Charles Leclerc set a commanding pace during the opening practice session for the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix, topping the leaderboard with a best effort of 1m18.128s.
The Ferrari driver finished comfortably clear of second-placed Kimi Antonelli, leading the field by over six tenths of a second. The Italian was joined in the top three by his Mercedes stablemate Frederik Vesti, who recorded a 1m18.861s while filling in for George Russell.
Vesti was one of 10 rookie drivers taking part in FP1. Every team on the grid except Ferrari chose to field a youngster for the session, taking advantage of unrepresentative track conditions.
Running 90 minutes earlier than Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race, the track offered massive grip evolution as the dusty surface gained rubber.
Dynamic track evolution and early runs
The rapid track evolution was clear from the opening minutes. Leclerc initially set the benchmark with a 1m21.965s before lap times tumbled quickly. Antonelli, running on hard tires, surged ahead by 1.151s and subsequently improved to a 1m20.155s. Leclerc then lowered the target to 1m19.197s.
While both drivers dominated early proceedings, Isack Hadjar suffered power-unit troubles in his Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton briefly broke into the top three after 25 minutes with a 1m19.869s, though Leclerc countered with a 1m19.137s to reclaim top spot before soft-tire runs began at the halfway mark.
Leclerc took full advantage of the soft rubber, lowering his time to a session-best 1m18.128s—more than a second faster than his previous hard-compound mark. Antonelli responded with a 1m18.787s to slot into second, 0.659s behind.
Low-grip conditions made life difficult for several competitors. Technical issues halted Audi stand-in Freddie Slater, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Leonardo Fornaroli both ran off line in sector one.
Piastri struggled to find balance in his MCL40, ending up 1.248s off the pace. Meanwhile, Jak Crawford caused a brief virtual safety car after bringing Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin to a halt at Turn 1.
Vesti secured third place late in the session, edging to within 0.080s of Antonelli. Hamilton completed the top four, finishing 0.738s adrift of Leclerc.
Ayumu Iwasa, substituting for Max Verstappen at Red Bull, impressed by taking fifth on medium tires with a 1m19.113s. Pierre Gasly placed sixth for Alpine on soft tyres, while Fernando Alonso, Piastri, Oliver Bearman, and Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top 10.
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