Leclerc tops rookie-laden FP1 in Mexico

Charles Leclerc set the early pace at the Mexico City Grand Prix by topping a first practice session packed with rookie drivers.

The Ferrari driver tamed the hot and dusty Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez to set the benchmark at 1m18.380s, beating Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli by 0.107s.

Third-placed Nico Hulkenberg was the first of two Sauber drivers in the top five, the German 0.38s off the pace but 0.024s ahead of title leader Oscar Piastri in fourth and 0.156s up on teammate Gabriel Bortoleto in fifth.

Arvid Lindblad was the only one of the nine rookies taking part in the session to sit inside the top 10. Lindblad, seventh in the Formula 2 championship and in contention for promotion to Racing Bulls next year, steered Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing car to sixth in the order and 0.617s off the pace in a clean performance that will have done his chances of a full-time Formula 1 debut no harm.

He will, however, see the stewards after the session for allegedly impeding McLaren's Pato O’Ward on a fast lap. Mitigating circumstances are likely to be argued, however, with a widespread fault in the television and GPS systems leaving teams without their usual data on the pit wall.

Esteban Ocon followed in seventh for Haas ahead of the second Red Bull Racing car driven by Yuki Tsunoda, who was 0.71s off the pace and 0.093s slower than Lindblad.

Franco Colapinto was ninth for Alpine ahead of Alex Albon, who completed the top 10 for Williams.

Isack Hadjar harmlessly ran deep into Turn 12 and continued on his way to 11th in the order ahead of Fernando Alonso.

McLaren IndyCar star O’Ward took Lando Norris’s car to 13th ahead of Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti, who was 14th in George Russell’s W16.

Paul Aron was 16th in Pierre Gasly’s Alpine in what could be an audition for the Estonian for a full-time drive after de facto team boss Flavio Briatore named him as the only other driver in contention for Franco Colapinto’s seat next year.

Toyota endurance racing star Ryo Hirakawa took Oliver Bearman’s Haas to 16th ahead of Racing Bulls junior Ayumu Iwasa in Liam Lawson’s machine.

Williams junior Luke Browning was 18th fastest in Carlos Sainz’s car ahead of Aston Martin’s Jak Crawford, who was subbed in for Lance Stroll, and long-time Ferrari development driver Antonio Fuoco, who replaced Lewis Hamilton.

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