Why Charles Leclerc would happily give Lewis Hamilton his front row grid slot

Charles Leclerc would happily swap positions with Lewis Hamilton on the Mexico City grid, but there’s nothing altruistic about his motives.

It’s all about that 830 metre run down to Turn 1 and the slipstream that it gives the car (and cars) behind, especially P3 on the grid.

Charles Leclerc: I wish I was P3 for the start

Only twice in the last five editions of the Mexico City Grand Prix has the driver starting from pole position won the race, the same number of times as the driver starting P3 has won. Lewis Hamilton is the anomaly, winning from fourth in 2016.

Max Verstappen won from pole in 2022 and twice came from behind to win to add to his tally of Mexico City victories in 2021 and 2023. Carlos Sainz is another winner from pole as the defending Mexico City GP champion.

And a large part of that is decided by the tow into Turn 1 on the opening lap.

The longest run into Turn 1 on the calendar, the drivers have 830 meters run to Turn 1 where, unless the car is far superior or the driver jumps the start, he’s giving a tow to every single driver behind him.

For Leclerc, the means 18 rivals including his P3 teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc v Lewis Hamilton: F1 2025 head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

“The run to Turn One is very long and we’ve got to do the best possible start,” Leclerc told the F1TV.

“I wish I was P3 for the start because at least you have a little bit of a slipstream. I probably won’t have any slipstream in front of me and [I’m] starting on the dirty side of the track.

“But I will focus on what I can control and try to do my best from where we start, which hopefully will be enough to take the lead into turn one.”

The only thing that can potentially help Leclerc, if he stays ahead of Hamilton and the chasing pack, is dirty air.

That not only destabilises the car behind but also affects its tyres wear.

It has given Leclerc a bit of breathing room in the battle against Max Verstappen, starting P5, and Oscar Piastri in eighth.

Asked about that, Leclerc said: “I mean, it’s probably going to be tough. I’d rather be in my position than theirs, but yeah, they’ve got the pace. Especially if Oscar finds the pace that Lando had on the high fuel, I think he’ll probably have the pace to come back. But it’s obviously a lot more difficult.”

As for Hamilton, he called his P3 the “perfect” grid slot.

“It’s hard to beat these two guys today, but I mean P3 is kind of the perfect spot actually at this track,” said the seven-time F1 World Champion. “So I’m hoping I can make the most of that at the start.

“I think our race pace is not too bad. It’s difficult to know already, but I’m really hoping— you know, with this crowd—I know there’s going to be an amazing crowd there tomorrow, so we’ll try and give it a good race.”

The Briton, though, isn’t expecting an easy race. “It’s tough with the altitude, with the overheating of the car, with the overheating of the brakes

“I don’t know how it is for everybody, but I’m pretty sure most people have that experience here with the lack of cooling. So it won’t necessarily be easy. But you’ve got some great drivers behind us. So we shall see.”

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