Hamilton “lost for words” following first pole position with Ferrari

It’s been nearly three years, but seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finds himself back on pole position in Formula One. The cherry on top? It will be his first time starting from the front as a Ferrari driver. 

“Wow. That felt great,” Hamilton said following his 105th pole position lap.

“That feels so good. So happy, oh, man, I am lost for words.” 

Hamilton’s first half of the weekend was decent, but up until the final session of qualifying, it looked as though his teammate, Charles Leclerc, was on the front foot out of the two Ferraris. In fact, Hamilton actually had to end his second free practice session early when his race engineer urged him to put the car in park in light of issues surfacing on the car. 

For a driver that missed out on a session of practice running, none of that missed time showed during Hamilton’s qualifying sessions. The Briton had a bit of a scare in Q2, when he was forced to bail out of a lap following an uncharacteristic mistake in sector 2. With his back against the wall, and a solid lap needed to make it through, the seven-time champ delivered and jumped up into the top ten on the timing sheets to slide into Q3. 

Leclerc was blazingingly quick early, but it was the Mercedes of George Russell that posed an early threat on his second run of Q3. With Leclerc and Lando Norris failing to respond, and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull locking up late in his lap, Hamilton’s final effort of 1:16.514s kept him at the top. The nearest challenger, Russell, missed out by just 0.009s. 

“It has been a really challenging weekend, FP1, we had the [aero] rake running; then in FP2, the engine issue meant we were on the back foot and didn't get a long run,” said Hamilton during the interview with the top 3 finishers.  

“It is so close between all of us.”

Hamilton’s pole in Mexico City marks his first with Ferrari, and 105th of his career. 

“I think this is my first pole with Ferrari, and 105 [poles], I like that number,” he joked. “Where there's a will, there's a way.”

Hamilton’s direct challengers tomorrow will be his former teammate Russell and his current teammate Leclerc, who start second and third, respectively. In the driver’s championship, Hamilton currently trails Russell by a single point, as the pair battle for second position in the standings.