Twelve months ago, when Carlos Sainz won in Mexico City and Charles Leclerc led one-two a week earlier in Austin, it would not have been foolish to think that Ferrari could play a key role in this season’s title race.
Perhaps you didn’t imagine that role would first appear in the 20th race of the season, where you would be the one influencing the battles of others, but that’s exactly where Ferrari will find itself at this weekend’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Both cars finished in the top three in qualifying, behind one of the title contenders and ahead of the other two. \
This was a performance that many expected before arriving in Mexico City, but Ferrari’s overall lack of race pace so far this season, as well as the fluctuations in form of other teams, made it difficult to truly believe. However, as practice progressed to qualifying, the Ferrari drivers maintained near the top times until just before the start of Q3.
Charles Leclerc had an eye-catching first lap and took provisional pole position, with Lewis Hamilton also rounding out the top three. It would have taken something pretty special for Lando Norris to beat the pair, but Leclerc was disappointed to only be second on the grid.
“After finishing the first lap of Q3, which was a bit (disappointing), I thought it was a really good lap,” Leclerc admitted. “I knew I had a little more to go, but not by much. Given the gap at the back, I thought, ‘Okay, let’s see how it goes. I’m going to go as hard as I can on the second lap and see where I get.’
“I was obviously very surprised by Lando’s jump from the first to the second run in Q3. I don’t think we had the pace to match that today. We had a little bit here and there, but I don’t think it was enough for pole position anyway.”
Despite missing the final pace heading into pole position, this was Ferrari’s best overall qualifying performance of the year and continues to make steady progress in recent races as the team is able to exploit even more of its potential, whatever that may be.
“I don’t think there’s a silver bullet or something that’s drastically different that will make us significantly better now than we were three, four, five races ago,” Leclerc said. “I think it’s a little bit all over the place. I think the process and all the little differences end up making a big difference. And we’ve improved on all of those in the last few weeks.”
“At one point in the season we had to manage other things, but now we’re in a bit more of a comfortable situation, but the pace itself is more about little things here and there than anything that stands out.”
Admittedly, Mexico City’s altitude may pose certain challenges in closing the gap in the field, but Hamilton said Ferrari’s intra-team work was the biggest factor in delivering perhaps the best qualifying performance of the year. Hector Vivas/Getty Images
Perhaps the most notable difference was Hamilton’s more consistent qualifying run, giving him his best Grand Prix starting position so far this year. Hamilton, who improved throughout the weekend, was able to close to within 0.09 seconds of his teammate and was most encouraging with a late qualifying step that he had lacked for much of 2025.
“I think it’s a special circuit, obviously with the altitude, so it’s probably closer than normal,” Hamilton said. “It’s hard to say where we will be in the next race. I don’t know if we’ll be this close, but we’re thinking through the little improvements we’ve made. They make a big difference. It feels great to finally get into Q3, put in a good lap and be competitive. That’s been the challenge all year, especially for me.”
It’s been a steep learning curve for Hamilton in new surroundings, but the seven-time world champion believes part of Ferrari’s recent progress is down to both his ability to adapt to his own car, as well as the work the team has done to improve the way the team operates.
“We continue to improve a variety of processes from the moment we arrive, to debriefing, to decision-making within engineering and on the go as a team. So I think we’re just continually strengthening some of these areas.”
“I think how Charles and I have worked together to move the car and develop it has paid off very well throughout the race weekend. Our cars are now pretty much the same and in terms of characteristics, Charles has finally figured out how to drive this car that he’s been lucky enough to drive for the past seven years. It feels like we’re finally getting there, so that’s a good thing.”
Norris said in Q3 that the McLaren felt “right,” but it’s no exaggeration to say that something clicked for Ferrari this weekend as well, maintaining their position as the main challenger heading into Sunday’s race. Hamilton knows the stakes are higher for the driver on pole position than the two red cars behind him.
“I definitely want to have a close run tomorrow,” Hamilton said of the start. “I don’t have anything to lose, but he (Norris) has something to lose, so I’m sure… yeah, I’m going to be pretty aggressive. Hopefully I’ll get close enough to put up a good fight.”
If they can defeat Norris and Ferrari, they will be able to minimize the damage caused to Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. Despite showing strong pace, he finished behind the pole sitter, with both Leclerc and Hamilton suddenly on Norris’ side, creating a buffer against his title rival. Either way, it will have a huge impact.
