Image source, Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton hailed his best qualifying result at Ferrari for today's Mexico City Grand Prix as a "huge step" after what he described as a "hard slog" of a season so far with the team.

The seven-time world champion will start third after an impressive display from Ferrari, with team-mate Charles Leclerc finishing second fastest behind Lando Norris, who secured pole position.

Hamilton has endured a difficult time since joining from Mercedes last winter - and has yet to win a race for the team.

He faces a tough task in changing that statistic this weekend with Norris looking imperious, although three of the past five races in Mexico have been won from third.

But Hamilton is just happy to see things improving for the team.

"Definitely happy to be making progress and finally be up there," he said.

"Charles has been used to these results, or at least being close to the front most of the year, but for me it has been a hard slog, being like sixth, seventh or eighth - mostly eighth.

"So to get P3 is a huge step for us and I am really grateful for the efforts of the team and the amazing support I've had from the team."

The pit lane is open and the field heads on out to the grid.

A few minor issues are being reported as they head round the circuit, with Isack Hadjar requesting a helmet change as he's finding too much air coming through the visor, while Max Verstappen says his drinks pipe is leaking.

Both should be routine things to sort.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

The Mexico City Grand Prix is expected to be a one-stop race, despite Pirelli again bringing a selection of tyres with two steps between the medium and hard compounds in an attempt to provoke multiple stops.

The soft has proved a strong tyre so far this weekend, and most teams are expected to aim for a one-stop on it and the medium.

Whether that is the case will depend on degradation. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: “While we see that the soft compounds behave well, nobody has gone more than probably 10-12 laps. Here is a race of many laps so nobody knows what's going to happen in the second part of a stint. If the degradation is high, not necessarily this is a one-stop race.”

Temperatures are higher than in practice, because the race is run earlier in the day, which increases the unknowns regarding tyres.

Pole-sitter Lando Norris showed prodigious pace on his race-simulation run on Friday, but he was on the soft and all other teams on the medium.

At the same time, while Max Verstappen’s long run on Friday was poor, he was able to match McLaren’s pace on Saturday morning. So while he has been pessimistic, it would be unwise to rule him out.

A pit stop takes about 22 seconds under green-flag conditions, 12 under safety car.

Overtaking is not that easy, despite the long straight and three DRS zones, because of the thin air and the difficulty of following closely without overheating tyres.

This is how the drivers' championship currently looks right now, but will Oscar Piastri remain the leader in a couple of hours? Or will Lando Norris move top of the pile with four races remaining?

Norris needs to win and hope Piastri finishes no higher than fifth for that to happen.

Who do you think will win today's race, and who do you feel is now favourite for the drivers' championship?

Let us know by clicking 'Get Involved' at the top of this page.

Race: 20:00 GMT - BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and smart speakers with build-up from 19:45

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Lando Norris has a tantalising prospect heading into the Mexico City Grand Prix - if the race ends as qualifying did, he will be leading the world championship for the first time in six months.

The McLaren driver trails team-mate Oscar Piastri by 14 points heading into the race, but Norris starts on pole with the Australian down in seventh.

So the reward for one of the qualifying laps of the season could be a significant statement of intent with just four grands prix remaining after this one.

Arriving in Mexico, all the talk was about Red Bull's Max Verstappen and his remarkable run of form.

The Dutchman had taken three wins and a second in the past four races, reducing his deficit to Piastri from 104 points to just 40.

But, like Piastri, Verstappen has also had a difficult weekend, his seemingly unstoppable momentum stalled by a puzzling lack of grip.

If Norris wins the race, Piastri would have to move up to fourth from his grid spot to retain even a slender lead. No easy task when the Australian has been lacking pace all weekend.

But Norris is taking nothing for granted - and he knows that Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes' George Russell in the spots immediately behind him don't have the jeopardy he does, so can play with risk in a more extreme way.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of the Mexico City Grand Prix.

A resurgence by Max Verstappen coupled with some faltering performances by Oscar Piastri has turned what once was looking like a one-horse title race into a three-horse one.

Lando Norris ensured he is in prime position to at the very least significantly close the gap on championship leader Piastri by securing a blistering pole position yesterday, but he will certainly be hoping for much more.

Lights out is at 20:00 GMT.

Image source, Getty Images

Just a handful of races ago Oscar Piastri was sitting pretty comfortably at the top of the drivers' championship with one hand resting on the trophy.

Fast forward to now, however, and he could be leaving Mexico second in the standings should McLaren team-mate Lando Norris win and he finishes fifth or lower.

Then there is the small matter of Max Verstappen threatening to gatecrash things, should both McLarens falter.

That all comes together to set up what could not just be one of the most intriguing races of the season, but also a title-defining one.