Charles Leclerc topped the FP1 timesheets to mark the start of the 2026 F1 Mexico City GP, view the full session report here.
With just five races left, the 2026 Drivers’ Championship is nearing its conclusion, and Kimi Antonelli has the opportunity to secure the title in Sunday’s Round 19 race. The 19-year-old currently leads teammate George Russell by 123 points and Lewis Hamilton by 124, with the pair his only remaining title rivals.
Beyond the title fight, the opening practice session featured 10 rookie appearances. Leonardo Fornaroli, Fred Vesti, Ayuma Iwasa, Luke Browning, Jak Crawford, Ryō Hirakawa, and Colton Herta all took to the track, while Nikola Tsolov, Freddie Slater, and Gabriele Minì made their F1 weekend debuts.
Green light for FP1 at the 2026 F1 Mexico City GP
With the green light displayed, Lewis Hamilton led the field onto the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit. The Ferrari driver soon set the early benchmark with a 1:34.642, but his teammate Charles Leclerc soon proved quicker. Ferrari were the only team not to field a rookie during FP1 in Mexico City.
Meanwhile, dusty conditions caught out Antonelli, who picked up dust and ran wide. The Italian recovered quickly, however, going on to lead the session with a 1:20.814. As the session continued, Crawford and Slater were the only drivers yet to set a time, having run aero rakes for their teams across their first laps.
With 40 minutes remaining, Leclerc reclaimed the top spot with a 1:19.197, demoting Antonelli to P2.
Slater’s debut interrupted as Leclerc leads
Several drivers suffered lock-ups early in FP1, with Oscar Piastri and Nico Hülkenberg running wide onto the grass. In the meantime, Slater looked set to complete his first time before the team called him into the pits because a cooling fan was left attached to his car. Despite returning to the track in the last 10 minutes, his F1 debut session came to a halt halfway through as he returned to the garage and was asked to turn the engine off.
Meanwhile, McLaren’s Fornaroli suffered a small lock-up that sent him wide and over the grass. The Italian currently sat P20, while Vesti led the rookies in P8.
At the front, Leclerc extended his lead by 1.069s as Antonelli remained in P2 and Hamilton completed the top three.
20 minutes remain
Heading into the session’s final moments, several rookies had so far found impressive pace, with Vesti jumping to P3, just 0.074s behind Antonelli, while Iwasa sat P5. However, misfortune soon struck for Crawford when Aston Martin told him to slow down and stop the car due to a suspected ERS issue. The incident triggered a brief Virtual Safety Car (VSC).
While Crawford’s session ended, Slater returned to the track and finally managed to set a time. Eager to make up for missed time, Slater later ran wide at Turn 1.
Through it all, Leclerc topped Mexico City’s FP1, finishing 0.659s ahead of Antonelli and rookie Vesti.
