Charles Leclerc Leads Opening Practice at Mexico Grand Prix
Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver, set the fastest time in the opening practice session for the Mexico Grand Prix. The session saw nine rookie drivers get valuable track time, with one standout performance from Arvid Lindblad at Red Bull.
Notably, several top contenders such as Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, along with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, did not participate in the session. This was due to teams adhering to sporting regulations regarding young drivers. Despite this, Leclerc managed to outpace his rivals with a time of 1 minute 18.380 seconds.
The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track was in its usual dusty condition during the opening session, which presented challenges with poor grip. Most cars spent the first 25 minutes adjusting to the track using hard tires. Antonelli was the fastest among those using hard tires, recording a time of 1 minute 20.035 seconds. Later, Isack Hadjar from Racing Bulls set the fastest time on medium tires, achieving a lap of 1 minute 20.005 seconds.
As the session progressed, most drivers switched to soft tires, resulting in significantly faster lap times. However, these times were still more than two seconds slower than last year’s pole position time set by Carlos Sainz, who recorded 1 minute 15.946 seconds while driving for Ferrari.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli from Mercedes came in second with a time of 1 minute 18.487 seconds, followed by Nico Hulkenberg from Sauber, who finished third, just under four tenths behind Leclerc.
Oscar Piastri, the championship leader, was fourth fastest, with Gabriel Bortoleto completing the top five. The Swiss team, Sauber, was the only one that had already fulfilled its rookie requirements for the 2025 season.
Arvid Lindblad, who is acting as a stand-in for Verstappen at Red Bull and is expected to join Racing Bulls in 2026, was the quickest rookie in the session, setting a time of 1 minute 18.997 seconds late in the session.
Most of the other debutants were at the back of the timesheet, but it’s worth noting that Ayumu Iwasa (Racing Bulls), Luke Browning (Williams), and Jak Crawford (Aston Martin) never used soft tires. Similarly, Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon also avoided soft tires. Antonio Fuoco, a winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, did not seem to focus on performance during the session.
Throughout the session, no driver hit the walls, although Franco Colapinto, Hadjar, and Piastri each ended up off the track once without causing any damage.
FP1 Results Summary
Here are the results from the first practice session:
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Interval | Tyres | Speed (km/h) |
|———-|———————–|—————-|————–|———-|——–|—————|
| 1 | C. Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’18.380 | – | S | 197.683 |
| 2 | A. Antonelli | Mercedes | 1’18.487 | +0.107 | S | 197.413 |
| 3 | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1’18.760 | +0.380 | S | 196.729 |
| 4 | O. Piastri | McLaren | 1’18.784 | +0.404 | S | 196.669 |
| 5 | G. Bortoleto | Sauber | 1’18.916 | +0.536 | S | 196.340 |
| 6 | A. Lindblad | Red Bull Racing| 1’18.997 | +0.617 | S | 196.139 |
| 7 | E. Ocon | Haas F1 Team | 1’19.038 | +0.658 | S | 196.037 |
| 8 | Y. Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing| 1’19.090 | +0.710 | S | 195.908 |
| 9 | F. Colapinto | Alpine | 1’19.331 | +0.951 | S | 195.313 |
| 10 | A. Albon | Williams | 1’19.384 | +1.004 | M | 195.182 |
| 11 | I. Hadjar | RB | 1’19.409 | +1.029 | M | 195.121 |
| 12 | F. Alonso | Aston Martin | 1’19.472 | +1.092 | S | 194.966 |
| 13 | P. O’Ward | McLaren | 1’19.680 | +1.300 | S | 194.457 |
| 14 | F. Vesti | Mercedes | 1’19.689 | +1.309 | H | 194.435 |
| 15 | P. Aron | Alpine | 1’19.862 | +1.482 | S | 194.014 |
| 16 | R. Hirakawa | Haas F1 Team | 1’20.073 | +1.693 | S | 193.503 |
| 17 | A. Iwasa | RB | 1’20.153 | +1.773 | M | 193.310 |
| 18 | L. Browning | Williams | 1’20.310 | +1.930 | M | 192.932 |
| 19 | J. Crawford | Aston Martin | 1’20.371 | +1.991 | M | 192.785 |
| 20 | A. Fuoco | Ferrari | 1’20.854 | +2.474 | S | 191.634 |
