Leclerc dominates opening session in Mexico as rookies make their mark
Charles Leclerc topped the timing sheets in the first practice session at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
The session, which featured as many as nine rookies stepping in for test runs with their teams, saw the Scuderia Ferrari driver clock the fastest time ahead of Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli.
FP1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez kicked off with several drivers, including Esteban Ocon, topping the timing sheets at intervals, as multiple teams simulated qualifying and long runs ahead of the competitive part of the weekend. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar briefly went fastest with a time of 1:20.128 after 15 minutes.
The session featured a brief yellow flag when Alpine test driver Paul Aron, who took the place of Pierre Gasly, appeared to be going slowly on track. However, the flag soon turned green as the Estonian picked up the pace shortly after.
Shortly after the yellow flag, Oscar Piastri stormed to the top of the timing sheets with a time of 1:19.035, almost a second ahead of Hadjar, who was in a distant second.
Franco Colapinto also took a trip into the runoff area during one of his push laps. The Argentine driver, however, was able to regain control of his car before any shunt occurred. Hadjar also had a brief moment in the runoff area; however, the Racing Bulls driver was able to return to the track unscathed.
Track evolution kicked in with under half an hour left in the session, and Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli clocked the fastest time. The Italian was followed closely by Nico Hulkenberg. Antonelli’s joy, however, was short-lived, as Leclerc, in his Ferrari, clocked a staggering time of 1:18.380 – over a tenth ahead of the 19-year-old.
The rookies and test drivers also produced relatively impressive lap times, with Red Bull junior driver Arvid Lindblad leading the pack of stand-in drivers in sixth place, about a tenth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda.
However, despite the late effort of several drivers, it was the Monegasque in the no.16 Ferrari who stood tall above the grid, recording the quickest time of the session.
Russell speaks on Red Bull’s tape gate
George Russell earlier weighed in on the tape-tinkering situation involving Red Bull at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas.
The British driver joked he would have replicated the act of the Red Bull staff member, before stating he doesn't think the team need to employ such gamesmanship to clinch the title.
At the race in Austin, a member of the Red Bull team reportedly attempted to take out a tape mark on the grid wall, which was meant to aid Lando Norris in hitting his mark on the starting grid.
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