Lewis Hamilton handed 'best' advantage in 'hero' warning

Lewis Hamilton will start the Mexico City Grand Prix from the "best" starting position, according to Jacques Villeneuve.

The 1997 F1 drivers' champion explained why the Ferrari driver, from third on the grid, will have an advantage over his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who starts second, and polesitter Lando Norris.

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez has the longest run down to the first corner on the F1 calendar, and the driver starting from first has not retained the lead at Turn 1 in three of the past four seasons.

Over the last seven grands prix in Mexico, the driver on pole has only gone on to claim victory in the 71-lap race on two occasions.

Villeneuve, speaking on Sky Sports F1, has said numerous times over the weekend that pole is a disadvantage at the high-altitude venue.

However, some drivers, like George Russell, have claimed you always want to start from pole position.

"I'd pick P1, to be honest," the Mercedes driver said to Sky Sports F1. "There's always a lot of chat about circuits like here, when we raced in Sochi, like: 'Ah, P3 is the best place to start, or P2 is the best place to start'.

"Truth is, pole is always the place you would choose to start. But definitely, this is one of the — probably the most — challenging place to start from pole."

Hamilton, on the other hand, called P3 "the perfect spot" in his post-qualifying interview, which Villeneuve then built upon.

When it was put to him on broadcast that he would rather start second, the Canadian replied: "Third is even better, Lewis [Hamilton] was talking about it. Pole is the worst here, for some reason.

"Second, the track is very dirty, so you normally have a bad start, and P3 gets all the tow. I feel Lewis is in the best position."

Hamilton is looking to secure his first podium for Ferrari, having already become the driver with the longest podium-less start to their tenure at the Scuderia, beating Didier Pironi's mark of 18 rounds, a record that had stood since 1982.

Villeneuve was also quick to highlight the considerable jeopardy of the long run down to Turn 1 in Mexico.

"You also have to think about the hero that's in the middle of the grid that wants to overtake 10 cars in that first corner," the 11-time grand prix winner said. "There's kind of one every year."