FP1: Leclerc leads Antonelli in Mexico City as new faces make Formula 1 debuts

Charles Leclerc finished fastest in Free Practice 1 ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver heading Kimi Antonelli and Fred Vesti.

Leclerc posted a 1m 18.128s which left him 0.659s clear of Antonelli at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with the second Mercedes in the hands of Vesti – in place of George Russell for FP1 – just one-tenth further back.

Plenty of new faces headed out on track once the green light appeared at the end of the pit lane for the opening hour of practice at 1230 local time, with 10 out of 11 teams running young drivers and only Ferrari keeping its regular line-up.

This included F1 debuts for Red Bull junior and Formula 2 frontrunner Nikola Tsolov, driving Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls, as well as Audi development driver and Formula 3 runner-up, Freddie Slater, at the wheel of Gabriel Bortoleto's car.

Grip was at a premium in the early running due to the dusty track surface, with Antonelli, who stands on the cusp of his maiden drivers' title this weekend, sliding his way through the stadium section, as did home hero Sergio Perez.

Isack Hadjar had to coast his Red Bull back the pits due to a power unit issue approaching the 10-minute mark, with Leclerc becoming the first to dip below the 1m 20s barrier shortly after with a 1m 19.197s on the hard Pirelli tyre.

Nico Hulkenberg suffered a heavy lock-up and took to the run-off area at Turn 1, Arvid Lindblad ran wide at Turn 12 heading into the stadium section, while reigning F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli – in for Lando Norris at McLaren – recovered from a huge slide exiting Turn 11.

Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren also went deep at Turn 1 and cut across the grass, with drivers pushing the limits at a venue where the thin air – the track located more than 2000 metres above sea level – makes a big difference.

Slater's F1 debut was compromised at the halfway point of the session, Audi having sent the young Briton out on track with a sidepod fan still attached to the car which appeared to cause some damage to the power unit and left him in the pits for a prolonged period. The stewards are set to investigate the unsafe release post-session.

By this point drivers and teams began to use the soft tyre, Leclerc posting a 1m 18.128s on his first effort with the red-walled tyre, with Antonelli more than six tenths further back.

A brief Virtual Safety Car was deployed approaching the final 10 minutes as Jak Crawford – in for Lance Stroll – brought his Aston Martin to a stop at Turn 1 with a problem.

Leclerc remained fastest at the chequered flag from Antonelli and Vesti, with Ferrari team mate Lewis Hamilton seven tenths adrift.

The top 10 was completed by Ayumu Iwasa (replacing Max Verstappen at Red Bull), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin, Piastri, the Haas of Bearman and Lindblad's Racing Bulls.

Hadjar recovered to P11 after his earlier problem, from Tsolov, Hulkenberg and F2 race winner Gabriele Mini, who was also making his F1 debut in Franco Colapinto's Alpine.

Ryo Hirakawa (driving Esteban Ocon's Haas) was P15, with the order completed by Carlos Sainz (Williams), Fornaroli, Perez, Crawford, Luke Browning (driving Alex Albon's Williams), Slater and Colton Herta (in Valtteri Bottas' Cadillac).