Charles Leclerc led the first practice session packed with new drivers at the Mexico City Grand Prix, setting the early pace.
The Ferrari driver set a benchmark of 1 minute 18.380 seconds over the hot and dusty Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 0.107 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.
Third place Nico Hulkenberg was the first of two Sauber drivers to finish in the top five, with the German 0.38s off the pace, but 0.024s behind title leader Oscar Piastri in fourth and 0.156s behind teammate Gabriel Bortleto in fifth.
Of the nine rookies who took part in the session, only Arvid Lindblad finished in the top 10. Lindblad, who finished seventh in the F2 championship and will be fighting for promotion to next year’s Racing Bulls, put in a clean performance to lead Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing car to sixth place by the order of 0.617 seconds, without jeopardizing his chances of making a full-time F1 debut.
However, he was suspected of interfering with McLaren’s Pato O’Ward’s fast lap and will be examined by the stewards after the session. However, widespread failures of television and GPS systems meant teams were unable to obtain regular data on the pit wall, and de-escalation of the situation was likely to be discussed.
Haas’s Esteban Ocon followed in seventh place, while the second Red Bull Racing car driven by Hiroki Tsunoda was 0.71 seconds off the pace and 0.093 seconds slower than Lindblad.
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto finished ninth, ahead of Williams’ top 10 finisher Alex Albon.
Izak Hajar continued to run unharmed deep into Turn 12 and continued to advance to 11th place, ahead of Fernando Alonso.
McLaren IndyCar star O’Ward guided Lando Norris’ car to 13th place, ahead of Mercedes junior Frederic Vesty, who was 14th in George Russell’s W16.
Paul Aron finished 16th in Pierre Gasly’s Alpine in an audition for the Estonian full-time driver after de facto team principal Flavio Briatore named Gasly as the only driver to compete for Franco Colapinto’s seat next year.
Toyota endurance racing star Ryo Hirakawa led Oliver Bearman’s Haas to 16th place, ahead of Racing Bulls junior Ayumu Iwasa in the car of Liam Lawson.
Williams junior Oliver Browning was 18th fastest in Carlos Sainz’s car, ahead of Aston Martin’s Jack Crawford, who replaced Lance Stroll, and long-time Ferrari development driver Antonio Fuoco, who replaced Lewis Hamilton.
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