Leclerc leads FP1 at the Mexico City Grand Prix

Written by Maham Mir, Edited by Meghana Sree

Fresh off the action at the Circuit of The Americas at the United States Grand Prix, Formula One reconvened in Mexico for the Mexico City Grand Prix. Last time out, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen chipped away at Oscar Piastri’s championship lead - the hunt for the 2025 World Driver’s Championship title continues. 

Charles Leclerc leads in FP1 at the Mexico City Grand Prix | Credit: Formula One

Returning to the iconic Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, altitude and air quality are some of the most important terms for the weekend as teams try to grapple with ever-changing conditions. Pirelli have chosen the C2, C4 and C5 this weekend as the tyres available to the teams, forgoing the usual approach of successive tyres.

For the teams, tyre management, especially at this track with the altitude difference, will be a crucial part of their chosen race strategies.

During FP1, for all but one of the teams (Sauber), a rookie driver set out to replace one of their usual drivers.

The nine drivers to join for the FIA-mandated rookie sessions were Fred Vesti (Mercedes), Arvid Lindblad (Red Bull), Luke Browning (Williams), Pato O’Ward (McLaren), Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari), Jak Crawford (Aston Martin), Ryo Hirakawa (Haas), Ayumu Iwasa (Racing Bulls) and Paul Aron (Alpine). 

Lindblad, an F1 hopeful for next season, impressed on track as the fastest rookie | Credit: Formula One

For the opening twenty minutes of the first practice session, there was a mix of expected race running and qualifying simulations across the grid. For all the FP1 rookies taking part, their role is to mainly contribute in data for the team’s set up choices for the rest of the weekend.

Alpine, as the only point-less team for the last six races, had Franco Colapinto and Aron driving against each other for this first practice session. Based on comments by Flavio Briatore, these are the two drivers in contention for the second Alpine seat in 2026. Colapinto ended the session ahead of his competition in P9 while Aron managed a P15 finish. 

At the halfway mark of the session, McLaren’s Piastri led the pack with a 1:19.035 with Isack Hadjar and Kimi Antonelli completing the top three. Piastri’s teammate, Norris, did not take part in the session as O’Ward replaced him as one of the FP1 rookies.

Pato O'Ward on-track as one of the nine FP1 rookie drivers | Credit: Formula One

Hadjar was the first driver to go off-track towards the ending stages of the session which was otherwise quiet and without any dramatic issues. With only a handful of yellow flags here and there for the odd off-track excursion, the teams were allowed an uninterrupted session to begin data collection ahead of Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.

As the only team not to run a FP1 rookie, Sauber utilised their time effectively and displayed an impressive showing with both drivers featuring in the top five. Nico Hülkenberg ended the session in P3 with his teammate only 0.536s behind the pace-setter Charles Leclerc. 

Ultimately, Leclerc emerged quickest with a 1:18.380 with Kimi Antonelli and Hülkenberg rounding off the top three. For the FP1 rookies, Lindblad finished as the fastest in P6 while Fuoco was the slowest in P20.

Looking Ahead

The usual grid, including championship hopefuls Norris and Verstappen, will return for FP2 in more representative conditions. All the teams will be hoping to create the perfect set-up ahead of Saturday's qualifying on a track that almost guarantees an entertaining race every year.