Marco Rossi · F1 Correspondent
At the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Charles Leclerc opened Grand Prix Friday with the fastest lap, while almost half of the cockpits went to young drivers.
Charles Leclerc topped first practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix at midday local time on Friday with a 1:18.128, the fastest time of the one-hour session. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the Mercedes driver who leads the drivers' championship, slotted in behind him in second, 0.659 seconds back. The session was shaped by the mandatory outings for young drivers, which most teams used this weekend.
Ferrari on top, but Hamilton a whisker behind Vesti
With his benchmark time, Leclerc left no doubt that Ferrari was competitive from the outset on the high-altitude track in the capital. Teammate Lewis Hamilton rounded off a solid picture for the Scuderia in fourth, 0.738 seconds off the pace. Ferrari was the only team running its full regular lineup, while almost all of its rivals handed at least one seat to a young driver.
The gap between Hamilton and third-placed Frederik Vesti, who drove George Russell's car for Mercedes, stood out: just 0.005 seconds separated the two, a sign of how tightly packed the field already was at this early stage of the weekend. At Mercedes, Vesti in turn was 0.074 seconds behind Antonelli. Both comparisons should be taken with a grain of salt on this Friday, with different drivers and programs in play.
Rookie duty and trouble for Audi
Ten of the eleven teams used first practice to meet their obligation to run young drivers, among them Frederik Vesti, Leonardo Fornaroli and Ayumu Iwasa, who took over Max Verstappen's car at Red Bull. For Colton Herta, who stood in for Valtteri Bottas at Cadillac, there was more at stake than practice mileage: according to PlanetF1, the American secured the final point he needed for his FIA super license with 30 laps.
Audi provided talking points away from the timing screens. According to reports, the team sent rookie Freddie Slater out with a cooling fan still stuck in the sidepod. The stewards summoned Audi over an alleged unsafe release, and a decision was still pending at the time of writing. Slater finished the session in 21st, well adrift of regular driver Nico Hülkenberg, who took 13th.
A look at the title fight
For the big story of the weekend, first practice is naturally no more than an early pointer. Antonelli arrives in Mexico City as the championship leader and could clinch his first world title here, even if practice times say nothing about that.
Second practice on Friday afternoon will already be more telling, with the regular drivers back in their cars. Third practice on Saturday morning should then give a realistic picture ahead of qualifying. Until then, Leclerc's Friday benchmark remains a statement of intent, but nothing more for now.
