F1 Mexico GP: Follow the race in Mexico City with live timing

The Russell contact with Hadjar is now under investigation.

Antonelli seems to be backing off Hamilton slightly, presumably to assist with his temperatures. 

Antonelli is continuing to press Hamilton, as Leclerc has pulled out a 2.5s lead over Verstappen at the start of this lap. 

Hamilton is 1.8s behind Verstappen, presumably managing some temperatures, as the lower-density air does make it difficult to do so. 

Antonelli steps out of Hamilton's wake along the start-finish straight to help cool the car.

Leclerc has got a two-second lead over Verstappen, who's also got a little bit ahead of Hamilton. Antonelli is within a second of the Ferrari driver.

Piastri has now got past Colapinto, while Norris has passed Lindblad for sixth.

Hadjar pitted for the medium tyre under that VSC. 

So, VSC time - will there be enough time for anyone to make a gamble? It's too early for anyone on the mediums, surely, and the leaders come through so clearly feel it's too early for the soft-runners too. 

Stroll is being wheeled through to the escape road.

Alonso's been asked to retire. Awful weekend for him, barely had any running in qualifying, and now has done just five laps.

Stroll has been told the same thing. Double DNF for Aston Martin already, as Stroll stops at Turn 5.

Another Stroll-produced VSC!

Norris puts a move on Colapinto at Turn 1, and moves back up to seventh place. Russell's also been noted for presumably prompting that Hadjar spin.

Hirakawa and Lawson have cleared Bottas, and now have the Williams pair ahead - the Cadillacs got away very well, 

The incident between the Ferrari pair is now under investigation. Meanwhile, Verstappen and Hamilton are starting to catch Leclerc onc emore.

Antonelli is just sitting back for now, with Russell 1.4s behind him, with Lindblad, Colapinto, Norris, Piastri, and Hulkenberg in the top 10. Both Hadjar and Gasly lost ground at the start.

Big start from Bortoleto too, up to 11th from 18th on the grid. 

The Leclerc-Hamilton moment has been noted, both off-track it seems.

Meanwhile, the McLarens now have Colapinto and Lindblad to deal with - and Norris is trying to get the tow down to Turn 1. 

Hadjar did have a spin on that first lap, and he's dropped to the back. 

Verstappen has dropped back from Leclerc slightly this time, and Hamilton will want to reclaim second place as soon as possible to potentially benefit from any Leclerc drop-backs. 

Lindblad and Colapinto have made great starts and are up to sixth and seventh.

Hamilton and Russell line up on the grid, followed by Leclerc, Antonelli, Verstappen, Norris as the backmarkers go through the stadium section. 

Race tyres

Softs: Hamilton, Russell, Leclerc, Hadjar, Gasly, Piastri, Bearman, Sainz, Albon, Alonso, Stroll, Perez, Bottas.

Mediums: Antonelli, Verstappen, Norris, Lindblad, Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Hirakawa, Bortoleto, Lawson.

Lawson starts from the pitlane.

Ryo Hirakawa's made it to the F1 intro today, so that's something. But today, Kimi Antonelli can stake his claim to be the final driver in next year's intro - oh, and win the title, of course.

Let's do some tyre chat.

10 minutes to go until lights out in Mexico, and there's a lot of laps to do - 71 in total here. And there's a big run up to the first corner, so there could be a lot of changes in position.

This could be fun.

Hirakawa's F1 debut

We have one new driver this weekend - Ryo Hirakawa is driving for Haas, replacing Esteban Ocon for the weekend. Ocon was stood down after a presumed disagreement between he and his team, and thus Hirakawa was given the nod yesterday morning.

The Japanese driver qualified 19th, but reckoned he could have "easily" got into Q2 without traffic on his final lap. He moves up to 17th following Lawson's disqualification, and Bortoleto's five-place grid penalty for a power unit component change.

Ryo Hirakawa, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

What does Antonelli need to win the title?

Quite simply, Antonelli either needs two points if George Russell wins, one point if Lewis Hamilton wins, or for neither of them to win in Mexico.

So, finishing ninth will be the minimum he wants from the afternoon, given our front row comprises of both Hamilton and Russell today.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images

Qualifying recap

Antonelli has some cars ahead to navigate at the start: one being his team-mate, and the other two being Ferraris. Lewis Hamilton took his 105th F1 pole, his first for Ferrari and his first since 2023, over George Russell by 0.009s. 

Charles Leclerc was third ahead of Max Verstappen - but the Red Bull driver took a grid penalty for his FP2 clash with Liam Lawson. Lawson was also hit with a penalty, but this was deemed irrelevant when he was disqualified for a technical infringement.

Formula 1

F1 Mexico GP: Hamilton takes pole from Russell and Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton takes pole by 0.009s from George Russell at Formula 1's Mexico City Grand Prix

A Mexican wave

Hello everyone, and welcome to our live coverage of the Mexico City Grand Prix in, uh, Mexico City! 

The stands in the Foro Sol are packed, the drivers are raring to go - and today could be the day that Kimi Antonelli etches his name in folklore. But there's 71 laps to get through first, and they'll probably be the most unenjoyable racing laps he's ever done. 

Let's get started, shall we?

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Colin McMaster / LAT Images via Getty Images