F1 Qualifying Today: Mexican Grand Prix 2026 start time, schedule and how to watch live and FREE

The battle pole position takes centre stage at the Mexican Grand Prix today (Saturday October 31) and we have all the key schedule and TV details for a crucial qualifying session.

Max Verstappen goes into the action as favourite to qualify fastest at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, despite the fact that it was Ferrari star Charles Leclerc topping the timesheets in both of Friday's free practice sessions.

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Leclerc's Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton will hope for much better fortune today after his FP2 was cut massively short when he was forced to park up and end his day with a mechanical failure.

As ever the 60-minute session will be split into three segments, with the fastest 16 drivers progressing from Q1 to Q2, and the fastest 10 progressing from Q2 to the pole shootout in Q3.

We have all the key timing and TV details for you ahead of what should be a thrilling spectacle.

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What time is Mexican Grand Prix qualifying today?

Qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix today (Saturday October 31) gets under way at 3pm local Central time. That is 9pm BST in the UK, or 5pm Eastern in the US.

Please note that the US clocks DO change this weekend but not until the early hours of Sunday, so Qualifying is unaffected by the change.

The start time, converted to your timezone, is as follows:

How to watch Mexican Grand Prix Qualifying live on TV today

As ever, the UK options are Sky F1 for live coverage or Channel 4 for free-to-air highlights.

There is great news for US fans, who can watch the action live with new rights holder Apple TV having a seven-day free trial. You can click here to sign up.

Where to watch: F1 2026 broadcasters by region

F1TV Pro also carries coverage of the sport, depending on which territory you are in.

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What time is US Grand Prix qualifying today?

Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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