Lewis Hamilton buoyed by historic first Ferrari F1 pole: “I still love what I do”
On the site of two of his seven world championship celebrations, Lewis Hamilton added yet another chapter to his illustrious Formula 1 career and his fond Mexico memory bank, one that was long overdue.
Hamilton broke Ferrari’s pole drought by earning the Scuderia its first pole of 2026, and in the process also secured his first one in red, his first pole since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. In the process he became the fifth-oldest polesitter to do so at 41 years and 297 days, now perched in between Mario Andretti and Nigel Mansell on the all-time list.
After Mercedes’ George Russell had taken provisional pole away from Charles Leclerc with his final run at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Hamilton responded with a marginally faster first sector to take pole away from his former team-mate by a minuscule 0.009s.
“Oh man, I’m lost for words. It feels special to be in Mexico and get my first pole with Ferrari, and number 105. I like that number,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton’s pole came after losing valuable track time in Friday practice with a power unit issue, limiting him to 13 laps in FP2. But despite that hiccup the Briton had actually been delighted with how his Ferrari behaved itself on the high-altitude, low-grip surface, with only minimal setup changes made overnight.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
“It’s been a really, really tough, challenging weekend,” he said.
“Obviously, in FP1. We had a [aerodynamic] rake running, and we obviously then had the engine issue we had yesterday, which meant that we were just on the back foot. I didn’t get to do a long run, but we’ve done a really good job with the setup over the weekend.”
When told he was F1’s oldest polesitter since Andretti, which prompted comments on his longevity, Hamilton responded: “Oh man, when there’s a will, there’s a way. It’s all in the mind. I do all those different things that you can do to try and keep yourself young and fit.
“But I love what I do, and that love is not gone. I wake up every day thinking about it. I dream about it, and I’ve got this amazing support around the world that these guys keep me going, so I hope they’re happy with that today, and I hope that I can deliver for them tomorrow.”
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