Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on top of the timesheets at Mexico City on Friday morning, setting a best time of 1:18.128 on the soft compound tyres to lead opening practice. The session delivered some significant drama, though, as Mercedes champion-elect Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Cadillac's Sergio Perez both missed Thursday's media day through illness before heading out onto the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in FP1.
More F1 news: Leclerc Admits Ferrari May Not Have Quick Fix for Qualifying Weakness
Antonelli's championship story dominated the weekend narrative heading in, and it stayed that way through practice. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver only needs two points to seal the 2026 drivers' title this Sunday, or just one if George Russell fails to win, making Mexico his potential coronation weekend. Despite the illness setback, Antonelli got track time on Friday and ended up just 0.659 seconds behind Leclerc by the end of FP1, showing strong pace as the title picture tightened.
More F1 news: Mexico City GP Friday Schedule: Ten Rookies Set for Special Free Practice Sessions
Friday's running carried a unique flavour because ten of the eleven teams used the session to run rookie drivers as part of their season quotas. Frederik Vesti, Ayumu Iwasa, Leonardo Fornaroli, Nikola Tsolov, Gabriele Mini, Ryo Hirakawa, Freddie Slater, Luke Browning, Jak Crawford and Colton Herta all got seat time. Ferrari were the only outfit to skip the rookie slot, instead sending Lewis Hamilton out with substantial aero rakes to gather data on front-end behaviour around the circuit.
More F1 news: Mexico City GP Preview: Antonelli's Title Shot, Red Bull's Long Straight Problem, and Ferrari's Last Stand
The session wasn't without its share of drama beyond the usual rookie mistakes. Tsolov reported overheating front brakes early on, while Red Bull's Isack Hadjar suffered a sudden power loss that forced him to crawl back to the pits for substantial investigation. The low-grip track surface caught plenty of drivers out too, with both Perez and Piastri fighting big slides as the circuit gradually came in. Hamilton himself had to abort his first soft tyre attempt after running wide at Turn 13 in the stadium section, but still managed a 1:19.137 on the harder rubber to briefly top the board before Leclerc's soft tyre advantage took over.
Shop the collection: Oscar Piastri merch • Charles Leclerc merch • Lewis Hamilton merch • George Russell merch • Kimi Antonelli merch • Sergio Perez merch • Scuderia Ferrari merch • Red Bull Racing merch • Mercedes-AMG merch • Cadillac merch • McLaren merch
0 comments