McLaren
Norris topped FP3 in style, going over three tenths clear of the field despite this being a relatively short track. That set him up for a tilt at pole and he duly delivered on his last lap, knowing full well he had the Ferrari cars breathing down his neck. He pulled out a special flying run to grab a first pole since Belgium. Piastri has struggled all weekend by comparison and today was no different, as he wound up a good few tenths back time and time again. He scraped into Q3, but was nowhere near the front, qualifying eighth. He inherits one place when Sainz serves his grid penalty, which will be scant consolation.
Oscar Piastri, 8th, 1:16.174
“Not the Qualifying I was after. I’ve been struggling for pace this weekend, and that continued into this session. It’s a long run to Turn 1 tomorrow, so let’s see what we can learn this evening and what we can do to unlock the pace.”
Lando Norris, 1st, 1:1.586
“Pole position! I’m very pleased with that. It was a great final lap; it felt very natural, and to come out with Pole by that margin is a very good feeling. We’ve still got a lot of work to do tomorrow, so we’ll get our heads down this evening and get ourselves ready for the race.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal
“It’s very satisfying for the team to be back on Pole position today. In the last few races, we haven’t extracted the full performance potential from the car, but after regrouping and improving our understanding of the car, we are now back to being the reference point for the rest of the grid, at least here in Mexico City.
“It was a well-deserved Pole position lap from Lando, where he extracted maximum performance, reiterating that we have a strong car which behaved well in the conditions today.
“There is a little bit of work to do on Oscar’s side with some sliding in corners like we saw in Austin. This is something the team will review overnight and look to improve ahead of tomorrow.
“Looking ahead to the Grand Prix, our race pace looks strong, which should help Oscar recover positions throughout. We will also focus on giving Lando a clean start as we look to maximise our points in Mexico City.”
Gallery2MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Pole position qualifier Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren looks on in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Pole position qualifier Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren looks on in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Ferrari
Ferrari have looked quick from word go here, crucially with both cars. Their drivers both arrived in Q3 with two fresh sets of soft tyres, and put them to good use. Leclerc grabbed provisional pole on the first runs with a staggering improvement, but had no answer to the pace of Norris second time around. He was pleased with his lap and with P2, and Hamilton backed him up with his best Grand Prix Qualifying of the year. And the best news is with such a long drag to Turn 1, there is every chance a Ferrari could be in the lead on the first lap tomorrow.
Charles Leclerc, 2nd, 1:15.848
“The car has been really good today and over the course of this weekend. On a track like this with such low grip, even the smallest of mistakes is costly though. I’m happy with both of my laps in Q3. The temperatures dropped slightly, which helped to improve the grip and the car reacted well.
“The race start will be our opportunity to try and get alongside Lando and take the lead. It would mean a lot to the whole team to secure a victory, so I will do everything to bring it home.”
Lewis Hamilton, 3rd, 1:15.938
“I’m really happy to be up here in the top three alongside Charles, it’s a great result for the team and one they truly deserve. We haven’t brought any upgrades this weekend, so the focus has been on improving our processes and extracting everything we can from the car. That approach is what made the difference today. Qualifying in third has put me in a good position to really fight tomorrow and I’ll be giving it everything I can to build on the good momentum we’ve had so far this weekend. Grazie a tutti: the tifosi, the team here at the track and everyone back at home.”
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal
“It’s our best qualifying since the early part of the season and this one is particularly good as we were there right from Q1 and it’s very important to have Charles on the front row tomorrow. It is also important that Lewis is near the front as it is gives us more possibilities in terms of strategy.
“Our pace was decent in the last couple of races but we struggled to put everything together, while this weekend we have done a good job from the start on Friday. When you start off on the right foot, it is far easier to fine tune everything as the weekend goes on. In qualifying, with Charles we only ran one set of new tyres in Q1 and again one in Q2, while except for Lando, the others used two. It was always our plan to save one set of Softs for tomorrow.
“Can we win tomorrow? A lot will depend on the start and it’s a long run off the grid to Turn 1. The key will be the ability to run in clean air.”
Gallery2MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Second placed qualifier Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Scuderia Ferrari gives a thumbs up in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Second placed qualifier Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Scuderia Ferrari gives a thumbs up in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Mercedes
Antonelli continued to impress on Saturday, the youngster seemingly comfortable at this track. So it was a surprise when he barely scraped through to Q2, after completely losing his rhythm at the start of Qualifying. Fortunately things improved from there, with both drivers putting in solid efforts in Q3. Russell is a danger from P4, but will have his work cut out with Verstappen behind while Antonelli is poised to also score good points for the Silver Arrows.
George Russell, 4th, 1:16.034
“I am reasonably happy with how qualifying went today. On pure single lap pace, Lando (Norris) and both Ferraris seemed to have a step on us, so the next best possible position was P4. That’s exactly where we ended up. It was all very close out there; Piastri was just one tenth behind me and he was P8. Being ahead of both him and Verstappen gives us a good chance of fighting for the podium in tomorrow’s race.
“It’s a long run to turn one, and it will be a long race after that, so let’s see what we can do. We have both Ferraris ahead of us on the grid and, given how close the fight is for second in the Constructors’ Championship, getting in the mix with them tomorrow is crucial. We had decent long run pace on Friday and hopefully we can deploy that tomorrow.”
Kimi Antonelli, 6th, 1:16.118
“I had a scrappy Q1 and was struggling to find my rhythm. That put me in a slightly unfavourable position for the rest of qualifying, needing to improve on my last laps in both Q1 and Q2. I managed to improve as qualifying went on though and Q3 was my cleanest session. P6 and being only a few tenths off the front-row, wasn’t a bad result in the end.
“Tomorrow should be a great fight. There are plenty ofunknowns going into the race and all three compounds look like they could be useful tyres. The start, given the long run to turn one, is going to be very important. If we can get away well, we can then hopefully put ourselves in a positive position to fight for positions ahead. That’s going to be key with both Ferraris lining up ahead of us.”
Bradley Lord, Team Representative
“This season has been one of fine margins in the battle between the top four teams, and those margins become even finer on a short circuit like this one. We have been in and around the top four all weekend, with both drivers, but it was clear from FP3 that, barring an unusual event, Norris was favourite for pole position. P4 for George and P6 for Kimi are therefore solid results this afternoon, albeit with the feeling that there was more time to find with both cars.
“George had a smooth session but never quite felt he had the car and tyres under him at the right time to challenge for the front row, while Kimi had a nervous start to the session – only just escaping Q1 – but then showed good composure to finish P6, under a tenth behind George.
“We’re starting right in the middle of the pack of teams fighting for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship and bookended by the top two drivers in the standings. The run to turn one here in Mexico is always frantic and it feels like there’s even more at stake than usual tomorrow. All three compounds look like viable race tyres, so we may see some variation across the field, too. Although degradation levels were high yesterday, as we often see at this circuit, the start and pit stops will likely play a disproportionate role in determining the race outcome as we have seen at recent events. We will be working hard to ensure we make the most of those opportunities tomorrow with both cars.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“We can’t be overly pleased with P4 and P6 today. The tyres always seem to be a bit fickle on a single lap at this track and that was very much the case today. Kimi had a very tricky start to his session, rather too close to the cutoff for comfort in Q1 and Q2 but he did a solid job of gathering it together for the final runs. He lost a bit of time in the final sector and, had it not been for this, he could have ended up P5. George had a slightly easier journey through to the final session, managing to save two sets of the soft tyres but struggled to switch them on with the cooling track. His second attempt was stronger, but it seemed with the track conditions in Q3, we were at best the third quickest team today.
“We’d have liked to be starting a bit higher up but there are always position changes at the start due to long run down to turn one so, providing we can avoid the usual dramas and emerge in good positions, we should still be able to have a good race. The battle for second in the Constructors’ Championship is finely balanced and, with two Ferraris starting ahead of us tomorrow, we know we need take advantage of every opportunity we can create.”
Gallery2MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W16 on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W16 on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Red Bull
Verstappen could not extract the same pace from the RB21 that he managed in FP2 yesterday. He dropped down the order in final practice, and likewise in Qualifying. The Dutchman was fighting his car at certain points on the track, both understeer and oversteer combining to make the RB21 a real handful out there. In the end he was fifth, and has work to do to close the gap to his Championship rival. Tsunoda looked in the mix for the top 10, but just fell short although he also inherits a place courtesy of Sainz’s grid drop.
Max Verstappen, 5th, 1:16.070
“We tried a lot of things on the car but unfortunately in Qualifying it just didn’t really come together. It wasn’t for lack of trying: in some areas we had improved and in some it was worse which overall just made it very difficult to drive. Unfortunately, the balance was unpredictable and we couldn’t push and were sliding a lot more, which on a track like this isn’t good. We just had no grip and not enough pace and the weekend hasn’t really been that good for us. For the long runs tomorrow, it is very difficult to say but I’m not expecting it to be miles better than the one lap pace and it will be difficult to overtake. I’ll try to do the best I can, I think it will be quite spicy with the cars ahead and it will be warm and tough on tyres. The most important thing will be to stay out of trouble as it is a very long race. We will try to do the best that we can and maximise everything possible.”
Yuki Tsunoda, 11th, 1:16.816
“As it’s been for most of the season the gap between Q2 and Q3 has been so tight, so it’s unfortunate to be on the other end and miss out by such a small margin. I’ve felt good in the car this weekend, but we just didn’t have the grip in Qualifying that we had hoped for, and in a field like this you sometimes lose out. I had a clean session and I always try and take the positives as tomorrow will bring new opportunities where the long run has seemed good. I stayed close to Max’s delta and that’s a good sign as that’s always been the target for me in this Team. I’ll start P10, so with maximum focus from the start we can try and push through and score some good points for the Constructors’ as we’re still in that fight for P2.”
Laurent Mekies, Team Principal
“It is fair to say we didn’t quite manage to put the car in the sweet spot so far this weekend. Certainty with Max, you have heard he has been very vocal that he has not been able to push in the way he likes. We tried many things, but we couldn’t quite find a way to give him a car he could push with. With the level of the competition around you, then you pay the price straight away if you are not in your window. A lot of our attention overnight went on trying to see if we could improve the race pace and we committed time to that in the session this morning. If this is what has exposed us in the short run today, it is difficult to say right now, we will get the answer after the race. It is all part of the game, we learn and it is still a very long race to go tomorrow. All our competitors are around us, a lot can happen here and I am sure it won’t be a boring race! Yuki had similar struggles to Max and couldn’t quite get the grip, which meant his Qualifying didn’t quite come together, but he starts in P10 tomorrow and can still play a pivotal part in the fight for us and pick up strong points.”
Gallery2MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Fifth placed qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Fifth placed qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Williams
Williams had a very difficult FP3 session, with both drivers struggling to keep their car on track. Albon was the more vocal of the two, and his issues continued into Qualifying as he exited at the first time of asking, citing a brake problem. Sainz though managed to extract all the pace the car had to offer in qualifying not just in the top 10, but ahead of a McLaren. Unfortunately, he will drop backwards once his grid penalty earned last time out in Austin is applied.
Alex Albon, 17th, 1:17.490
“The conditions were very different between sessions, and I had a lot less grip in qualifying than in FP3. We’ve been chasing the feel of the car all weekend, never feeling totally comfortable or hitting our stride. I felt like the track got away from me in qualifying and we were sliding around a lot today, I never really found the grip that I needed. We fixed some things ahead of qualifying, but were also dealing with a potential issue with the brakes, so there’s a lot to analyse and debrief as a team to see what we can do to improve. It’s usually one-stop racing here in Mexico so we’ll see what happens tomorrow and hopefully we can finish the weekend stronger than we started.”
Carlos Sainz, 7th, 1:16.172
“That was probably my best qualifying lap of the season. I’m enjoying the feeling in the car and today we executed a very solid qualifying. We’ll take the positives and refocus on tomorrow. It’s a shame we have to serve that penalty as it will definitely make our race tougher with the dirty air and the cooling. However, I have confidence in my race pace and we’ll do all we can to fight back into the points. I also want to say thank you to the fans here; their support is truly something special and it’s incredible to drive around this circuit listening to all their cheers!”
James Vowles, Team Principal
“What a fantastic lap from Carlos to qualify P7 on the grid and ahead of a McLaren, which is an extraordinary effort. Well done. With Alex, there is great performance in him, which we’ve seen across the session. However, for whatever reason, during our last run in qualifying, we didn’t have the grip in the tyres and couldn’t get them working. I’m confident we’ll see Alex back tomorrow fighting in the front and taking advantage of the long opening straight from where we are starting on the grid. Looking ahead to the race, it’s the longest run down to turn one of any circuit of the season, so it always creates good opportunities and some fireworks.”
Gallery2MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Carlos Sainz of Spain driving the (55) Williams FW47 Mercedes on track during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Carlos Sainz of Spain driving the (55) Williams FW47 Mercedes on track during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
Racing Bulls
It was a mixed bag for Racing Bulls in Mexico City. Both drivers looked very quick at the start of Qualifying, leading to hopes of two berths in Q3. But Lawson ran wide on his first flying run in Q2, leaving the pressure on. He made a mistake on his second run and abandoned his third to exit without setting a representative time. Hadjar though made it to the top 10 shootout, which atoned for his Q1 crash in Austin last weekend.
Isack Hadjar, 9th, 1:16.252
“I’m very happy about my team and the way we bounced back from yesterday. We worked really hard overnight, making some changes to the car and we went in the right direction. It definitely paid off as it helped us get into Q3 today. I think I did a decent job in terms of driving, I felt like I was on it straight away in Q1, but then we went a bit over the limit before doing a good final lap. Tomorrow I really want to fight to come back into the points after a difficult weekend we had in Austin. There are several different scenarios that can happen in Turn 1 since it’s quite far away from the grid, so we have to take every opportunity that might present.”
Liam Lawson, 15th, 1:18.072
“The car was fast today and we had a strong Q1. In Q2, I struggled with the balance and a mistake on the first lap made the rest of the session quite tricky. The second lap wasn’t very strong, so the team decided to abort and use a used tyre at the end. We ended up even slower, so it’s something we’ll be reviewing. It will be tough given where we’re starting from tomorrow, but we’ll be working hard as a team to push for points.”
Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance
“After a difficult Friday, we made several changes on the car setup from data analysis and simulator running, which have seemed to have worked well. Q1 was intense with the entire field within less than one second of lap time. We decided to offset ourselves to avoid traffic, and it appeared to pay off. The same approach in Q2 was riskier as we were missing the last bits of track evolution, but Isack managed to get through. Unfortunately, Liam made a mistake in T4 of his first Q2 attempt; in his second lap he wasn’t improving so we decided to abort and try again, but his tyres were already dropping in performance. Luckily Isack managed to secure the ninth place in Q3, which rewards a solid session from him and the team. The race strategy looks quite defined with most of the cars on the same tyre allocation. The race start is critical here with the long run down to T1, so we will push on both drivers to train their launch procedure in the morning.”
Gallery2MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Isack Hadjar of France driving the (6) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 02 on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Isack Hadjar of France driving the (6) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 02 on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Haas
Haas found some overnight improvements in Mexico City, with Bearman always looking the pick of their two drivers. He impressed hugely in Q1, regularly putting his car in the mix right at the very front. The rookie made Q3 for the third straight weekend, Haas having unlocked some more pace in their car of late, helped by that upgrade package from Austin. Ocon couldn’t quite match Bearman, but will inherit a place when Sainz serves his penalty.
Esteban Ocon, 12th, 1:16.837
“Well done to the team because we’ve clearly improved the qualifying pace that I was struggling with recently. It’s been a strong session in terms of car feeling, so I’m happy with that. It’s very unfortunate to miss out on Q3. It was the last lap of Q2 really, we had the pace, and we were P5 heading into the run, but it just wasn’t a great lap as I was in the dirty air of Tsunoda and Leclerc. They didn’t do anything wrong, but it was just a case of the wrong place, wrong time, as I was in that dirty air and lost the rear into the last sector. Three hundredths is what we needed to get into Q3, and I think we could’ve gone P5 if I was able to continue to put in the sector times I was putting in before.”
Oliver Bearman, 10th, 1:16.460
“Overall, I’m happy. I think we optimized the package that we had today, and I’m super happy with that lap. Being the first car out on track is not ideal, but then again, we were missing a bit of lap time to be fighting for anything other than P9 or P10. I feel good about tomorrow, as with the pace that we showed on high-fuel yesterday – I feel confident, as that was the good part of yesterday. I’m really looking forward to the race tomorrow.”
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
“FP3 was pretty smooth, and both drivers did a really good job. In qualifying, we were so close to getting both Ollie and Esteban into Q3, but Esteban missed it by three hundredths – with his lap being decent as well. They’re such tiny margins, but we’re very happy that we got both cars so close to the top 10. Ollie’s Q3 lap – although that was ultimately P10 – was a very, very good lap and I can say he got everything out of that car. We’ve come away from this qualifying feeling very positive, and with Sainz’s penalty, tomorrow we start P9 and P11. Our focus is now to get both cars into the top 10 on Sunday.”
Gallery2MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Esteban Ocon of France driving the (31) Haas F1 VF-25 Ferrari on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Esteban Ocon of France driving the (31) Haas F1 VF-25 Ferrari on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Kick Sauber
Hulkenberg was flirting with the top 10 at times in Qualifying, but couldn’t extract enough pace from his car as the track improved late on in Q2. He can get stuck in from his grid slot though, and did out-qualify his team mate. Bortoleto’s Grand Prix qualifying form has faded of late as he fell at the first time of asking for the third straight weekend.
Nico Hulkenberg, 13th, 1:17.016
“I’m not super happy with how qualifying went, as we thought there was a bit more potential after the pace we showed in practice. It felt like we were close to the limit but just couldn’t quite extract the extra couple of tenths needed for Q3. The laps were clean and consistent, but the pace wasn’t quite there. Still, we’re in the mix and tomorrow’s race is another opportunity. The field is very tight, so we’ll look carefully at our strategy options and give it everything to come away with a strong result.”
Gabriel Bortoleto, 16th, 1:17.412
“It’s a bit of a shame, to be honest. The first two laps of qualifying felt quite strong, but I wasn’t able to put everything together on the final push with the new softs. I struggled to find the grip I needed across the lap, and in the end, the lap just didn’t come together as we hoped. The pace was definitely there, which makes it even more frustrating. It’s a tough track for overtaking, so tomorrow won’t be easy, but we’ll give it everything. There’s still a lot to play for, and we’ll aim to make the most of every opportunity in the race.”
Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal
“It was a well-executed qualifying session from the team. We delivered our plan and put ourselves in a position to get the most out of each lap, with both drivers having the opportunity for a clear run.
“Nico reached the limit of what the car had to give. These cars operate in a very narrow performance window where everything has to be perfect, from tyre temperatures to balance, hence we see such variability in the midfield from race to race. Gabi was building momentum nicely but, unfortunately, the balance wasn’t the same as the last run and he couldn’t deliver a clean lap.
“Our focus is now on making progress in the race tomorrow. It will be a challenging strategic call with tyre choices and whether all three compounds will come into play. We need to be ready to make the most of any opportunities that come our way.”
Gallery2MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Thirteenth placed qualifier Nico Hulkenberg of Germany and Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber looks on during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Thirteenth placed qualifier Nico Hulkenberg of Germany and Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber looks on during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Aston Martin
Alonso suffered a mechanical issue in FP3 and thus did not manage any Qualifying simulation laps. Whether that cost him any positions is a slight unknown, but he did at least make Q2. Stroll did not, exiting in Q1 for the fifth time in the last six race weekends. It might be tough for Alonso to score for the third weekend in a row, but if he gets a good start, anything is possible.
Fernando Alonso, 14th, 1:17.103
“We’ve been struggling for pace today and I think it was the maximum we could achieve in Qualifying. It was very low grip out there, but it was the same for everyone. Let’s see what happens in the first few corners tomorrow, as it’s tight into the chicanes and there might be something to gain there. We will give it our all and try to fight for points.”
Lance Stroll, 19th, 1:17.606
“The car was feeling OK in FP3, but there was just no grip in Qualifying and this happens a lot – there’s good grip in the practice sessions and then we go into Qualifying and we struggle. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow; it will be another tough race for us starting from the back. We will obviously try to make up positions, but it’s a very different kind of track with the high altitude.”
Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer
“It’s been a challenging Qualifying session in the heat and altitude of Mexico City. We knew it might be close in the midfield and so we opted to run three sets of Softs in Q1 to give us the best chance to progress. We struggled to find grip throughout both sessions and Lance was unfortunately eliminated in Q1, starting P19 for tomorrow. Fernando did well to progress into Q2 with a strong lap at the end of Q1, but we think P14 was probably the maximum we could have achieved today. A lot can happen into Turn One here, so we’ll be ready for anything and try our best to progress and fight for points. It’s been a busy double-header for the team and hopefully we can put on a show tomorrow for the fans.”
Gallery2MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR25 Mercedes on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR25 Mercedes on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Alpine
It was another tough Qualifying session for Alpine, whose car still remains without the pace to make much of an impact on the pecking order. Both drivers exited at the first time of asking, with Gasly grabbing the intra-team honours. It is the fourth time in the last five race weekends that both Alpine drivers have exited in Q1, with positives hard to come by for the team.
Pierre Gasly, 18th, 1:17.546
“Considering how much we seemed to struggle yesterday, it felt like we did a better job today to at least close the gap to some of the cars ahead and, in the end, we were only a couple of tenths off reaching Q2. Since yesterday, the car has felt very difficult to drive, sliding a lot, lacking grip, and we have been far off the pace. We knew it would be difficult here so it has been good to make some steps forward and get on top of a couple of issues, which we faced in Practice. Tomorrow, we know it will be tough. We need something to happen in front of us and we will give it our best go as always.”
Franco Colapinto, 20th, 1:17.670
“Given how the car was feeling on Friday, I probably expected a bit more from Qualifying. We started the weekend well and had some good Practice sessions but, as a team, we seem to be struggling here, particularly on the bumps and kerbs. I was pushing on my final run and hit the kerb which destabilised the car and prevented me from improving on my lap time. To get the most performance out of the car we tend to run it quite stiff, which also means it’s hard to put a consistent lap together, especially here. On high fuel yesterday, the car felt better and the lap times seemed more competitive. It will be difficult from where we are starting the race, but we’ll fight and try our best to recover some positions tomorrow.”
Gallery2MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Alpine F1 A525 Renault on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Close image galleryPrevious imageNext image
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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 25: Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Alpine F1 A525 Renault on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 25, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Pirelli
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director
“Track conditions and tyre degradation in FP3 when race simulation was relevant were very similar to yesterday. However, in qualifying track evolution meant that times matched those from our simulations.
“In this session the C5’s performance was seen over a single lap. Those drivers who got to the first corner after the long run of over one kilometre, with the tyres at the right temperature across the front axle definitely benefited from a well balanced car and therefore had a competitive advantage. Managing rear tyre temperature in the final sector was the key to gaining a few precious hundredths.
“The few drivers who managed to set their best time on a second lap probably owe it exclusively to the improvement from track evolution. Track temperature which could reach 50°C tomorrow, will therefore be a key factor when it comes to strategy choices with the aim of managing thermal degradation.
“With no drivers having saved two sets of Mediums, its effectively clear that a one-stop strategy will be the most popular choice for the race. The Medium has proved to be the most versatile compound this weekend and starting on it opens up a couple of options at least.
“If drivers can extend their first stint to a window between laps 42 and 48, they could fit Softs to go to the flag. On the other hand, if the C4 performance drop is too high, a switch to the Hard compound between laps 26 and 32 is possible.
“Starting on the Soft could give an initial advantage in terms of grip, but the heavy fuel load would require the driver to manage their race pace. In this situation, a shift to the C4 would come between laps 23 and 29, or if the C2 is preferred, between laps 20 and 26.
“Finally, in theory, one can also look at a two-stop strategy, running Soft-Medium-Soft, which produces a similar overall race time to the one-stop. However, the disadvantage of losing places after the pit stops, and the difficulty in overtaking at this track, means this is really only viable on paper.”