Charles Leclerc sets the pace in opening practice at Mexico City Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc set the early pace at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez by topping the opening practice session for Ferrari at the Mexico City Grand Prix with a lap time of 1:18.128. Ten Formula 1 rookies stepped in to replace regular drivers during the session as teams fulfilled regulations that a rookie must run in both cars at least twice in the season, while Ferrari stood alone as the only team to field both of its regular drivers in the session.

Leclerc finished 0.659 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, underlining expectations that Ferrari will be strong at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez due to their small turbo working well at high altitude. Lewis Hamilton ended the session in fourth place for Ferrari, 0.738 seconds behind his teammate after recording a scruffy soft-tyre lap. Mercedes reserve driver and 2023 Formula 2 runner-up Frederik Vesti filled in for George Russell to place third, finishing less than one tenth behind Antonelli, while Ayumu Iwasa replaced Max Verstappen in the Red Bull to take fifth place, 0.985 seconds off the pace on medium tyres. Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso finished sixth and seventh, followed by McLaren's Oscar Piastri in eighth, and British rookies Oliver Bearman and Arvid Lindblad rounding out the top ten in ninth and tenth place respectively.

Rookie Debuts and Super-Licence Milestones

The paddock saw an influx of young talent taking advantage of the relative simplicity of the circuit and it not being a Sprint weekend. Estonian driver Nikola Tsolov made his practice debut for Racing Bulls, finishing just one tenth behind Arvid Lindblad despite overcoming an issue where he stated blood had stopped flowing in his right leg due to his seat compressing while driving. British teenager Freddie Slater made his first F1 practice outing for Audi, but reliability issues restricted him to just 14 laps and a 21st-place finish. Audi are under investigation for sending Slater out onto the track with a cooling fan on his car and are likely to be handed a big fine. Aston Martin rookie Jak Crawford also stopped on track with a technical issue, and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar suffered an early power-unit problem that kept him from completing serious qualifying simulations.

Charles Leclerc set the early pace at the Mexico City Grand Prix, by topping Free Practice 1. A 1:18.128 was enough for the Monegasque to beat Kimi Antonelli to the fastest time by 0.659s in a dusty session as the Ferrari went quicker than FP1 in 2025 - a session also topped by Leclerc.

racingnews365.com

Away from the timesheets, Colton Herta completed 24 laps in the session which meant he drove for 100km, so has been awarded another super-licence point. Having met the 40 points to qualify for a super licence which means you can drive full-time in F1, Herta now has 40 super-licence points which is the minimum amount to become a full-time Formula 1 driver. Senior figures at Cadillac are understood to be keen to give him a drive in 2027, potentially threatening the seat of Valtteri Bottas, though Bottas signed a multi-year contract when he joined the newcomers at the start of this year. Liam Lawson also faces uncertainty regarding his future at Racing Bulls despite an impressive season that sees him ninth in the Drivers' Championship, with Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov could become Formula 2 champion and Red Bull have traditionally promoted their young drivers quickly.

Title Implications and Closing Preparations

Kimi Antonelli missed Thursday's media duties but returned to practice and is on track to take the drivers' title for the first time. He needs only a top-nine finish to secure the drivers' title on Sunday in the weekend where he is likely to become world champion and will make history as youngest champion.

All the full-time drivers will return in second practice later on Friday at 10pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event, following the team bosses' press conference at 9pm.