Leclerc warns overtaking 'almost impossible' at Mexico after Hamilton steals Ferrari pole

Charles Leclerc has warned that overtaking will be “almost impossible” at the Mexican Grand Prix after qualifying third at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Saturday, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton taking Ferrari’s front-row lockout hopes and converting them into the Scuderia’s first pole of his tenure alongside Mercedes’ George Russell.

Leclerc had led both Friday practice sessions and arrived at qualifying as Ferrari’s form driver, but the seven-time champion Hamilton ultimately edged him out for top spot. Leclerc is confident in the car’s underlying pace but believes the circuit’s notoriously low-grip surface will render that advantage largely academic once the lights go out.

“I think the pace is good. I think the car feels good and felt good since FP1. So I think on that we’ve got the race pace, but I doubt there will be any overtakes tomorrow,” Leclerc said in the post-qualifying press conference.

He pointed specifically to the DRS effect — or lack of it — as the root of the problem. “I’ve tried more in FP2, and it’s just very difficult because the overtake mode doesn’t do much. So, I think whatever the standing is after Turn 3, it’s going to be very difficult then to overtake. So, it’s a bit of a shame that I didn’t do the job eventually when it mattered.”

When asked whether he could use Hamilton’s slipstream to his advantage at the race start, Leclerc was cautiously optimistic. “I’ll keep my head down as much as possible and see what’s possible, but yeah, it’s always an exciting Turn 1 there, and we’ll see how it goes.”

The stakes extend well beyond Ferrari’s internal battle. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers’ championship and can clinch the title in Mexico City. Russell sits second, Hamilton third, and Verstappen fourth, while Leclerc is fifth on 233 points — just nine points adrift of second place in a tightly bunched midfield fight for the runner-up spot.

The Mexican Grand Prix takes place on 1 November at 2pm local time.