F1, Mexico GP: Antonelli one step away from the title, Hamilton on pole after three years

Kimi Antonelli arrives at the Mexico Grand Prix with 365 points in the standings, 123 ahead of George Russell and 124 ahead of Lewis Hamilton, the only two drivers still mathematically in contention for the Formula 1 world title. A useful result in the race could hand him the championship with several rounds to spare before the end of the season.

Qualifying delivered a surprise on the pole position front: Lewis Hamilton set the best time with a lap of 1:16.514, his first pole position after more than three years’ absence from the front of the grid. The result comes in the very weekend in which Antonelli could wrap up the title, adding an element of sporting interest independent of the championship battle.

The start of the race, which could crown Antonelli champion, is set for 21:00 Italian time. The lead Antonelli has built up in the standings over his two closest rivals makes Mexico a potentially decisive round, with Russell and Hamilton forced to chase both in the standings and, in the latter’s case, from the starting position secured despite the pole.

The contrast between the two storylines — the title race led by Antonelli and the pole of a Hamilton returning after three years without that position — tells the story of a Mexican weekend in which the championship battle intertwines with the return to an individual result that had long eluded the British driver. For Hamilton, it is his first pole since his move to a competitive environment that had kept him away from the front of qualifying, while for Antonelli the Mexican weekend represents, calendar in hand, the first real opportunity to mathematically settle the championship.

With the green light expected at 21:00 Italian time, the Mexican race remains the test in which Antonelli can turn his 123-point margin over Russell and 124-point margin over Hamilton into a mathematically secured title, with both pursuers required to achieve a full result combined with a slip-up from the standings leader.