Charles Leclerc has set the pace in Free Practice 1 at the Mexico City Grand Prix, posting a best time of one minute 18.128 seconds to head the timesheets. The Ferrari driver finished ahead of Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes entry, who was six-tenths down, with Frederik Vesti rounding out the top three. The opening session saw a flurry of new faces getting their first taste of F1 action, making it a proper debut-fest at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
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This was no ordinary practice session. Ten out of eleven teams ran young drivers, leaving only Ferrari with its regular line-up of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. The headline acts were Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov getting his maiden F1 outing in the Racing Bulls, and Audi development driver Freddie Slater making his debut in place of Gabriel Bortoleto. Several other rookies also graced the grid, including Formula 2 race winner Gabriele Mini at Alpine and reigning F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli stepping in at McLaren.
The session wasn't without drama. Isack Hadjar suffered a power unit problem early on and had to limp back to the pits, while Freddie Slater's debut was cut short when Audi accidentally sent him out with a sidepod fan still attached to the car, potentially damaging his power unit. The stewards have launched an investigation into the unsafe release. A Virtual Safety Car also made an appearance late in the session when Jak Crawford brought his Aston Martin to a halt at Turn 1.
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Track conditions were tricky throughout, with the dusty surface and thin air at over 2000 metres altitude catching drivers out. Multiple cars went skating through the run-off zones, including Nico Hulkenberg at Turn 1, Oscar Piastri, and Leonardo Fornaroli, who recovered from a massive slide exiting Turn 11. By the time soft tyres came out, Leclerc had already established his advantage, while Antonelli managed to slot into second despite the challenging conditions.
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Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, some seven-tenths behind his team mate, with Ayumu Iwasa rounding out the top five. The Mexican Grand Prix weekend continues with all the season's drama still very much up for grabs, and this FP1 session has already shown that rookies and stand-ins are ready to make their mark on the grid.
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