MEXICO CITY: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace in practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix on Friday, recording the fastest times in both sessions for the second consecutive race weekend.
The Monegasque driver posted a best lap of 1 minute 17.827 seconds in the second practice session, finishing 0.103 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli completed the top four.
Antonelli Eyes Historic Title
Antonelli, 20, missed Thursday’s activities while recovering from a virus but returned to the track ahead of Sunday’s race.
The Italian can become Formula One’s youngest world champion and his country’s first champion since 1963 if he finishes in the top nine. He can also secure the title if his two remaining rivals, Russell and Ferrari’s seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, fail to win.
Leclerc’s strong performance followed his success in practice at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
Verstappen Faces Investigation
Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen finished fifth, ahead of team-mate Isack Hadjar, despite an early incident involving Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson.
The clash damaged Verstappen’s car bodywork and prompted a red flag after approximately 15 minutes, allowing officials to clear debris from the Foro Sol section of the circuit. Verstappen returned to the pits for repairs, while the stewards noted the incident for further investigation.
Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad finished seventh, followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Lawson and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
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Hamilton Suffers Power Failure
Hamilton finished 11th after a power failure forced him to stop on the straight midway through the session.
The Ferrari driver had just switched to soft tyres and completed only one lap on the compound, losing valuable track time as he worked to understand the car’s performance.
Leclerc regained the lead ahead of Norris, Russell and Antonelli before teams shifted their focus to longer runs with heavier fuel loads and medium tyres.
Perez Reaches 300-Race Milestone
The session initially saw Gasly lead Alpine team-mate Franco Colapinto onto the track, followed by Mexican driver Sergio Perez of Cadillac.
Perez was preparing for his 300th race start, becoming the seventh driver to reach the milestone. He was also cautioned for a pit-lane infringement.
After 10 rookie reserve drivers participated in the first practice session, all 22 full-time drivers returned for the second session, with teams using different tyre compounds to assess performance on the circuit’s low-grip surface.
Ferrari began strongly on medium tyres, while Verstappen opted for softs and several other drivers started on hard tyres. Norris later moved to the front on softs before Leclerc reclaimed the top position.
With qualifying and the race still to come, Friday’s results gave Ferrari an encouraging start to the Mexico City weekend, while Hamilton and Red Bull faced setbacks to address.
