Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the first free‑practice session at the Mexico City Grand Prix, setting a lap time of 1 minute, 18.128 seconds. The session saw ten of the eleven teams field reserve drivers instead of their regular race‑horses, with Ferrari the sole exception. Leclerc’s lap was 0.659 seconds faster than Kimi Antonelli, who was driving the Ferrari after missing the Thursday media day due to a viral illness. Mercedes’ Frederik Vesti, who usually drives the W17 for George Russell, finished third, 0.733 seconds behind Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton was fourth, 0.738 seconds behind teammate Vesti, while Ayumu Iwasa, the Red Bull driver for Max Verstappen, was fifth, 0.985 seconds slower than Leclerc. Pierre Gasly was sixth in the Alpine‑Mercedes, ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin and Oscar Piastri in the McLaren. Oliver Bearman in the Haas‑Ferrari and Arvid Lindblad in the Racing Bulls rounded out the top ten. Gabriele Minì, the 14‑year‑old Italian, completed the Alpine’s first‑ever lap in the weekend, running the A524 test car normally driven by Franco Colapinto. Leonardo Fornaroli, the 17‑year‑old rookie, finished 17th in the McLaren MCL40, which had returned to the hands of world champion Lando Norris after the FP2 session. Fornaroli’s run was marked by a number of mistakes attributed to inexperience, though he was praised for his effort. Bulgarian driver Nikola Tsolov, piloting the V‑Carb03 for Racing Bulls, pushed to 12th place, trailing the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar. He was forced to retire from the session after experiencing numbness in one leg, which required a return to the pits.
Article source: Sport Mediaset | Image credit: Sport Mediaset