2026 Formula 1 Mexican GP
F1 Mexico GP: Follow qualifying in Mexico City with live timing
Follow along for Formula 1 qualifying at the Mexico City Grand Prix
Live Standings
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Eliminated in Q1
17. Albon
18. Alonso
19. Hirakawa
20. Stroll
21. Perez
22. Bottas
Albon improves but can't find the final tenth needed to move ahead of Sainz. That's him out of qualifying.
"Lost a lot," Hirakawa says, as he finishes the session 19th. "You did a very good job, don't beat yourself up," replies race engineer Laura Mueller.
Russell now moves up to fourth, before Hadjar vaults up to second having been on the cusp previously.
Antonelli lost time in the final two sectors, so stays ninth for now.
Hirakawa has a snap at Turn 12, holds it, but he's not able to improve on his lap.
"There was a suspected water pressure issue linked to the ERS system and we had to stop the car," Aston Martin says, of Alonso's stoppage.
Lindblad's had a couple of wobbles on this lap, but he gets up to 10th regardless. Perez improves but stays 21st. Lawson stays eighth on his latest effort, as Hulkenberg moves up to fifth...and Bortoleto gets up to fourth.
Hamilton throws down a 1m17. 341s to go to the top of the charts, moments after Piastri moved up to third. Good lap, he looked under control in that final sector.
Elimination zone with four minutes remaining
17. Albon
18. Alonso
19. Hirakawa
20. Sroll
21. Perez
22. Bottas.
Lindblad reports smoke in the cockpit, as we get a replay of the Hadjar missing the apex at Turn 13 as he locked up in the stadium section. Verstappen did the same thing.
Antonelli also had a moment on the kerbs through sector two, taking way too much.
Leclerc posts a 1m17.532s, and Norris is 0.201s behind. Verstappen gets a purple middle sector, but that's 0.410s down on Leclerc as he goes third.
Lawson splits Verstappen and Gasly, and Antonelli goes up to third - 0.386s off Leclerc. Russell slots into fifth.
As I write that, Russell and Antonelli duly hit the circuit.
Gasly moves to the top with a 1m18.194s, and Colapinto then moves up to third - briefly, as Hulkenberg and Bortoleto move ahead of the Argentinian.
Perez locked up at Turn 1 and aborted that lap, pitting directly after.
Hadjar was wide through Turn 13, and it only takes him up to seventh.
Q1 resumes. Perez, Bottas, Gasly, Colapinto, Bortoleto, Hulkenberg, Hirakawa, Bearman, Lindblad, Lawson, Sainz, Albon, line up in a Noah's Ark formation. The McLarens don't fancy being part of the queue and hold firm, as do the other "Big Four" teams.
Alonso noted by the stewards for a breach of "general safety". Someone didn't wear his goggles, presumably...
The session will resume in three minutes' time - but there's already a big queue. Eager beavers.
Hamilton just got his lap in before the red flag emerged - we're talking milliseconds.
Alonso asked why he was pulling over when he was so close to the pit entry, but the urgency of his engineer's voice suggested that there was a very clear issue.
So, with 11 minutes remaining, we're facing a small pause.
Hadjar goes off at Turn 12 as he tries to hustle that Red Bull around, so he'll lose that lap.
Alonso has been told to stop the car on track - it was all looking so good for the Spaniard.
Piastri sets a 1m18.589s, Hamilton then sets a 1m18.249s, but we immediately get a red flag for Alonso's stranded Aston.
Bearman is 0.4s behind Alonso's opening lap, as Hirakawa splits the Audi pair. Sainz then vaults up to second, 0.375s off the Alonso lap so far.
Hadjar's now on a lap, as the heavy hitters enter the stage.
Perez backs out of his lap almost immediately, as Hulkenberg will open Q1 with a 1m19.502s. That's our benchmark, and Bortoleto is 0.2s slower.
Alonso then posts a 1m18. 908s to go above the Audi pair. Stroll, meanwhile, locks up at Turn 4 and that's the end of that lap.
Q1 is open!
Perez and Bortoleto are first on the scene as Q1 begins, after their power unit issues across FP3. Hulkenberg is with them, as are the Haas pair and the Aston Martins.
Williams pair Albon and Sainz, plus Cadillac's Bottas, are also on-track.
Perez gets a huge roar as he enters the Foro Sol.
Weather watch
It's a sunny day in Mexico City - 26C air temperature, 48C track, so it's a warm day. Wouldn't like to be the guy who gets paid to wear the, ahem, Mario Achi costume.
Our 60 minutes of qualifying is just about to get rolling.
Just under minutes to go until we get going for Q1 - it all looked pretty close at the top end of the standings, but what about the rear?
Cadillac and Williams are probably the favourites for the Q1 drop, as usual, but Stroll's struggled with engine issues, as has Bortoleto. Hirakawa is also finding his way, and it'll be his first qualifying run for Haas this weekend - but he's an experienced racing driver in his own right, a Le Mans winner and a two-time WEC champion.
Penalties and warnings
After a (let's be honest, unnecessary) clash in FP2, both Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson will carry one-place grid penalties into tomorrow's race - so wherever they qualify, add a +1 to that.
Isack Hadjar, in the meantime, was given a warning after shoving a fan in the pitlane - the FIA stating that the fan entering his personal space and trying to take an unsolicited selfie with Hadjar was reason enough to mitigate a penalty.
Our own Stuart Codling has written an excellent opinion piece on the matter, which you can read here:
Hirakawa today, Oc-gone tomorrow
If anyone's been avoiding any kind of news over the past few hours, the big news is that Esteban Ocon has been stood down for the weekend. Ryo Hirakawa is taking part in his first grand prix, having driven in FP1 for the team.
The team has not communicated the reason for this, but it's understood to be down to a disagreement between Ocon and the team after he was put on medium tyres for the FP2 long-runs, rather than his preferred softs. A small thing, perhaps, but arguably the straw that broke the camel's back.
Ryo Hirakawa, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images
Mexico City GP qualifying
Hello everyone, and welcome back to our coverage of the Mexico City Grand Prix! Qualifying is coming up in about half an hour's time, so we hope you're sitting comfortably.
First up, Q1, where we lose our six slowest runners at the end of the 18-minute stage. But before that, let's look at the news...
Alexander Albon, Williams
Photo by: Manuel Eletto / Getty Images
