Lewis Hamilton promised to be “very aggressive” from third on the grid at the start of the Mexico City Grand Prix as he seeks to capitalize on his best qualifying result for Ferrari to achieve an “amazing” first podium for the team.
The seven-time world champion starts at the front of the second row at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc. Ferrari proved the closest challenger to impressive polesitter Lando Norris.
Hamilton has had a difficult first season at Ferrari and entering Sunday’s race, the 20th round of the campaign, he has yet to finish a grand prix higher than fourth.
But now, having returned to the top three in qualifying for the first time in 13 months, Hamilton believes there are finally real signs of progress.
“I’m very happy to be in the top three,” Hamilton said after achieving his best start to a Grand Prix since Singapore 2024.
“It’s been a really hard mountain to climb because it’s taken us all year to get here, but I think we’ve finally come to terms with everything around us and me and my engineers are starting to get the performance out of the car, so I’m really, really happy.
“Honestly, it’s been a tough year. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get here, but that’s okay. The journey is what counts and I’ve grown a lot through it.”
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Highlights of the Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying.
Does Hamilton actually have the best grid spot to start with?
The impressive Norris ultimately proved too strong for Ferrari, but Leclerc beat Hamilton by 0.090 seconds to finish second in the Scuderia’s lead car.
But Hamilton believes he could be the Ferrari driver with the preferred grid slot in the second row.
That’s because third is on the left side of the grid, giving a cleaner racing line, and the run from 830m to the first corner of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is one of the longest sections of the season, giving the cars behind it a chance to slipstream.
While the polesitter has failed to lead the first lap in Mexico in two years, Max Verstappen famously slingshotted from third on the grid to first in early 2021, ahead of Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
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It’s the first lap of the eventful 2024 Mexico City GP, with Max Verstappen taking the lead and Yuki Tsunoda crashing.
“For a while I was P2 (on the grid) but the inside isn’t really that good and it’s pretty dirty so I’m very grateful to get third and hopefully I can capitalize on that,” Hamilton said.
“Obviously Charles has new (soft) tires, as does Lando, but nevertheless the P3 can tow, so I think this is not a bad position to start from, so I’m going to be quite aggressive. I’d like to push forward somehow tomorrow.”
“I definitely want to be sensational,” Hamilton added at the press conference.
“I have nothing to lose, but he (Norris) does, so I’m sure I’ll be pretty aggressive.
“And hopefully we’ll be close enough to have a good fight.”
And while aware of the potential risks of starting from a dirty part of the grid, Leclerc is also targeting an aggressive start as he expects Norris to have strong race pace as well.
“I think (Norris) will definitely be very strong,” Leclerc said.
“But the start is definitely an opportunity for us to try and create something special.
“I’m not sure if it would be good to start second here on the dirty side of the track, but it’s okay.
“I’m going to focus on what I can control and hopefully that will be enough to get me into Turn One with him.”
Sky Sports F1 Mexico City GP Schedule
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Take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments from the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Sunday, October 26
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP strengthened*
8 p.m.: Mexico City Grand Prix*
10pm: Checkered flag: Mexico City GP reaction
*Applies to Sky Sports main event as well
Formula 1’s thrilling title race continues at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday for the lights-out Mexico City Grand Prix at 8pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Stream Sky Sports NOW – No Commitment, Cancel Anytime
