Cup outsider Max Verstappen took fifth place in the Red Bull. But World Cup leader Oscar Piastri had it even worse: he ended up in eighth place, 0.588 seconds behind Norris.
Nico Hülkenberg didn’t make it into the top 10 in the Sauber: he was eliminated in 13th place in Q2.
In the first attempt, Lando Norris had the best lap with 1:17.147 minutes and took the lead by 0.047 seconds over George Russell. Charles Leclerc took third place ahead of Max Verstappen – four drivers in a good one and a half tenths of a second. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, was only 0.744 seconds behind in twelfth place.
Also in the first attempt, Lewis Hamilton and Gabriel Bortoleto each made mistakes at the entrance to the stadium and slid onto the high curb on the left, causing their cars to touch down.
In the second attempt, Norris increased to 1:16.899 minutes and defended his lead. Piastri also improved, but remained in fifth place, 0.259 seconds behind his teammate.
Nico Hülkenberg was only in P18 after two attempts and was in danger of being eliminated in Q1.
The third attempt saw a new man at the top with Isack Hadjar: 1:16.733 minutes. Verstappen couldn’t keep up and ended up 0.343 seconds behind – in fifth place. He was then passed through to ninth place.
Hadjar stayed ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Russell, Norris and Esteban Ocon. Further behind, Hülkenberg won the Sauber team duel against Gabriel Bortoleto and secured his ticket for Q2 participation with P14. Bortoleto, on the other hand, was eliminated in 16th place, about one and a half tenths behind Hülkenberg.
Behind him, Franco Colapinto hit the curb in Turn 3 on his last attempt, wasting any chance of improvement.
After Q1 the following were eliminated: Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), Alexander Albon (Williams), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
In the first attempt in Q2, Lando Norris secured the provisional best time with 1:16.252 minutes – more than four tenths ahead of Charles Leclerc and five tenths ahead of Carlos Sainz. Max Verstappen in fourth place already lost 0.572 seconds, Oscar Piastri in tenth even lost 1.034 seconds.
Piastri radioed: “It felt like something strange happened with the drive in Turn 5.” McLaren replied: “Yes, we’re already on it.” However, the driver and team did not go into detail.
After a few mistakes on his lap, Liam Lawson abandoned the first attempt, so that initially only 14 of 15 drivers were classified. However, four and a half minutes before the end, Lawson also ended the second attempt prematurely – still without a lap time.
In the final phase of Q2, Verstappen moved within 0.353 seconds of Norris and moved up to P2. However, he subsequently fell back to fourth place behind Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Behind him, Piastri was having a hard time again: he was 0.485 seconds behind Norris, which was only enough for seventh place.
Yuki Tsunoda missed progress by 0.012 seconds to P11, and Nico Hülkenberg in 13th also failed in the second session.
After Q2 the following were eliminated: Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull), Esteban Ocon (Haas), Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
Charles Leclerc opened Q3 with 1:15.991 minutes and put the Ferrari in provisional pole position – 0.179 seconds ahead of Lando Norris and 0.383 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen was 0.464 seconds behind the leaders in fourth place ahead of Oscar Piastri, who lost 0.478 seconds to Leclerc.
In the second attempt, Piastri improved, but only came within 0.004 seconds of Norris. Verstappen temporarily passed Norris, but Norris set the new best time a little later with 1:15.586 minutes.
Leclerc and Hamilton then moved ahead of Verstappen. Piastri was even pushed through to eighth place – ultimately 0.588 seconds behind.