Formula 1 qualifying in Mexico
Sign to Verstappen: Norris takes pole – Ferrari furious
Updated 10/26/2025Reading time: 2 minutes
In qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix, several drivers who were not necessarily expected to be at the front can stand out.
A clear sign in the Formula 1 title fight: Lando Norris has secured pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix. The McLaren driver set the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday afternoon local time in Mexico City and will start from the front in the race on Sunday (from 9 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online). The two Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton surprisingly landed in second and third place.
World champion Max Verstappen, who had recently gained significant ground in the Red Bull on the two championship-leading McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri, came fourth ahead of Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes). Piastri, who has been weak for weeks and is still in first place in the World Championship standings, only starts from eighth place.
Nico Hülkenberg (Emmerich) took 13th place on the grid in the Sauber. “It was a clean qualifying, it felt like nothing more was possible,” said the only German in the field at Sky.
Norris (332) is 14 points behind Piastri (346). After three wins from four races, Verstappen (306) is heading into the World Cup round near Mexico City 40 points behind Piastri.
In the third training session in the morning, Verstappen was clearly over half a second behind Norris. For qualifying, Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko announced a “massive modification” to the car: “We hope that this will bring us towards the front row.” A good, error-free qualifying lap is difficult even for the top guys on the slippery asphalt.
In the last qualifying section, Leclerc set the first exclamation mark with the interim best time. But then Norris turned up the heat and moved into first place with a final dream lap. The competition was no longer able to catch up.